Okay, so here’s the deal. While I was away on a trip to Alabama in May, T.J. was a total darling and installed a fireplace mantel in our bedroom for me. I’ve always wanted a mantel in our house. But, we don’t have a fireplace, at all. So my hopes and dreams of decorating a mantel, and channeling my inner Martha for every season of the year, were dashed when we settled on our lovely, mantel-less little home. UNTIL!!! We ripped out this giant (ugly) shelf/insert combination in our bedroom last year. This little indented wall space became the perfect place for my someday mantel. I searched high and low, at all sorts of thrift, vintage, re-uzit and Habitat For Humanity type stores.. but every mantel I found was either too expensive or way too big,.. due to it being ripped out of some 1920′s Great Gatsby type mansion. Again, my mantel-dreams were crushed.

UNTIL!!!! I went for a walk on a Saturday morning in May, before a wedding, and stumbled upon this little off-white mantel sitting on the sidewalk… all alone… and only $15!!! I immediately asked the man selling it if he could go inside his house, find a tape measure, and then tell me the dimensions of the mantel he was selling. I think he thought it was kinda weird that I knew exactly what size I wanted my mantle to be – especially after I told him I didn’t have an actual fireplace anywhere in my house. Regardless, the mantel was 53″ across… and I needed it to be 51″… so I told him I’d take it and make it work!

Then it sat in my garage for weeks… until, like I said before, my wonderful (and handsome) husband installed it while I was traveling. And now.. I’m vowing to all of you, that I’m going to paint that darn mantle white, so I can start decorating it. I’m certain I’ll be much happier every morning when I open my eyes and see my lovely mantle staring back at me – full of color coordinated books and brass animals.

I’m using these amazing mantles as motivation to paint mine this week. It’s happening. You heard it here first.