Do you have fireplace envy? (Or, perhaps, mantel envy?) Jaime did and I can totally relate, especially this time of year. What open fire are my chestnuts going to roast over? Where am I supposed to hang my stockings with care? Not to mention how Santa is going to get in the house! Well Jaime took matters into her own hands and is now the proud owner of a faux fireplace...with a special feature!
Wow! Here's what Jaime told us: I really wanted a faux fireplace in my house this Christmas since I don't have a real one. So I got an old mantel off of Craigslist and gave it a makeover. But when I moved it into my house, there was an ugly outlet and white baseboards showing behind the mantel, making it look very fake and out of place on my wall. So I got a flat board, painted it with black chalkboard paint and slipped it behind the mantel, covering the outlet, wall, and baseboards and creating more of an illusion of a fireplace. It was a cheap, easy, and kid-friendly fix. My kids can draw on it and just for fun, I can draw a warm, cozy fire on it to enjoy.
What a terrific idea and Jaime's styling is so cozy we'd never guess this mantelpiece wasn't original to the room. Do you want to see more of this project? Visit Jaime at Caught in Grace to read about acquiring the mantel and transforming it into this homey finished piece.
(Images: Jaime Scott)
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Lovely! And you don't have to constantly say "No touch! Hot! No touch!" (unless, of course, your candles are lit).
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love this so much. i want one. alas, we have no walls to put one on ... maybe in the future. keeping it in mind!
This is exactly what I am planning on doing to our existing fireplace for christmas for my 17-mo-old. We currently have an ugly babygate across it. I'm having my dad make a plywood front with new molding to cover the existing (ugly) molding, with a foot on the bottom that will allow it to wedge in and be easily removed by adults if we actually want to make a fire. The front will be a magnetic chalkboard, and I'm going to make a feltboard with magnetic backing that we can use on it as well. I was going to submit before and after pics, but I guess this beat me to the punch! Oh well.
Wow, I just did the same thing to our fireplace this week! Our mantel was original, but the fireplace did not work and the previous owners drywalled over the hole. I painted it with a coat of magnetic paint and then a coat of blackboard paint, and now it's my toddler's new favorite play space!
Ok, awesome.