Rustic Mantel a Perfect Look with Stacked Stone

This fireplace looks like the perfect place to cuddle up and read a book on a chilly fall evening.  The stacked stone and the distressed wood mantel give the room a rustic feel.  Distressed or reclaimed wood makesMantel beautiful furniture, shelves, and handcrafted mantels.  Taken from old barns and buildings, reclaimed antique wood is in high demand but is usually expensive since there's a limited supply.  If you can't find reclaimed wood with a price within your budget, you can find furniture and mantels pieces that have the look of reclaimed wood at a lower price.  Wood can be crafted to look old and rustic even though it's new.  Take a look at this rustic- looking mantel that can add an interesting focal point to your fireplace:  http://www.brick-anew.com/the-ridgewood-fireplace-shelf.html

Valentine Mantel by Simply Creating Home

Have you had a chance to make cornstarch dough stamped hearts ?  I just loved how fun it was to work with the dough.  I suppose it brings back good memories of playing with Playdoh as a child!  The simple hearts I created with the dough turned out so well, I’m using them on all sorts of things.

My hurricane votive's worked great for a base for tying them on.  I found the plaid cotton fabric in my fabric stash and loved all of the pastel colors. I ripped strips that were about 1/4 inch wide across the width of the fabric.

For my large votive, I tied a bow and then tied on two hearts that had a single hole.  One heart I cut using my larger heart cookie cutter on just the swirled dough. The second smaller heart I stamped with my word stamp while the dough was a lighter pink and used the mini heart cutter.

TO SEE THE THE REST OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PROJECT PLEASE VISIT LAURIE AT:

SimplyCreatingHome.com

To see some truly beautiful fireplace mantels for your home check out these suggestions:

Wood Fireplace Mantels

Rustic Fireplace Mantels

Economy Mantels

Best Rooms For a Fireplace

There is a special feeling you get when entering a room with a fireplace. Many rooms can have one, but what are the best rooms for a fireplace? While fireplaces are most frequently found in the living room, more and more homes have them located in the kitchen or in the bedroom. If you're unsure where to place your fireplace, then try to look at some of the pros and cons of having the fireplace in each place.

The Living Room – Having a fireplace here is great because you can start the fire before friends or family arrive and have the room take on a glow it doesn't normally feature. There's nothing better than watching a movie on the screen over the mantle with a warm fireplace and a bag of popcorn while surrounded by your favorite people. The living room is also a central location in most houses, and the heat can more easily reach other parts of the home.

The Kitchen – While some older kitchens have wood stoves for cooking, others have full-sized fireplaces. Fireplaces in kitchens can definitely add a new dimension to the overall design plans of a kitchen, but one should consider that fireplaces take up a lot of space that could otherwise be used for more counter and cabinet space. With today’s modern conveniences, most homeowners would rather have more space in the kitchen to be used for other purposes.

The Bedroom – Anywhere a fireplace is installed in a home people can benefit from the warms that it produces, but in the bedroom a fireplace can have much more of an impact on the room’s atmosphere than anywhere else. It will certainly add a bit of romance for the alone time with your partner. Having a mantle over the fireplace can be a great place to store personal items for easy access.

Overall, everyone agrees that fireplaces are really cool!  They certainly add a cozy element to your home. Just make absolutely sure that you check your local building codes before you start thinking about adding a fireplace into your home décor plans. You can also consult with a local expert to find out whether a wood or electric fireplace is best for your home.  After that, you can decide which room above you liked the best!

Allison Cooper is a writer and editor for Beyond Stores, a trusted online seller of heavily discounted name brand furniture and home decor accessories like this Jofran Double Drop Leaf Pub Table.  When not working, Allison enjoys knitting, DIY projects, and the company of her two sons Marcus and Noah.

May I also suggest you look at these fine ideas for your fireplace:

Masonry Paint - Brick Color Themes that keeps your brick looking like brick

Wrought Iron Fireplace Doors - A majestic accent to any fireplace

Rustic Mantel - High light your gorgeous fireplace 

Rustic Fireplace Mantels

A Beautiful Rustic Fireplace Mantel

Would you like to make your fireplace a great focal point and add something that makes it look truly unique? You can dress up that fireplace with a unique look and not spend a fortune by going with a natural wood rustic fireplace mantel. Each one of these rustic fireplace mantels and shelves are one of a kind.

The selection of rustic fireplace mantels includes a wide variety of beautiful woods, each cut uniquely so you can customize your fireplace and make it like no other. All are a horizontal shelf only and not a full mantel; that is they do not have legs or columns extending down to the hearth.

Rustic logs with a rougher cut add a touch of an earlier time or culture and can fit well in a cabin that’s rustic or as a unique decorative piece in a modern home. In a modern background, these natural cuts of wood shelves resemble more a piece of artwork than a simple shelf. The richness and beauty of the natural wood and its one of a kind shape can make it appear to “pop” from the wall in a dramatic fashion. Sometimes you need the decorative shelf for an area of your home other than above a fireplace. Rustic mantel shelves are not just for having above fireplaces any more. They can add character in a variety of places as an accent piece.

The rustic mantel shelves come in a selection of fine woods that include basswood, butternut, mahogany, walnut and pine. Most of these are available in several finish options. They are cut and sold by the linear foot. The unfinished log mantels are rough hewn or planed only. A little cleanup and sanding are normally required. If you want to save on labor, purchase the unfinished and sanded version. These are hewn or planed, sanded and ready for you to stain and finish. For the least amount of work, a finished version is offered which is finished and ready to install.

The Natural Face comes in basswood, butternut, and walnut and is a cut where on some logs the bark of the tree comes off during the sawing and drying process. The exposed bare edges will show the shape of the log along with knots and character marks. These mantels are the best value because no extra labor is required to prepare it for sale.

If the bark adheres well to the mantel piece throughout the manufacturing process it can be used as Bark Face finished. They offer the most rustic look available. The bark cannot be guaranteed to stay on indefinitely without some tacks or glue. Customers who have installed these mantels for the past ten years have reported few problems. These mantels are more difficult to find than the other styles, so fewer of them may be available. They are only available in basswood.

The Square Face style has more of a traditional flat face that allows the same grain patterns as seen on the top and bottom to shine through the rustic wood. These are available in basswood, butternut, walnut and mahogany.

The Draw Knife Face finish is one where the face of the mantel may have been damaged in the manufacturing process but has been smoothed out with a draw knife. The grain will show normally as in a Square Face mantel, but the mantel will retain the log edge look and the ends of the mantel will stay square. These are also available in basswood, butternut, walnut and mahogany.

The Carved Face cut is where the front face and ends of the mantels are molded and shaped with carving tools to add depth and character to the final product. Mantels carved in this fashion will accentuate knots on the mantel face. If cracks have developed in the drying process, they will be softened. These come in the same four wood varieties.

All of these rustic fireplace shelves are easy to assemble and install. The average homeowner with basic skills can install his own mantle shelf in an afternoon. The tools and supplies needed for a mantel shelf kit installation are typically a hammer, level, electric drill with a Phillips bit or a Phillips screwdriver, a 3/16” drill bit, and a little wood glue. A stud finder may be helpful.

Each of these rustic fireplace mantels has their own unique personality. If you love the look of natural wood, you’ll enjoy these rustic fireplace mantel kits for their warmth and uniqueness. Now that you have your rustic mantel, use it to showcase items that complement the fireplace. They’re great locations for artwork, such as portraits or landscapes, vases or small sculptures. Family heirlooms are often placed there to share with family and friends.