The time has come to decide who has the best idea! It’s voting time people!
A little reminder for all you folks out there who missed the announcement…the Bower Build Off is back and Jeremy and I are going head to head to compete for your vote. What is exactly is a Build Off? It’s a friendly competition between husband and wife that puts our ideas to the ultimate test….YOU. That’s right. We set our parameters for the competition…this time it was that each project had to be on a wall and be a knockoff of someone else’s blog idea. We give ourselves some time to tackle each project and then we share our finished projects here. YOU get to decide who had the best idea. And YOU get to vote. It’s all about YOU here people 🙂
Today we are back to share the projects we chose….so let’s get to it!
PROJECT #1 – Guest Room Accent Wall (based on Chris Loves Julia’s old living room!)
PROJECT #2 – Living Room Mantel (based on Addicted 2 Decorating’s rough hewn mantle post)
Let’s be perfectly honest…I feel like a winner because we have both of these things accomplished in our home. That’s huge. But in true Bower form, I won’t go down without a fight….so please vote for mine. I realize it’s anonymous…but still…do me a solid.
Time for voting!
both of these are awesome so it’s very hard to vote. i have to go with the board and batten as I want that so badly in my home!
I appreciate the amount of work that goes into the Board & Batten, but the mantel gets my vote because it totally finishes off that space!
Both projects are fantastic!! And kudos to you for knocking two projects off your ToDo list. I voted for the board and batton because it makes such a huge impact, but they’re both really great. Will you show before and afters with the results? I can’t remember what either space originally looked like.
While the mantle is GORGEOUS I have been wanting to do board and batten in my son’s room. So that’s clearly the winner regardless of who did it!
This was just so hard because I loved them both! Great additions to the home 🙂 I decided to vote for the mantle, even though it was a small project compared to the whole wall, because it wasn’t tucked away in a guest room, it was something that could be enjoyed every single day.
This was such a hard choice! I would put both of these in my house right now!
I think next time you need more “parameters” lol! Both look amazing but I predict a landslide with the votes.
I’m not commenting very often, but I LOVE your build-offs! Again, both projects are amazing, but I think I prefer the mantle over the fireplace as it looks easier.
This was tough because I want both!!
This one is really tough to choose between! Perhaps a before/after of each area would help in deciding? Great job on both!
Both look amazing! It was a hard choice.
Both projects turned out so great!! If there was a tie option, I would have picked that! I honestly just tried to guess which one I think you did so you’d win 🙂 Sorry, Jeremy! haha Great work!
And please give us tips on both of these! We actually are in the process of building the same mantel so we’d love some tips too!!
This is so hard! Both came out great and I have no idea who did what! Last time I was able to guess. I hope you even the score this time, Katie!
It’s a tough choice because these are both fantastic but I think I have to go with the spare room accent wall!
Awesome projects!!!!
Ugh this one is so hard! On one hand the board & batten is BEAUTIFUL and I love love it in a darker color as opposed to the tradtional white you see a lot of. On the other hand, this mantel post is perfectly timed because I plan on doing something similar soon….and honestly for me it’s a project that would actually get finished…
Oh the decisions..
did you have a mantel in place before like the inspiration one did? i really want to do something like this on our fireplace, but there’s currently nothing there so i have no idea how to actually attach a mantel to it. any ideas for me?
Hard decision, I love them both! The mantel has such great presence against the stone. But I had to go with the board-and-batten because it made me audibly gasp, and I’ve always loved that feature at Chris Loves Julia.
My current “blog knock-off challenge” is kind of unintentionally following in the footsteps of YHL… I painted the trim in my living room the wrong sheen (satin, ugh) and am now going back over it all with semi-gloss. Thankful for bloggy inspiration of all kinds!
Yikes. This was a tough one. Love them both!! Can’t wait for details on the mantle!
You need a BOTH option!
They both look great!
Great projects! It was so hard to pick. I would have voted for a tie if possible.
I love both of these so much! I agree with you, it is a win win. They are both in your home. I love the idea of a competition. My husband and I both do the projects together. I am the brains of the operation, and he is the manual labor. I am not sure how either of us would be on our own. Good for you guys!
ARRRGGH! This one is way too hard. I did something very similar to my mantle…. Love it! And I did board and batten in our dining room and love the look on your guest room wall. Love them both!
Such a hard choice, especially when trying to figure out which one is yours!!! Ack!!!
I voted for the mantle but only because I couldn’t figure out how to vote for both projects! These are amazing and you both did a GREAT job!
Oh my goodness! Both projects are completely awesome!!! They look soooooo good! I can’t wait to find out who did what! 🙂
You should show a before-and-after to help give us a better sense of the effect of each project 🙂
Was there a mantel at all before? I feel like I can’t vote properly without knowing what it really did to the space.
I can’t vote! This is an absolute tie.
AWESOME job both of you!
Katie do you feel it necessary to have a fireplace in order to have a mantle like above? My husband and I have agreed to not put a fireplace in out new home but I really want a old barn beam mantle to decorate! 😉
both were great…but a bit hard to compare. I felt like it was comparing an elephant to a mouse – the wall I imagine was A LOT more work than the mantel.
This is hard, because they are both great, but project number one gets my vote!
Some before and afters would have really helped I think – I can’t remember what the old mantle looked like. Plus, it seems like the mantle should have been longer.
and by “mantle”, I mean “mantel”.
