Dear Julie: Building a mantel is not a difficult do-it-yourself task. If you think adding a complete wood surround is beyond your skill level, try just cleaning the bricks first. With a good cleaning, ...

Whenever we finish a big project - in this case, a privacy fence in our backyard made out of doors - I think, we need to chill out for a while before we start something new. But then I read blogs or ...

Bring autumn indoors with a creative mantel display that uses natural textures and warm tones. A few simple additions can ...

The fireplace mantel is the jewelry box of the house. Like the latter, it holds prized possessions and coveted family ...

Most of us have fireplace mantels, but we don’t know what to put on them. And that’s a shame, because the fireplace is a room’s focal point, and the hearth is the heart of a home. The best mantel ...

Spring is in the air, and now is the time to ditch darker colors, along with heavy materials and textures to welcome all things that embody the renewal that comes with the season. While a fireplace ...

It’s hard to imagine a shelf that people obsess over more than the fireplace mantel. And sure, it’s more than a shelf—it can help protect your wall from the smoke of the fire occasionally roaring ...

The holidays have come and gone. Yet winter lingers, and we in the Pacific Northwest are left with several more months of cold rain, early sunsets and gray days. To lift your spirits and escape the ...

Cut to moving into my current (and final) apartment in May, and there was a perfect spot to put a faux fireplace: a huge ...