Fireplace Mantle

The fireplace mantle is a thing of beauty in my opinion.  Larry's happy with how it turned out.  Our neighbors gave us some wood planks that they had cut from an old Elm tree that was destined to die.  It's been in their barn for quite a long time, amid the hay and birds.  You'll see a "before" picture and the finished product.  It took Larry quite a long time, but it turned out exactly like we hoped.  I'm very proud of him.  He also added some woodwork to the ends of the two hallways which help differentiate between the dining area and the great room.  It looks so much nicer than just the end of the wall.

This is the "pillar" that Larry added to both sides of the
opening between the great room and the dining area.
Really makes a difference!

Elm, with all it's personality... LOL.  It's great wood, very hard
and cleans up very pretty.  The grain, once it is planed out flat and
squared up, turned out just perfect!

Mantle piece is up, it's solid elm with a maple bottom cap.
Now for the finishing touches...

Now to put up our Mantle Clock and maybe some candles...

Loving it!!!

I have found that if you want to see the pictures a little bit better, just double click on one of them and it will bring them all up in whatever program you view pictures.  It only does it for the pictures in that post, so you would have to do it again for a different posting.  Enjoy!  I know I am...