Mantle Challenge: Results!

I can't believe it's already been two weeks since I posted the mantle challenge. I'm happy to say that I was actually able to clean things up and start something that won't be such an eyesore to look at! I wish that my photos were a little better...our living room, despite having five windows, gets terrible light and pictures always come out a little sad (why I don't take my product photos anymore in here!).

So anyway, here is what was there before:



And after....





So I have always wanted one of those beautiful ornate, gilded mirrors that they have at antique shops, but they are soooo expensive usually. Yeah you can get one at Homegoods, but I really hate pretend antiques, don't ask me why. We went to the Goodwill store and they had a mirror in a nice wood frame....for $9.99! The only problem was the wood was painted a hideous black. Like, an old shredded tire black. But $9.99! So we took it home and I painted it with about a dozen coats of gold acrylic paint. And voila! It looks like the gilded mirrors I always pine over. This project also gave me the excuse to use Scotch Blue Painter's Tape, which is like my favorite invention ever. It's so fun!

We also got a bunch of junk frames in gold colors and I placed them around the mirror. Obviously there are some bare patches and more frames are required. Don't worry though, I'm on it. More to come soon!
Aside from that I just got rid of a lot of the junk that was cluttering up the mantle (by cluttering up other places with it). More projects!

Did you transform a space in your home? Do any cleaning or otherwise make an improvement that's been bugging you for a while? Let me know!

Mantle Challenge!

These past few days of rain have been tough. The dog is bouncing off the walls, the cats are ornery, the plants are wet, and I am going a little stir-crazy myself. I've been trying to channel some of my energy into working on my blog and Etsy, but it has involved a lot of sitting on the couch and staring at our mantle.

All the apartments in our building have a non-working fireplace and a mantle. Ours is in a pretty sorry state. Long after it was working someone decided to re-brick it with those cement style bricks from the 70s. And whoever painted last in here wasn't very diligent about clean-up, so the wood is dappled with white and yellow paint splatter.

In any case, it's a mantle. And there is a lot of potential for it to be an interesting and pleasing focal point for the room. But right now it's being waaaaay underutilized as a catch-all for our knick-knacks and unruly candle collection.

Highlights of our mantle include: two crooked photos hung above it (by yours truly), too many Yankee Candles, our wedding silhouettes, leftover wedding centerpieces, two kissing balls, a Venetian mask thatreallykindofcreepsmeoutbutIamagoodwifesoIletitstay, those little ceramic animals that come in the tea boxes, and some bird statuettes.


Yeah. It's a mess.

So I'm giving myself a challenge. Two weeks to clean it up and turn it into something I'm proud to have in our living room.
Will you join me? Even if you don't have a mantle, just pick one little area of your home that you've been neglecting and want to clean up and make special. Let me know in the comments and report back here in two weeks to see how we all did!