Sometimes I realize how much I stink at finishing projects. I am a rock star when it comes to dreaming them up and starting them, but finishing them…eh, not so much.
Case in point:
my mantle in all of its mint green glory
I purchased this fab mantle from Lucketts back in…AUGUST. Wasn’t that like, 6 months ago?!?! I’m so embarrassed. Then the end of…OCTOBER…I embarked upon the first of one…two…three…four rounds of paint stripping (or maybe five? I stopped posting about it because it got old). Oh, and some vigorous sanding sessions too.
And then – then – we found out we were moving! All motivation to finish the mantle was kaput. And there would be no place for it to go in the new house…and really no further reason to hold onto it.
Sadly, Wednesday night, we loaded the mantle onto my mom’s wagon, and off it went to C’ville to a consignment shop… I sure hope someone appreciates my hard work getting most of the paint off!!!
One parting shot of the (massive, stripped) mantle that could have been…
oh my how i WISH it could have been finished and used...
It probably only needed another hour of sanding and conditioning/staining…
I don’t think the project was for naught, though…
A high school friend Facebooked me and said she was inspired by the post and remembered a mantle salvaged from her grandparents’ farm. Over Thanksgiving, she lugged it down from the attic, dusted it off, and Orange Glo-ed it, and this was the result:
are you jealous yet?! a-ma-zing
She plans to mount like I wanted to – a “faux” fireplace mounted on a wall with books or logs or a mirror in the opening. Incredible, isn’t it?! I can’t believe it was that easy for her to get something so beautiful!!!
I also got an amazing set of pics from Trish at the fabulous blog Trouvais (all about French-inspired interiors) of a stunning French mantle she stripped, bleached, distressed it with paint almost 25 years ago:
iwantiwantiwant
I love how she put a mirror inside it!!!
the detail on this mantle is amazing!
There’s some good inspiration for you, huh?
There’s a bright side to my own massive project FAIL… I will have two fireplaces in the new house, each with original mantles!!! And I think they may be a bit of an upgrade, hmm?
pardon the junk, there are renters there!
Hopefully the next house will be full of project accomplishments. How about you? Any utter and complete project failures?!?! (I have more, just you wait…)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
AH! If I had a house, I’d snap it up in a second and finish the project. We could have done a joint blog feature.
Alas, in a condo, I just don’t have the space.
Let me know what store it goes to and I’ll blog about it. Maybe one of my local readers will snap it up, share the pics, and you can see your baby in it’s final resting place.
Leila…you shouldn’t be so hard on your self! I’m just now doing a bathroom that I started buying plumbing fixtures for in the Fall ’07. And (as I posted today) I even got the tile color wrong and had to remove some that already been installed (ahem…non returnable!!). FYI: The piece of mine above was actually a mirror to begin with. Best wishes…I’m sure you’ll have many successes in the future. Trish
Leila, I saw the first image in this post on Pinterest and KNEW it came from your blog! How funny is that?
Hope you’re doing well, cousin!