New Mantle Reveal

For the longest time, I was a decorating dork – I knew I liked certain styles, but didn’t have the ability (or extra money) to recreate the looks I saw in books, magazines and some of my favorite blogs.

But this year I had a plan. I decided I would visit one or two stores a week and get one or two pieces at a time, and only choose things I absolutely LOVE. The first area I tackled was my mantle. It has always looked sad and empty to me and I wanted to cheer it up a bit, especially for the fall.

This is what it looked like before (well, this is what it looks like empty, but you can imagine a few sad pictures and knickknacks, right? Oh, and minus the jumping boys – lol):

And this is after:

I have to say I am in LOVE with these candlesticks (especially the tall one!):

I love that I can put little things for each season in these:

There is still a bit of work to be done – that birdhouse will eventually be black, and I do have some pictures on the sides of this area, but I have a chair project coming up that I want to reveal as well

PS – everything you see here (except for the mirror) either came from ross or joann, and the total cost of all the items was less than $100!

I’m particiapting in Kimba’s DIY day at Soft Place to Land