I love fireplaces. To me, they warm your soul, not just your body. Since hubby and I have been married, Ive dreamed of having one. I grew up having a fireplace. I loved helping my dad carry in wood and build a fire during the cold winter months. He taught me all about kindling and what worked best. Sometimes, he would even let me start it myself and I always felt so proud when I was able to get a fire going as good as he could. To this day the scent of a fireplace burning somewhere in the air outside takes me right back to those special times with my dad. It stops me in my tracks and I remember how much pride he seemed to take in building a fire for his family on cold evenings.
Our house doesnt have one and since I cant build a functioning fireplace, I decided to do the next best thing, a faux version. It might not be just like what I had growing up but it certainly reminds me of that and brings back wonderful memories. And hopefully it will provide a feeling of warmth for our kids too.
I used the cheaper wood from Lowes that is full of knot holes and it cost me a little under $100 to build. I followed this tutorial, somewhat. It took me an afternoon to build and I painted and added the barn wood the next day. Not too bad as far as being time consuming. And it really wasnt as hard as I thought it was going to be. Ive wanted to build one forever but always felt it was too intimidating. It wasnt once I got started.
To achieve a glowing "fire" look, I built a box from the remaining scraps of barn wood and filled it with burlap, Christmas lights and wood logs. To really make it seem real and have a little fun with it, I play my crackling fire in the fireplace app on my ipad. :) A couple of times, I even caught myself going to stand in front of it to "get warm". Silly, I know.
I am so happy with it and really, when I look at it, I cant believe I did it. I know my dad would be super proud.
For the top, I used an extra thick piece of barn wood that I sanded down and waxed.
I decided against using candles in the box as I didnt want to be worried about wax dripping everywhere, which seems to always be a problem when I group candles together and burn them. Luckily, there is an outlet directly behind the barn wood so I cut a small hole in the wood to provide an opening so I could plug in the lights and have it be perfectly hidden.
Cant wait to decorate it for the holidays!!
Have a wonderful day!
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Welcome to Monday Everyone!
Here is a simple step by step tutorial on how to fix peeling wood veneer.
This technique is best used for furniture you will be finishing with paint.
But first,a few things to consider...
Peeling veneer can become a big mess!
So, always check any piece you are considering
buying for loose or peeling veneer.
If it looks like a lot is coming off,
you may want to reconsider.
And,
On this piece, the peeling veneer was localized to the bottom trim which made it manageable. Since veneer was already coming off, I removed any more loose veneer.
But word of caution, if the veneer is not already coming off,
but it is just lifting up...do not pull up and remove,
reapply with wood glue!
Ghosts from the Titanic
Captain Morgan
Energizer Bunny
