The Fireplace

I know I mentioned before here about our fireplace and when it was on our wishlist for must haves when we where looking to buy our new home.  Well here she is..

 
in all her "sooty" glory.  I scrubbed her with some soap and water but she is still a bit grimy.  I need to do some research and find out what I can use to get rid of all that soot and grime. 

 

Since it is summer we aren't burning any fires so I got an idea from Layla at the Lettered Cottage {who has quite the knack for mixing up a mantle} and decided to put a mop bucket in there with a fern, a Maidenhair Fern to be exact, it was on 50% off at Lowes. Can't beat that!

 
the funny thing is Mr. Incredible likes the sooty look, he thinks it gives the fireplace a nice patina. Hmmmmm..I don't know about that.  I saw the shutter backdrop look,  here at The Nest,  and the color I painted the shutters is Dunn Edwards Blustery Wind, which was well over a year ago, {i was planning on putting them over my headboard in the master and hang black and white pictures from} but when we moved here they found a place on the fireplace.  I like it!  The painting was a housewarming gift from Mary Lou, our dear friend in the last post.  Before her stroke she was quite the artist and has some very exquisite pieces in her home, she is very talented, I can draw a very good stick figure.  She asked Mr. Incredible what kind of painting "he" wanted and he said, "do you have any naked lady pictures?  She said, "Can't help ya there", so she gave us or "him" this beautiful one of a dingy boat on the dock with a fishing shack.  I absolutely LOVE it! Her last name is painted on the back of the boat. So it has a lot of meaning for us.

 
The clock and the bicycle were Mother's Day gift from my girls along time ago.  The little bronze urn with the li'l fern in it and the Windsor Chair are thrift store finds. The two homespun hearts are from French General, along time ago. I'd like to put a Library light above the painting to highlight it in our home. To the right is a louvered window which below it has a hatch with a empty box to house firewood and also on the other side is the same thing without the window.  Mudge, our male cat has taken a liking to that spot so I think I may make a bench seat for it and turn it into a window seat.  The fireplace is in the Man Cave aka family room and is slowly coming together.  We have sliding glass doors to the right of the louvered window and I'm vacillating on what kind of window treatments to go with.  I saw a beautiful blue velvet drape at Target that I really like or should I go with burlap for some texture...Mr. Incredible says the curtains I planned on putting up there are "butt ugly"......so I'm trying to find a suitable compromise.  What is your vote on the treatments?  Should I go with Smokey Blue Velvet {same color as the shutters} or a dark brown burlap?  Or any other ideas welcome....

 

 

 

Comments

[shelley e]

love your mantel! :)

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