The Red Mantel

OK so this isn’t strictly a DIY project, since I didn’t really do anything except collect the bottles. When we moved in, our flat was unfurnished and plain, except for this lovely splash of colour above the fireplace. In an empty room it was quite a statement and a bit harsh on the eye, but with furniture and some decorations I adore it. The boyfriend and I aren’t really red people and for a month or so the fireplace was the most striking thing in the room. I felt I was being glared at by the wall. Isn’t it funny how red can be such a warm, loving, hearty colour sometimes and other times be so angry and confrontational? The colour for passion was aptly chosen.

I had a bright red starry curtain packed away with plans to sew it into a skater dress and some cushion covers. I love the print but thought I would never be able to pull off such a bold design as a curtain. After seeing the red fireplace though, I excitedly whipped them out of storage and luckily they just fit the dimensions of the window. The white stars break the monotony of red expanse, and it just pulls the room together so nicely.

The mantelpiece was still depressingly bare though. I experimented with a few paintings and ornaments but nothing could stand their ground with the red background competing for attention. I do have a habit of collecting useless (but pretty!) junk, and I had a few glass bottles I was using as vases which by-the-by ended up on the mantelpiece. The effect of the dark green glass caught my artistic eye, which is usually looking off somewhere else and being of no help to me.

I quickly collected enough bottles to line the mantelpiece end-to-end (who said being a bartender doesn’t pay off?), although I did have a hand in emptying the contents of some of the bottles I already had. I specifically wanted darker coloured glass in browns and greens, since clear glass would be a useless decoration in this instance. I absolutely love the way the red shows through the different hues of green and brown. I would have loved more variety in shape and height, but I think they strike a nice balance as is. I also searched for some coveted blue glass bottles, but the only ones I could find in liquor stores contained spirits with unpronounceable names and unmentionable prices.

And so, with much merriment, the green and brown bottles were emptied of their contents, removed of their labels and washed, and became a lovely mantel decoration. There is an assortment of wine and whisky, sherry and champagne bottles - can you spot which are which? I am a hesitant to mention that as I arranged them I was singing “there were five green bottles, hanging on the wall”, but by now I’m sure you have realized how corny my humour is. I would like to inform you that luckily, no green bottle did accidentally fall, and the number of bottles remained constant.

The shells and candles and assorted niknaks with no place to go have sort of accumulated and formed a union with the bottles, which I think also breaks the linear border somewhat. I’m quite pleased to have transformed a corner that dominated the room into a statement piece that still has eye-catching power but isn’t as overbearing. I do love my bright colours and the boldness of the colour cheers the room up pleasingly.

P.S. I apologise if the clay bust (situated bottom left) alarms you – it was a first year art project modelled to my (very vague) likeness, and depicts me at my most squinty and spaghetti-haired.

#bottles #painting #wine #DIY