Progress Pictures

Today's post doesn't have the usual eye candy...unless you dig construction photos. But, these photos are eye candy to me because my dream of having a proper fireplace mantel, plus bookcase built-ins, is coming true!

My father-in-law spent the weekend with us to help Carter tackle this project in our living room, and the guys got a ton done in two days.

Here is what we were starting with - a very thick moulding around our brick hearth:

I thought about the mantel design for months with different concept sketches and decorative ideas, but wasn't coming up with anything great - until I came across this image on Flickr. It had the simple lines I was after, plus the bonus of showing the mantel tied in with low bookcases:

So, we used this photo for inspiration - and after some adjustments and dimension-sketching to make it work for our actual space, we they got started.

Here are some progress pictures:

By last night, the mantel was finished and the left-side bookcase was over halfway done! I'm thrilled with how it is coming along, and I think Carter has learned enough from his dad to finish up the job. Woohoo!

The mantel and the top of the bookcases are nice and wide, so I'll have a field day decorating those. And we'll finally have a spot for family photo frames, books and all the little items that make a space feel lived in (and I can stop staring at a big blank wall).

I'll post some update pictures when it's all installed!