Left to my own devices...

Mr. Man left on a "Man's Trip" to visit Mr. Uncle, and Mr. Friend, which meant I was left at home alone to hold down the fort.  I think Mr. Man gets a little nervous leaving me home alone, because he is never certain what I'll do next.  With my recent home project streak, I think he feared he would arrive home and find the Juan's had moved back in and the front half of the house torn down.  (Oh, how I miss the Juan's, shhhh, don't tell but this Christmas I'm asking Santa to bring the Juan's back!) 

While Mr. Man was gone, I just reached my breaking point with the Living Room.  That fireplace makes me want to poke my eyes out, plus the living room lacks a place to be festive.  I need a mantle to decorate and add some flair to the boring room.  So, I became determined to make a mantle. 

I started with this mantle shelf that I found in my friends garage, and after some cuts on Mr. Man's table saw, I came up with this:

Not to shabby, eh?  Okay, so I'm kidding.   I couldn't figure out how to pull the table saw out of the crevice Mr. Man has it wedged into, so I gave up.  Then I turned to my new best friend Craig (aka Craigslist) and found several mantel's for sale.   This mantel was ridiculously cheap and cost less than our dinner at Souplantation on the way to pick it up from it's owners.   (Bonus, it was my dad's birthday and we took him out for his birthday, then stopped a few towns over from his house to pick up the Mantel. Souplantation was my Dad's first choice, and it was Punk Day at school, hence the blue hair on Mr. Boy.)

It only took about 10 minutes to install, took less than one minute for it to turn into a Lego Battlefield. 

While I love the Mantel, especially for the price it was a steal.  However, I don't love these wood decals or whatever they are.  I want to pry them off., I think they are too fancy for the Chalet.  What do you think? 

My other problem is I'm not digging the color.  This room is so very brown, and I really think I want to paint it with some white chalk paint, and paint the wall behind it a dark color... Mr. Man is voting for a deep grey-green and I'm voting for Navy.

I refuse to cover the Dorothy Chairs until I get the color palette nailed down... not to sway your vote or anything but wouldn't they look amazing with white legs and Navy velvet on them?