Faux Fireplace Bookshelf Revamp

Happy Mini-Moon Day Night!  If you are anything like me, you notice that a full moon does bring out the crazy in most people.  I am lucky that I get to talk on the phone for a living, so the calls, like the mini-moon, have been a bit more rare and special then any other precursor full moon night.  Sigh.

The moon will be about 405,500 km away from Earth, the farthest point in it's orbit!  Awesome!  How does this all tie into my faux-fireplace bookshelf update you ask?  It doesn't.  Tee hee hee.  Just leaving you with fun facts people.  For love and justice!

Okay.  Fireplace.  Let's do this.

Sometime last Spring my fantastic parents came down for the weekend and helped me and the hubs around the house with various projects, one being the faux-fireplace.  I would tell you exactly how it was built, but that job was left for the men, while me and my Momma tended to the garden.  What I can tell you is, I purchased an old fireplace mantel and surround off Craigslist for $75.00.  If you are looking to make a faux-fireplace bookshelf of your very own, the "older" areas in Minneapolis and St. Paul have been selling lots of these little gems for reasonable prices.  You can still score one for as cheap as I did, but with the Pinterest wave, I've noticed the prices are a bit more jacked up then usual.  Do your research, pay attention to detail, don't overpay, and don't bend over.

Without further adieu, here is the fireplace after everything was said and done--

Look at these two lovebirds!  Those are my parents. Aren't they the most precious things ever?!  Who wouldn't want to know this people. Seriously.  They have played a huge role in our home transformation. We have learned so much from them.  When in doubt, call Dad.  Am I right or am I right?

I never had a problem with the fireplace in it's current state, but felt it got a little lost in the room. Throughout our years of living in our home, I've tried my hardest to maintain some sort of masculinity to some degree.  A lot of the changes made to our home were experimental.  We were trying to find the right anecdote that represented the both of us.  Sure, it was artsy fartsy like me, but a touch of boy was hiding somewhere. After a few furniture swaps, the fireplace was all that was remaining to really give our living room that extra pop we were looking for.

Enter paint... and beer.  In this edition of DIY I will transform the fireplace drinking KBC Blueberry Wheat Ale, based out of Maine.  It's BA scores a 97, but I would give it a 98 because I finished one, and drank another.  This year round beverage is carbonated, and smells like bubbling blueberries and smiles.  The pour has a nice, clear as day, golden hue, with little to no head.  This either means it is flat like Miley Cyrus' ass (for realz, guys, it just is) or it is smooth as blubber.  I am betting on smooth, and I would be happy to force feed Miley blubber too.  If only her haircut wasn't awesome... not being annoyed by her would be so much easier.  I think this beer is pretty unexpected, and would taste great no matter the season.  Beer and paint, paint and beer.  La la la la laaaa.  Prost!

I would give the paint a BA score of don't drink it and a pour of muddy.  In the last post I showed off our awesome door color. Because our home is not the biggest, I decided that painting the fireplace the same color as the door would be similar to watching synchronized swimming.  Perfectly balanced and exquisitely in unison.  I love being right about things.  I just LOVE IT!  Just in case you want a reminder on the color, because it's fabulous, it is called Squirrel Tail by Benjamin Moore in Satin.

G-Dog was there to help, as always, but was pretty disappointed with the outcome of his photo op.  He suffers from Black Dog Syndrome. It isn't his fault you can't see his face!

Normally I would tell you to sand and prime the piece you are about to paint, but in this case, that was already done, but would advise you to putty any holes with a paint-able wood filler.  Oh, and cleaning off the surface with a damp cloth before you paint isn't a bad idea either.  

I think the colors really came together in this room.  I also made sure to paint the back part of the wall within the fireplace to give it the look of a solid piece.  Wizardry tricks, I tell you.  We think it is a bit more cozy and modern looking, yet clean and functional.  Two thumbs up. I really look forward to coming home to the hubs and pup and cuddling up with a blanket in front of our newly updated fireplace... shelf.