Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The New Look in our Sitting Room

Greeting, friends!

Recently, my husband and I did a little DIY project in our sitting room that I wanted to share!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love decorating mantels.  And, while we have a fireplace in our great room that I love to decorate, I have wanted to create the "illusion" of one in our sitting room, too ... giving me another spot to have fun with for the seasons and/or holidays.

After weeks of scouring Craigslist, this gem came home with us!


Admittedly, we were pretty clueless how to "properly" attach this heavy surround to the wall.  But, after getting a $400 estimate from a contractor to do it for us (um, no thanks), we decided we needed to learn and turned to good ol' Youtube, finding a super easy tutorial.  

That's when my husband got to work.  He first used his Dremel to cut out the base molding on the back wall so that the surround would sit flush against it.  I then placed a thin piece of birch wood on the floor to resemble a hearth. 


I then nailed a piece of faux brick panel to the wall, and then my husband mounted three 1" x 36" pieces of wood (or mounting strips) to the wall.  He then screwed the surround into the mounting strips ... and voila!

After he was finished, I then painted the faux brick panel with Annie Sloane's "Pure White" chalk paint and added 4" trim panels beside and below the legs and header.


Here is the result!  Well the "almost" end result.


I couldn't wait to decorate it ... naturally, a coastal-themed *mantelscape* was in order.


I was happy to dust off our boat for its "maiden voyage" onto our new mantel!



Silver candlesticks from IKEA paired with natural branches finished it off.


And, for the crowning touch above the mirror, I made a little sign ... 



encouraging you to "relax" a bit in here.


Over on the left, I placed our duck egg accent chest in front of the window and framed it with my favorite curtains that used to hang in our sunroom.


Another ship came floating in to complete this little vignette:



Over on the right (where the blue accent chest used to sit), I pushed our antique "chalk painted" secretary in from the foyer to balance the weight of the windows on the left side.



After my pieces were all in place, I realized the room needed *something* else ... that's when the bright coral pillows appeared.


I then layered summery floral pillows over them just for fun.  


You might have noticed that I brought the seascape prints in from our sunroom, too!  Of course, this means that changes had to be made in that room now that I had left it bare ... oops.  I'll share those changes soon.


I can't thank my sweet husband enough for helping my vision come to life and, admittedly, can't wait to splash Fall on it and add cozy candles on the hearth ... is that bad?!


So, if you've wanted to add a "fireplace," you can always add the illusion of one by mounting a surround to your wall ... Youtube will teach you how to do it!  ;)

Thanks for stopping by ...
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Savvy Southern Style/WUW

30 comments:

  1. Becca, that looks so good and I'm loving the pops of orange.

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  2. Gorgeous room Becca and I love how you transformed it from "feeling blue." The pops of orange and subtle turquoise tones are wonderful with all that white! You will have smooth sailing for the rest of the summer!
    Jenna

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  3. Becca, that looks like it came with the house. Love the faux brick and I love what you put on the mantel. Then of course the pops of coral are what makes it all pull together. Just perfection!

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  4. I bet if you had your choice, you would have a mantel in every room!....Of course you quickly decorated the mantel in a most beautiful way. Love that the room has 4 individual chairs. Kudos to you two for tackling the installation on your own. The room is so pretty Becca....great job to be so well proud of!

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  5. Beautiful job! As always, your room turned out so light and airy. Love the colors in there!
    Shelley

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  6. Yay, you're back Becca!! I've missed you & your gorgeous bright home!! I adore that fireplace & all your cute touches!! Happy Wednesday friend!!!

    Paige.Rose
    from
    www.TheQuaintSanctuary.blogspot.com

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  7. I am mesmerized with your beautiful room. I love each and every detail, and the bright pillows make the whole view pop. Would love to emulate in my living room.

    Thanks so much for sharing.

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  8. Amazing job making it look like it was always there. And you decorated it so beautifully!!

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  9. I love this room, such bright and cherry colors. I am from the Gulf Coast of Texas and miss the water. You have brought in a welcome touch. You are an awesome and talented "friend."

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  10. What a great idea, Becca. It turned out fabulous! Your sitting room is awesome.

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  11. Love the new 'fireplace', and your room looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I particularly like the pop of colour with the bright pillows, both plain and patterned.

    Judi in the UK

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  12. I love this room and the mantel is the finishing touch. Perfect and what a great find.

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  13. Becca, I love your sitting room! The colors are beautiful and so relaxing! The fireplace is a perfect accent to this room. You are wonderful at decorating mantels! What a great idea to add this one. It reminds me of the one in my grandmother's 1830 farmhouse. They bricked it up to keep the cold breeze out.

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  14. Becca, Picture perfect! Can you come to Texas and please decorating my home! I really want to use the brick look.

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  15. Beautiful as always, you have the touch for making every room picture perfect! Love your blog.

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  16. Love it!! So pretty and light and bright!

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  17. Becca beautiful room love tour touches. The columns are pretty too

    Cindy

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  18. What a beautiful room. The mantel is perfect and so is the pop of color.

    hugs
    Sissie

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  19. A fantastic DIY project! Love the chairs instead of a couch!

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  20. Becca such a stunning room!

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  21. So beautiful! Love every single detail.

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  22. Beautiful as usual Becca. Love the pops of orange!!

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  23. Great job Becca! I have a faux fireplace too in my living room and I love it! My mantel is pretty deep, so I put the electric fireplace inside, and create the impression it`s real. Your sitting room was beautiful before, but now it's just perfect.
    xoxo

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  24. Great looking room! So bright and charming. Love the warmth of the faux fireplace. It adds charm.

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  25. Your room is simply breathtaking! There are so many beautiful details to take in here. I am in the process of adding my own touches to a beach cottage, and I am certainly inspired by many of your decor items. Thanks for sharing this lovely room.

    Joanne @ Sea Glass Cottage

    http://www.seaglasscottagegulf.blogspot.com

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  26. I so admire your handiwork, Becca! And the stunning result! It's hard to imagine that space without it now. Such a beautifully prefessional design you have going. I love how fresh and crisp it all is. So nice to know that you stopped by my place!

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  27. Becca, that looks amazing! I usually don't like faux mantels, but I have to say you won me over with yours. It really looks like it belongs there. Gorgeous room! Love the sailboats, signs and the fun pops of orange! Thank you for sharing. Feel free to share this at next week's Make it Pretty Monday party. I took this week off, since my niece is getting married on Saturday and we are all in the big, final push to make sure all is ready! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  28. As per my opinion sitting room is a place where u can feel relax easily and for that u have to decorate your room according to that, u did it with perfection. color combination and design makes your sitting room more comfortable.

    Home Decor

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I appreciate your comments!