Free Improvements: A work in progress

The new faux fireplace had a glaring problem, the back wall. The molding and wall stood out in stark contrast to the burgundy tone of the mantel and surround. The natural choice is stone or, for me, bricks I had lining a former vegetable garden. I gathered 15 bricks before my heart said, "No more!" I am still recovering from November's surgery and hospitalization and wonder if I'll ever return to normal. What is normal anymore, I wonder.

My son, who hates change, complained that all the things on my popular former entry table would have nowhere to go. Accepting it as a challenge, I made a point of taking everything from the table and finding a place for it here. I will, of course, change it later as I shop my home when I decide to alter things. For now though I have succeeded in placing everything except one thing, a picture. Instead a picture formerly hanging above the mirror has been swapped out for the Irish photograph I had before. I stacked the bricks I gleaned, splitting one to accommodate the pattern shift. I am not finished and need another 15 bricks to complete the back wall of the fireplace. I suspect I'll use stucking putty the higher I go up the wall to hold them together and to the wall.

From this angle the wall is more apparent and highlights the sharp contrast in light and color.

A faux fireplace added to the entry in the living room

Pottery with a branch and added faux moss, a metal handled pitcher, the Chinoiserie ashtray I found recently, and a Chinese box with brass bats.