A Mantel Makeover

I had some leftover paint and some time on my hands the other day and decided to give our fireplace mantel a facelift. The mantel has been my nemesis so far.  When we moved in, the living room looked like this:

I loved the large bow windows and the southern light pouring in but the fireplace felt out of scale, way too big for our small living room and a bit too ornate for the simplified colonial cottage look I had in mind. I love dentil molding and we used it successfully for an Ikea bookshelf makeover last year but this Ancient Greek & Roman architectural detail did not match the feeling of a humble country Cape Cod style cottage. 

So when we connected the living room with the adjacent bedroom with French doors last year, I asked our contractor to remove the top part of the mantel, the one that had the classical detailing and replaced it with a simple 1×4 and reused some of the leftover trim to support a shelf (a 1×6 we had sanded, primed and painted).

I added some thin decorative strips of molding to mask the seams and create a neat border where the shelf meets the wall. Then I painted it all FB’s Old White, just like the living room walls, to trick the eyes and make our fireplace look smaller than it actually was. And called it a day. 

But something still felt off. Traditionally, mantels are painted the same color and finish as the rest of the trim, but if you’d like to make it interesting you can try painting your mantel a different hue. I think it all depends on the overall design scheme, the size of the room and what else is going on design-wise. I decided to give both ideas a try and see which one would look best in our living room. I had a suspicion that introducing a third hue would be too much and would potentially clash with everything else that’s going on but I also knew that if I didn’t like it I could just repaint it in minutes. I tried out a warm grey, Benjamin Moore’s Gargoyle and Black. I had the two sample pots laying around, leftover from a different project. Just as I thought, the grey felt too much and the black too dark, absorbing the entire focus in the room, and not in a good way.

 So I decided to just go with traditional wisdom and paint the mantel the same warm white as the trim. Bingo! I love it and all of the sudden, the different finish and color make it truly a focal point without taking over the space. 

And  I think I finally got it. It wasn’t easy and if it were a client, I would have suggested a custom mantel in a simpler, colonial style, but because we wanted to mind our budget I gave DIY a try before exploring other options. We may end up going the custom route later on but for now I am finally happy with our fireplace.

But enough about me. What have YOU been up to? Any interesting projects on your list? Take care!!