Faux Fireplace for the Booth

Closing in on the second month of running a booth. Its been an interesting adventure with much to learn. I'm currently working on a blog post about that experience and will post soonish.

I'm constantly asking myself, "How can I make this better? More inviting? How can I set our booth apart from the NUMEROUS other booths?" Its not a small store, its HUGE, which is great if you are a shopper...not so great if you are a booth owner. Anyways, I was totally inspired by a diy-faux-fireplace-indoor-or-outdoor found at Prodigal Pieces. Other Faux Fireplace ideas on my Booth Ideas Pinterest Board.

The idea hit that 1. a faux fireplace would create distinction from other booths, and 2. it gives us another shelf to work with.

From a design perspective, I was thinking that maybe we can create fun mantel vignettes to inspire people to buy our stuff so they can create a similar effect at home. This is trial vignette #1, not the most inspiring vignette yet, used all my creative juice making the fireplace.

(All wooden signs are my booth-mates,)










And in good timing, I found these two chairs discarded on the sidewalk. The larger one was cut up for its decorative arms and top. In the end, only the arms were added. 

Most of the wood came from my stash or other scavenged pieces, pallets, or from the 70% off bin at Home Depot. The only piece purchased specifically for this project was the mantel board. I wanted something sturdy and flat to use as a secure shelf. 

The fireplace hole is made of black construction paper with black burlap stapled on top. Tiny dabs of black acrylic paint cover the staples. EVENTUALLY, I want to add faux logs to the bottom, I just ran out of time this weekend.

And here she is, permanently screwed to the wall. The guy helping unload the stuff into the booth thought it was pretty cool. :) There is still some work to be done: the faux logs, the chimney, and the "smoke." And I want to add a small chair in front with an invitation to sit and relax for a bit...it is a big store and people will be tired from all that walking. We'll see if it works in helping boost visits & sales to our booth.