Been there....done that....heard the "trickle" of melted wax running down the mantle, on to the brick, to the tile hearth and splashon the carpet. What will work best is a combination of all the above methods. First scraping all you can with a plastic scraper.....then chilling with ice and using a tooth pick.....and finally using an iron and paper towels to absorb the last of the wax.... I had at least a full cup of candle wax ( from a big multi-wick candle) on my Sarouk.....and I got it up! Just takes patience. Linda C

Too high, too small ; I agree with all of the above. Above the mantle is prime space/location, you shouldn't have to merchandise around the picture to make it look right. I disagree with adding more matting, possibly you should look for a print that can be framed with all of the image showing, this particular print looks like the matting is hiding some of the picture by cutting off parts of the trees, not too effective, imo. The colors do work in your room, the red is great.

A dark-framed round mirror -- to visually balance all of the very, very strong horizontal lines ...... .... then add three very chunky matching dark candlesticks (different heights) on the right-hand side with tall creamy white candles .... ... if you can -- try to keep the objects on the new shelves to one or two colors -- maybe start with dark-woven baskets -- and creamy white bowls. Then have your family pictures turned to black-and-white (mat in white with dark frames) -- and place them against the back wall of the shelves ..... or hang them on the back wall of the shelves ...

Sorry for the picture heavy page. :-). I have trouble expressing at certain times in words. So the pictures attempt to speak for me. Thank you Deborah for reminding me of creating the more soothing lines that I'd forgotten that Olychick told me about Olychick not sure if you're following this but you have helped me immeasurably. I have gone back several times over what you have said and that has been greatly appreciated and keeping me or editing. Yayagal I found this at a second hand shop. I guess it didn't suit the other person's decor or something like that. I was happy to pay the under $100 for it as it really makes me smile. Thank you for the compliment on it. 1 pink mountain thank you the compliment on my tchotchkes. I kept only my favorites when I purged many many many many things. Thanks also for your help with understanding why the smaller pieces don't work very well. When I'm up close to the fireplace I can see the pieces I love it's very hard to understand why they shouldn't be there. We are now looking for something more solid and structured but not sure what maybe some thick blue or black candle holders?