Monday, May 8, 2017

The Mantel Copykat Style




I've been talking about it a lot lately, so finally here's our mantel after it got a recent makeover. Since summer is coming soon, it just seems like everything should be a little more colorful these days, right?
The old toolbox came from an indoor flea market last month. When I saw that wonky handle, split in the middle but not broken, it was like a forlorn puppy that had to come home with me.
Bloom where you're planted seems appropriate for summer, and the faded blue-gray paint seemed like it would be a good background for summer flowers even if they have to be faux. 
When I bought the toolbox, I just brought it home and stuck it up on top of a recently delivered TV cabinet, and there it stayed...way too long...looking very forlorn!
After Easter, I was stuck with indecision wondering what to do with the mantel for summer. The room was an ocean of neutral begging for some color and pattern. 

Based on the gray-blue of the toolbox, I added blue hydrangeas to it and vintage blue shams to the neutral love seat.
I don't know about you, but I really don't "do" summer very well. Honestly, I just kind of hunker down and wait for it to pass!
In fact, I was seriously planning to skip summer and decorate for autumn right after Easter passed until I saw Common Ground's breezy mantel and knew just what I was going to do... Copykat it!
I had a big brown-framed mirror (check), a boxwood wreath (check), and a chippy old toolbox (check, check). 
I don't have any white wooden lanterns so I used two large brown candle holders and added some woodland-type pieces to complement all the brown. 



I still need to buy some burlap ribbon so I can hang the boxwood wreath...but maybe the mantle doesn't need it after all?
If you look to the right of the mirror, you can see we still need to remove the wall bracket that used to hold a flat screen TV before we bought the cabinet. It's always something!

I want to thank Debra, who writes the blog Common Ground, for the inspiration...and for letting me borrow her blog photos. 

If I hadn't had Debra's idea to copy, I would probably be putting scarecrows and pumpkins up on our mantel right now.




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6 comments:

  1. It looks great! I'm with you about summer, I'd skip it if I could. We think about traveling in summer, but everywhere we want to go is as hot as it is here.

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  2. It looks amazing, I loved it. Inspirational.

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  3. Well, Thank God for Debra! lol I would hate to have see you miss the season completely!

    While Fall is my favorite season- I do love summer in WI. It is the only time we get a few days of really warm weather (if we are lucky)...today, for instance, it is in the 50s here/overcast/damp and windy. We can't plant outside until after Memorial Day for fear of a freezing frost.

    I think your mantle looks really great and I love that old tool box you picked up. What a fun base to start with--you filled it beautifully.

    Have a wonderful afternoon- xo Diana

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  4. How pretty and what a beautiful piece of architecture your mantle is - the carving is lovely.

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  5. Your mantel turned out so nice! The tool box is cute and I like it staged in front of the mirror. I'm assuming where you live that summer is very hot and that's why you don't like it? Though I don't enjoy being overheated I look forward to summer especially since we have such long winters up here. Glad you found a way to embrace summer!

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    1. Yes. Northeast Texas is cooler than other places in Texas, but it's still Texas. We are looking for a future hometown that has less heat and more snow. Anyone with recommendations please leave a comment.

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