Last year was our first year with a fireplace. We loved it. Tom got really good at making fires and we went through a lot of wood. We started out buying boxes at the hardware store and then in bulk from the hardware store. It was fairly convenient but extremely messy. We didn’t want to store the wood outside because it would just be sitting in mud and rain part of the winter. So we stored it in the garage in the old cardboard boxes from previous purchases. We had wood dirt and dust all over the garage. We also had a trail of wood dirt and dust from the garage to the fireplace because we carried it into the house using the boxes.
This year we upped our game. Tom built a stand for our wood. We had our wood delivered. We came up with a better way to get the wood into the house.
When out shopping we searched for just the right thing to hold the wood. I pictured and old wooden crate that would look good on the brick. We found one but it didn’t seem sturdy enough. We decided to check at the hardware store. We walked past the first display made from wooden crates and both commented on how that box would be perfect if they sold it. We walked around the entire store looking for something and then I ogled the Christmas decorations. We went down one last aisle and there they were. The wooden display boxes for sale.
A few weeks ago we finally hung a gallery wall and a chalkboard frame. Tom had a lot of fun leaving messages on the board which I think might have been his inspiration for spray painting this with chalkboard paint.
He painted the inside and the sides with handles red and the larger sides with chalkboard paint. Baby, it’s cold outside is one of our favorite Christmas songs. We sing it as a duet when it comes on. I look forward to fire season every year.
One suggestion if you decided to do a similar project, don’t write on both sides. That box gets heavy and when you set it down you will find chalk all over your clothes.
Do you have a fireplace? What is your favorite part of having a fire?
