Hole Be Gone

Slowly but surely, this house is starting to feel more like us. Most importantly, we are starting to bring in a lot of pieces that we love and really cozy up the place as we head into the cooler months. One project that has been on our list since mid summer, was finally completed last night. We finally addressed the big alcove over our fireplace...

It was obviously put there for the purpose of people placing TV's there (our house is about 10 years old). Well, we don't have a TV that would fit in there (nor would we want it to), and we don't even have cable, so we needed to figure out another solution. 

While out shopping at Canadian Tire near the end of July, we spotted some small oars on sale for $8 each. We looked at them for a while and then started talking about using an old pallet to cover the alcove over the fireplace and attaching the oars to it. The idea stuck and home came the oars... and then sat in our garage until Monday (you may have caught a peek if you follow me on Instagram).

While B was working away on our dining table (reveal post to come next week... I promise), he decided it was time to get the pallet out of our garage as well. I cleared off the mantle and we took some time to take measurements and discuss how we wanted everything to look. We decided that we wanted it to reach from the mantle all the way up to the crown moulding, and be as wide as we could get it at that point (which worked out to be about 4 feet). 

So, B spent some time cutting the pallet, including ripping down the boards on the back so it wouldn't take up the entire mantle on us. Then, he tied the oars together, drilled a couple of holes into the pallet and attached everything using some thick coated wire. 

From this point, our original plan was to attach the pallet using anchors and large hinges that we'd picked up at The Home Depot. So, B took some more measurements, removed the shelf, looked for studs and then went about attaching the hinges to the wall...

See all the holes in the wall in the above photo? It took a few tries to find the studs. B also decided not to use anchors since the majority of the weight of the pallet would actually rest on the mantle anyway.

Once both hinges were attached to the wall, I crawled into the alcove and B was going to hold the pallet right up flat to the ceiling while I screwed the other half of the hinges to the pallet. That plan was quickly shot down when we realized there wasn't enough room for the pallet to fit between the hinge and the crown moulding. Poor planning on our part. So the hinges were removed, and B decided to drill the whole thing directly into the studs...

And how did that work out for us, you're wondering? Well take a look for yourself...

We had known the pallet was pretty crooked, but didn't realize how bad it was until it was all attached to the wall. There was no way we could live with this wonky looking pallet over our fireplace. It made everything look off.

So, off it came again (by this time it was probably around 8:30pm) and B took it back out to the garage to work his magic. His plan was to cut it on an angle along the bottom, so we could lift it slightly on one side when we attached it to the wall. He figured this would be the best way to counteract how crazy it was all looking... and well, it looks much, much better now!

It's a huge improvement from the large gaping hole that existed there before, and I think it will be perfect to decorate seasonally. I can already picture a wreath hanging over the pallet, with a garland draped across the mantle, for Christmas. Now if only B would let me start decorating!

We have other plans for the fireplace, and room as well. I'm itching to paint everything but with such a large open area in our home, it will be a big investment to get it all painted. We'd also like to change the tile on the face and hearth of the fireplace. We like the idea of stacked stone for the face, kind of like this. All in time of course! Up next - finishing the dining table and Halle's bedroom!

Any big projects you're trying to finish up before the holiday rush really begins?