Mantel Magic

I'm am so excited to finally post about the biggest piece of my Going Coastal room transformation.  Taking deep breaths, take your time, slow down. Okay I'm good now.

I first told you about starting my Coastal feel room makeover here.  I had great success with the first few projects of the room, but I was struggling with finding the right shutters to create the headboard in the inspiration photo.  Finally, thanks to Wonder Hubby, we found the right piece.  Read all about our find here. 

Now I was ready to get to the fun stuff.  This is how the mantel looked when we purchased it. 

First step was cleaning and cleaning and more cleaning.  We were so excited to try it in the room, we were cleaning like crazy!  I didn't think I would be able to use it as is but it was worth trying to clean.  It had years of crud buildup that just would not come clean, so I had some painting to do, but first we had to test it out.  It was perfect (wish you could hear me sing Perfect) because it made me sing to see it in place.  It fit the space and the bed width perfectly.

1st Test in the Room.  I'm gonna love it.  Also had to test a couple of accessory ideas!

After seeing it in the room, I couldn't drag it to the garage fast enough.  I sanded the whole piece and Wonder Hubby repaired some loose pieces and removed a lot of nails that had no purpose.  The one problem we had with using the mantel as a headboard was the opening.   The opening width was fine but there was a lot of open space between the bed and the bottom of the mantel.   Hmmmm..so we studied the situation and decided we could fill the space with bead board.  Part of this decision was made because we had a piece just lollying about in the garage waiting for a purpose.  It was meant to be because it was just barely enough to fit.

We are so Redneck Creative using Paint Sticks are Joiner Pieces
Hey it's free and works:)


Then it was painting time. I love the look of chippy/distressed furniture and I love creating this look. BDJ totally does not get buying old and then redoing and then distressing to get old again....and when I think about it, it is a little nutty. 

Nutty or not I couldn't get going soon enough. I waxed all the areas I felt would look best distressed and then painted. The paint I used is Porter Paints interior flat latex in Cream Puff and I already had this paint, yippee it's free. Then I waited patiently paced a track around the garage while the paint dried.   Now came the fun part. Using my handy dandy sanding block, I started knocking the paint off the waxed areas.  I love dong this!  Soon I realized that you can have too much of a good thing and I had gone way beyond too much. So back to square one, I painted it again. Do ya'll do that? Sometimes I end up painting things multiple times before I am happy or before I can stop myself from going too far. The second try turned out perfectly, just enough chippy areas. The picture below shows the mantel with the 1st painting and the beaded board attached.

Yea.... Finally I had just the right look.   The black bead board required a couple of coats of paint to cover. 

 I was so excited to try it in the room all complete, but I used this excitement to help kick me into gear to get a bedskirt made to use.  I had purchased a box pleated bedskirt but I should have know that I was putting too much faith in a SteinMart 9.99 special.  When I got it home it was just too thin for me so I decided to patiently wait for the right one.

My patience lasted about 2 days.  I knew I should wait for the right one, but I really wanted to have the room together before BDJ came home for a visit and I was running out of time.  I rationalized that if I didn't have to buy anything and could make one that would do for more I could justify buying "the one" later.  So I went shopping in storage bins and closets.  Lucky me,  I had an old sheet in butter yellow that matched a stripe in the shams I told you about here.  Yes!!!  I was ready to go but some of that life stuff happened.

My ankle biter Chloe developed pancreatitis and we were told she might not recover.  She spent 5 days in the doggie hospital and I spent 5 days crying.  Isn't it amazing how empty your home is without the unconditional, unwavering love and presence of your pet?  Our prayers were answered and not only did she recover but she had an underlying condition that if she had not developed pancreatitis would have gone undetected that she would not have recovered from.  I am happy to report that she is 100% now. In fact, she feels better than she has in a couple of years.  We are thankful.

Chloe came home on Tuesday and on Thursday my brother had to have emergency surgery. He came home by the weekend and is also doing well.  With that behind me I was able to get started. 

Mother most definately helped me with this project. We stripped the sheet into 6 pieces and joined them end to end.  Then we started to hem...and we hemmed and hemmed.  Finally onto the most frustrating fun part: the pining and the gathering.  I used the 9.99 special as an underlayer (it helped create a little more fullness).   While I gathered, and gathered, and gathered, Chloe assisted.  Bless her heart, I didn't realize she could be any more needy, but she seems to fully understand she was very, very sick and she is not quick to let me forget it. 

With all the help from Chloe, this project went incredibly quickly so incredibly slow.  The bedskirt was complete and after about 3 tedious hours of ironing and starching, it was ready to put on the bed.  Now the bedding (well the "for now" bedding) is complete and I'm ready for the headboard.  Wonder Hubby and I moved it in and he secured the headboard to the wall using L brackets.   Okay ya'll try to be excited for me even though I haven't gotten that professional photography and fluffing down yet....ready?

I love it!  I still can't show the whole transformation because I have another little project on each side of the bed that I still have to reveal, but trust me, it is coming soon.  It isn't exactly what I had in mind when I saw the inspiration picture, but it has turned into exactly what I wanted.  Don't you love it when that happens?

Thanks for stopping by. 

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