HOW TO USE LAMPS ON A MANTLE WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE AN OUTLET, & HOW TO HIDE THE CORDS

Hello Friends!  First of all, thank you SO much for your sweet response to Caleb's room!  You all are so kind, and I'm thankful to mark that room off of the list.  Secondly, I'm back from Haven and it was a ball!  You might have seen some of the fun on Instagram.  It was the perfect mix of new knowledge for the technical and aesthetic side of the blog, along with lots of time and opportunities for my "blog friends" to become "real" friends! Now that I've learned some new things, I have lots of work to do!

Last week I posted a quick photo on Instagram of my mantle as part of the photo a day challenge for Haven, and a sweet friend asked how I hid the lamp cords.  I'm so glad she did, because it reminded me of this post that I've been meaning to share!

I love to use lamps on the mantle, but I've never lived in a house with a mantle outlet, so I've figured out a few tricks.  Here's how I'm plugging in lamps on my mantle in this house.

The built-in beside the fireplace has just enough room between it and the brick mortar that I was able to squeeze an extension cord through it.

My husband cut off the prong end of the cord so we could thread it through the gap (on the far left of the above photo), then we drilled a large hole in the side of the cabinet.  Using a piece of wire hanger, we fished the cord through the hole.  FYI, if we're up above the cabinet, we can look down into the empty 6 inches of so of space between the edge of the brick and the inside edge of the cabinet.  It helped us see what we were doing to feed the cord through the hole.

Then, he re-attached the plug to the end of the cord so we could plug it into the outlet for the tv.  I can't explain how to do that, but for a good tutorial click here.

So, that gave us an extension cord with power to the mantle!  I painted the cord a color that is close to the mortar, and ran it along that mortar line so it is somewhat camoflauged.  Unless you're really looking hard, it's usually not noticeable.  Then, I plugged the lamp in and tied the cords up with a twist tie to make them more compact.

For the lamp on the opposite side, there just enough room between the mantle and the brick to press the cord down behind the mantle and bring the plug over to the side where the extension cord is.  So, both lamps are plugged in together there.

Now, this system isn't perfect if you're wanting a really clean look on your mantle.  I always have to have something next to the lamp on the left to disguise the bundle of cords, but that's something I'm willing to deal with!

I also wanted to show you how my Dad has done the same thing a bit differently at their house.  They don't have anything next to their fireplace to hide the cord behind, so he used a cord the same color as the stained trim and tacked tiny trim nails (that he bent the end around to make a hook)

down the edge of it to run the cord down the side of the brick and to the outlet.

You could do something similar with cup hooks or probably even small command hooks.  The cord is not even noticeable in the big picture.

A few more mantles with cords hidden:

Valentine's Mantle

2012 Fall Mantle

Log Filled Fireplace

Last year's Christmas wreath was lit from behind, and now you know why that collection is on the left (and you can spy the cord if you look really hard)!

So, now I've told you guys my mantle secret.  But, you have to promise to pretend not to notice the cord to the side from now on, ok?  Has no electricity been holding you back from using lamps on your mantle?  I hope one of these solutions works for you!

Linking up with:  Savvy Southern Style