Pandora's Box: Act three: The Mantle Upgrade

I rested a little after finishing the kitchen and mudroom, but then moved into the living room and started a remodeling project there. The living rooms main wall was covered with....wait for it....BARN BOARD. Love it. I came up with a plan to take down the barn board and install custom built shelves, with a large mantle that would span from one wall to another. I started researching the idea..and I came up with a number of designs that I liked. That meant it was time to rip out more barn board and Sheetrock the main wall of the living room. We then built the shelves, complete with fancy trim work. It looks custom and it looks like it has always been there. I LOVE IT. It gives me a ton more storage and a great opportunity to accessorize to my hearts content.

PS-if it seems like we spend all of our time at Lowes and Home Depot, that would be correct. There was a span of about 5 months where we could not go a weekend without visiting a home improvement store.

This is the living room/fireplace when I moved in. Green brick?? Terra cotta tile hearth...who were the people who decorated this place???

I whitewashed the barn board and painted the brick white. I tried to accessorize the mantle with candles. I learned to live with the terra cotta hearth.

Here are the shelves in progress...and note we had taken down the bead board and replaced it with Sheetrock. Not an easy task. I also came up with the idea to paint the terra cotta tiles with heat resistant paint (like one would use on grills.) Brilliant idea. Here it is primed.