a mantle

One of the things on my house wish list since we moved in was a mantle over our fireplace. With Christmas fast approaching, I wanted to make sure we had somewhere to hang our stockings with care. Luckily, my father-in-law Bob knew just the place to find the perfect one-of-a-kind mantle. Last Friday, Bob, Hayden, and I took a little trip to California Urban Lumber and sifted through their extensive collection of cut hardwoods. We found the perfect piece of walnut that had both a great width and just the right amount of character. 

The people at Urban Lumber we so friendly and helpful and they quickly sanded down the piece and squared off the back so that we could hang it right away.

On Saturday, Nick and Bob took a couple hours to hang the mantle, using two oak corbels on either side of the fireplace. We have plans to seal both the mantle and the corbels, but we wanted to live with the mantle as is for a little while. 

The mantle fits perfectly into our space and adds so much visual interest to our characterless fireplace wall. I wasted no time in decorating it with objects from around our house. The picture that previously hung there remains for now, but we have plans to DIY a giant mirror to take its place. 

Also, when we someday paint the walls a more neutral color, the light wood tones of the mantle with pop a little more, instead of blending in with the khaki wall.