"Fire Place" project

This bookshelf was left here at our new home by our landlords. They didn't want or need it and so I said I would keep it and try to found a use for it! It wasn't until my sister Lana came over to see our new home though that the idea of using it as a "Fire Place" came up. 

Lana went over to this piece and went on about how it looked like a fire place and how cute it would be with candles....

Lana is the crafty one, not me! But I could see what she saw and it got me thinking what I could do with it. 

Christmas was the first time that I finally was able to bring to life, as Lana saw it.  I was so excited to show her because if it wasn't for her idea, I'm not sure what I would have done with it! 

Christmas fire place... 

So, after Christmas time was over I hinted around to some people about painting this "fire place" and I didn't get a lot of great reactions lol 

Everyone liked the old wood look, but I REALLY  like the color white and wasn't quite sure if I liked the plain wood. 

 I was pretty determined about painting it but then when a friend said that she thought it would look better too, I decided I would! 

So here is the BEFORE... 

And AFTER...

Well? Am I the only one who thinks this looks TONS BETTER? I painted the whole thing with two coats of white paint, once it was dry I took a electric sander and went to town! It took MAYBE 2 minutes tops to finish it the way I wanted. 

(SHHH.. don't tell my Dad or Cain that I used the sander... .. they would have freaked out watching me handle that sander!)  

So side by side you can see how much "Newer" it looks yet still has the vintage look about it. 

 I'm excited to see what I can do with this every season this year!

Here I wanted a Valentine's Day theme, might still add to this but for now I'm happy with it :)

Thanks to Lana and Jessica for the awesome ideas!