My "Mantel"

Greetings All. Since I started blogging I've noticed A LOT of posts on mantels. It made me a little sad because I don't have one to dress-up and showoff here in blogland. Then one morning I was in my kitchen looking at the top of my hutch, which is decorated. DUH - That's my "mantel". I got my hutch off Kijiji  for $50 nearly two years ago. I was sooo excited to finally get one. Since I was 17 or so my mom has been collecting pieces for me and I've received different things as gifts or picked them up at thrifts stores. But I never had anywhere to display them.

After months of searching for a cheap hutch, cheap in price not quality, I finally came across mine. In the photo it looked much smaller and we thought it would fit in the trunk of our car. It has a huge trunk!! Five or six bodies, if ya know what I mean. ; )  heehee So we went to pick it up. Yeah, it was twice as big as we anticipated. Uh oh! How would we get it home?? Well, the lady that was selling it was soo nice and actually offered to help us move it in her SUV. What a nice woman she was!

We got it home and I've be restyling the top of it ever since. Hence, my "mantel". The top could be secured to the wall to hang, but that would require us to find the studs and probably a lot of holes with anchors in the wall. I just have it sitting on top of the buffet. So here's my hutch! BTW, now that I'm into the blogging scene I've discovered the wonder of paint. I'm totally thinking she needs a good coat of creamy white and a bright color in the back of the cupboards!

This is what the top looked like a week ago, kind of summery. I'm loving aqua and orange these days, so they're kind of the accent colors I've been using. It looked this was for a couple months, with a few minor changes in that time. The addition of the two milk glass vases on the left and the pitcher on the right. Total cost for all three things, $5. Love thrifting!! 

Then I switched it up to this. It was OK, but I felt like the right side needed something with a pop of color to balance out the orange plant pot on the left. 

I threw a vintage plate up there. Well, I didn't really throw it. I gently placed it. : )  I also removed a couple bowls and switched around the vases. I'm liking it much better. 

What do you think? Does the picture on the left look better or the picture on the right? 

With plate or without? 

My tiny fern. It was part of a terrarium I'd made a while back. All the plants in it had grown to large for me to put the top on so my fern started dying because of the lack of humidity. I cut off a bunch of prawns with hopes of saving it. We'll see if it survivors or not. There's pretty much no humidity here in Calgary, so I'm not to optimistic it'll make it. 

This old pitcher and glasses set was my Grandma's. My mom used to drink Kool-Aid out of it when she was a kid. I just love it and am happy it's finally being displayed. It's sitting on top of a vintage glass tray I found on Kijiji. I got it, another circular divided tray and 6 etched glass champagne glasses for $15.
I just love vintage finds for my kitchen.  : ) 

That's it, my version of a mantel. I guess I could have taken a shot of the whole thing for you, but my table is kind of in the way to get a good shot. The bottom has four small drawers and two big cupboards doors that look just like the top except instead of glass for the middle it's just wood. They house the girls' drawing paper, markers, ect. And one of the big cupboards holds things like my crock pot and espresso maker. 

So, how do you like it? Think I should paint it? I'm thinkin' yeah.  : )

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