I just love the color on these walls...it is Chamois by Ralph Lauren, available at The Home Depot...so buttery and warm, I think it helps warm up the brick, too...which I wanted to paint, but hubby said, "Are you crazy???" lol:
We absolutely fell in love with it when we bought this home...but it is a challenge to decorate, so I just decorate it right over the fireplace, instead of the whole length of the mantel, which I think would look like a store display, what do you think? (If you have suggestions for decorating the mantel, I'd love to hear them!):
I love this little duckie, he is handmade and even signed, and I got him for $2 at a garage sale, SCORE!!!
Here's my other favorite duck in the room, my oldest son drew this in art class several years ago (yes, I need to use goo off on the frame, all in good time, lol):
Oh wait, who's that hamming it up for the camera:
It was me with my Mom's birthday present...we went to her house yesterday for her birthday, Robert couldn't wait to see what she got:
Happy Birthday, Mom!!!
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26 comments:
Please ignore the curtain rod that is too long and the green chair that is too big...lol...hubby has to saw off the excess curtain rod, all in good time, right? And the chair, well, that is what I get for fallin in love with Steve's Thinking Chair on Blue's Clues! lol ;)
Hi Bella,
Thanks for stopping by! I love the looks of your blog.
We painted our brick...you can see it under before and after on my blog.
Looks like you have lots for me to explore here. I love what you did with the chairs in the post below!
Have a great day,
Diane
My BFF has the same mantel dilema... it is the length of the wall like yours is. I think what you did with it looks good though. :o) I have a *thing* for ducks, too, by the way.
Hey Bella!
Thanks for stopping by to visit! We just love it when new people stop in to say hi!!
What a great fireplace! A couple of years ago, we helped decorate a house that had a big old fireplace just like yours that went from one end to the other. You're right about keeping it simple on top - you would look like a store shelf!
We suggested painting the wall above the fireplace another color - to balance off that wall for this particular client. The top is so heavy that you need BIG things above it. Llike you, she didn't have enough height to really make that idea work, so we used color instead. In her case, we used a warm brick color that brought the color of the fireplace up (plus she had accents of it on her sofa). Any strong color would work though......something for you to play around with in your head!!
Love that yellow color you've painted the room - it's the perfect shade of yellow. Yellows can be really hard to pull off!
Hey, have a super day!
Karla & Karrie
And I though I had a long fireplace! Yours is MASSIVE!! :-)
Duckie is darling!
Layla
The Lettered Cottage
I love that Ralph lauren oolor, I did my husbands office in that and it works so well against wood tones..I agree with you to paint the brick..but I tend to go with painting wood and brick..and it jut depends on personal choice...I think since the fireplace is so massive against the wall you need to balance the top with large item.. Large picture of mirror?? I love mirrors..but my rule Ihave is to always have them reflect something interesting...so that when you look at them from afar it mirror either a window, or some pretty arrangement in the house.. Marlene from Cambria
I love that fireplace. It's so cozy. I wouldn't paint it either.
Hugs,
Joanne
Thank you for commenting on my journal!! Nice to meet you, as well :D
Your blog design is so cute!
Yes.. what are the ODDS....I use alot of the Ralph lauren paints from Home Depot, the other yellow I have used which is really nice is Picnic Basket" Martha Stewart colors are really nice too, she has great greens....Have a great Day! Marlene
Thank you for sharing the picture your child created in a beautiful frame. I love that idea!
I will be using this in the future.
;-)
I have a similar brick fireplace problem. I also, am afraid to paint it because, as you know paint is forever on brick. However, on your situation one thing I might consider is cutting down the mantel to just around the actual firebox and really beef it up with molding to make it a dramatic focal point. Just a thought. Happy Birthday to your mom!!!
Blessings~~
My in-laws have almost the same exact fireplace that runs the width of their family room wall. They live in Amish country, so they hired a local Amish carpenter to come in and create bookshelves on either side to kind of break it up, and to give them a place to store their TV. I thought it was a pretty clever solution to their decorating dilemma.
Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. Love your blog! -Julia :-)
Morning Bella! I love your fireplace wall and think you've done an outstanding job in decorating it! How sweet your Mom looks - her smile is just like yours - or maybe it's the other way around. lol
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog...so nice to meet you, too!
I love the focal point over your fireplace. It looks so nice. I bet it will be so much fun to decorate at Christmastime!
Thanks for stopping by...so fun to look at your ideas. Wow, girlfriend, you have been busy. Good for you!! I love "lazy" days of summer - ha! You have professional designer advice, so whatever Karla and Karrie say..go with it. Your chairs crack me up because as moms - we can all relate.:)
Morning Bella! Come by my blog - I have a little award for you!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)
What is it about men and painting brick? They should just trust our domestic judgment :)
Hi there, it's nice to meet you Bella. I love your name! I also love you Tiffany blue bedroom, so pretty! Thanks for stopping by, I'm going to add you to my blog list if that's ok with you?
Hi Bella :)
Thank you for leaving a comment!You have a great blog :)
It looks like you already have some great suggestions, but I wanted to tell you that the picture your son drew and you framed is so sweet :)
Happy Birthday to your mom! Nice to meet you too :)
rue
Hi Bella!
Thanks for stopping by my blog; it's nice to meet you!
Pam
P.S. I'd put books on that mantel!
Hi Bella thanks for stopping by my blog. I love your brick fireplace!! I look forward to seeing more!! Take care!~Wendy
I just happened upon your blog, and of course, the invitation for suggestions regarding your mantel caught my eye.
I would use the mantel as a photo gallery--not the entire thing, but taking up about 2/3 the length of the mantel.
I'd start in the middle with a very large framed family picture, and then layer other framed pictures on the rest of the mantel.
Don't hang any of them. Simply lean them. And keep all of the frames and mats the same, so that it's your photos that stand out.
Oh, and I think the brick would look beautiful if it was whitewashed just to tone the color down a bit.
Happy decorating!
Kristi
Wow...what a great place to decorate (your fireplace)!!! I am a country prim lover so I would have that thing decorated to the hilt with country prim stuff!!! LOL How fun! :)
Nice to meet you! It's great to meet fellow decoraholics!
Woah! That's some serious fireplace. "Fireplace? What fireplace? Oh, that old thing?"
I actually think it's pretty fab. I love the idea of leaning framed photos along the mantel, or lining up books. I guess with something that - noticeable? - you have to work with it.
I look forward to reading more of your blog!
Tara, from Random Acts of Home Decor
bella,
thanks for visiting my blog and leaving comments!
i love your blog and now am going to head out to cutest blog and check it out!
i like the above comment about using your mantel as a photo gallery. i'd also use that space at the left of your firebox to put a couple of really big decorating objects...birdcage, tall candle sticks, ect. what ever you have around the house. i've grown tired of all my small groupings and changed it up by going BIG...and now i love it! nice to meet you....;) kathi over at www.traybellakc.blogspot.com
Thanks for stopping by our blog! I love your blog, it's totally cool. I also think your fireplace is an awesome challenge. It's really nice and classic looking. I would line the shelf part of it with garland, then hang bold similar type pictures above it, all in a row.
-Aubri
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