We are lucky to still have a lot of great original features in our home. Our mantle is not one of them.  The previous owner bulked it up.  So much so, when you open the window next to the fireplace, it hits right into the corner of the mantle.  I do love having a great big shelf for display, but wasn't loving the trim.

I went scouring my files for before pictures of our mantle.  This was more difficult than I thought it would be.

Here you can see where my dad chiseled off the scrolly things for me.

I knew I wanted them off, but wasn't sure what to do once they were off.  Matching stain would be a pain, but I didn't want to paint the whole thing.  Since we couldn't decide what to do, we left it...

for over two years...

Then my mom called to tell me about a fireplace she saw on This Old House that was just painted on the bottom...

done...

We swapped out the bullseye blocks that didn't go with anything in the house and were wider than the boards beneath them, that were also replaced with something more understated.  I'm still not 100% committed to the tile, but at least I can look at the fireplace without frustration.