I think I would have voted Mantel with a differnent choice for the front piece of the lumber…but I found the grain a little too distracting and didn’t think it showed the distressing very well. The guest room looks super too!
um can we vote for both! They are both awesome! Good job guys!
Love both of these so much! Please please please post a description of how you made the mantle! We’re doing this in our house soon and I’d love to hear how you did yours!
They both look really nice, but I liked the mantel the best since it’s a project that I have actually done before! It really makes a difference in a living space.
Let’s be honest… Both these projects are amaze-balls and once again I am jealous of things that are done in your home. I voted for the board & batton wall because I’m a freakin’ sucker for all things bold and bedroom right now BUT that mantle is seriously what unicorn dreams are made of! It’s fantastic… as is the wall. Tough call guys. Way to go on another job well done!!!
We didn’t.
xo – kb
I love them both! But since Christmas is coming I choose the mantle.
they are both awesome, but the board and batten really has the WOW factor!!
They are both equally AWESOME and beautiful! The only reason I voted for the board and batten over the mantel is because it looks like it took a lot more work to do. I’m with the others who suggested that we have the option of voting for a tie for both projects. They both deserve to win!
LOVE both of these! But the board and batten is such a huge statement, I had to vote for it.
They both look great!
That’s funny because we knocked out the accent wall in one day plus painting….the mantel took us at least three days plus staining!
xo kb
I don’t think so! I see faux mantels all the time on pinterest!
xo kb
We need a “Tie” option. These are both great. I voted for the guest room cuz it seems like so much work. I love the mantle just the same.
Both of these projects turned out great!! Can’t wait to see who the winner is! 🙂
Both of these projectsare fabulous & I want them in my home. Of course, we don’t have a fireplace & our home is a different style so the wainscoting-ish accent wall wouldn’t quite work for us. I initially thought I’d go with project 1 because it is really different & esthetically pleasing but I changed my mind because I hate dusting baseboards. When I see all of those pieces on the wall, I just see places where the dust will collect until I notice it & then have to clean it up with warm soapy water.
So I choose project 2.
This one was really hard. I had to go with the mantel because even though I love the idea of board and baten….that is a buttload of moulding to dust! Ain’t nobody got time for that! (My wish for you is that the grey masks the dust!)
I love the wall, but mainly because we just finished almost the exact same project in our house, and it looks close to the same color. Ours only has one horizontal though.
I do wish I could vote yes for both. I like both projects equally for what they bring to the space. A mantel brings such warmth to a stone fireplace. The board and batten wall is beautiful. Please put up an additional choice of unable to choose just one.
I love how BOTH of these turned out! My vote went to the B&B only because it’s a little more difficult to pull off, but the mantle is stunning and works really well in your home. It ties in with the new console table you made really nicely I bet.
Nice job, Bowers!
Would love to see before and afters. I think this would help me vote better bc I would want to see what had the most dramatic impact. Thanks!
I agree with other posters–both projects look fantastic and it was really difficult to choose a favorite! Love how the mantel finishes off that space, so I went with that, but the board & batten is great in the guest room, too. I really think it’s a tie. Great job on both!
You totally win you are right! Having both stunners done is the ultimate prize. Now, off to partake in the friendly competition and cast my vote 🙂
Man oh man; such a hard decision! In the end, I voted for the mantel, just because I would dread dusting all those thin, horizontal surfaces on the board & batten, lol.
Oh man. Tough choice! I ended up voting for the B&B because it’s something new and different to me, I love the color and I would have gone a little more rustic with the mantle but I really wish there was a TIE option! That’s my true vote.
It was SO hard to vote! I think it was hard for me because it was a question of “apples or oranges?” The last Bower Build Off had a physical element in common (the spool) making it so much easier to judge. BTW… I still love your bench! Should have won. 🙂 You’re definitely winning either way!
I love the mantel. Its such a great addition to the room. The fireplace was really incomplete without it. It looks great. The board and batten looks great too, I just think the mantel makes a bigger impact.
I like that last image of the set up with the TV, it looks very nice
Ditto to both being amazing home improvements, and executed beautifully! Having done many home projects, I would probably be more likely to measure and mark walls, buy wood, cut wood, install wood, caulk and paint – long before I got the courage to dive into the mantle project. Planning to secure that mantle (solid beam or box) to the stone and get everything level would be intimidating for me. You did a fantastic job! So … I’ll have to cast a vote for the mantle. Fortunately everyone’s a winner in this game ; )
It was truly the harder project of the two. And just so everyone knows…it is not secured to the stone…we actually removed the stone in that area and attached it directly to the cinder block. The details of how we did it will be post next week!
xo – kb
I considered doing the before and after…maybe next time!
xo – kb
Haha!
xo – kb
This was a lot harder than the other! On one hand I really loved the B&B, and it looks like a bigger impact/more work. But I don’t think it works well with the furniture, so I went with Mantel, because it’s not only really functional, but it ties in and totally upgrades that space 🙂
Having said that, I can’t wait to see the guest room reveal!! 😀
board and batton! Love it!
I love the board and batten. Big impact! Win win, though. both turned out fantastic.
The two pictures of the mantle are both from the same angle. I feel it was misrepresented! I still voted for it tho. LOL! I wanted to see more of it, in a side shot, and before and afters. They are both great though!
Both projects look amazing so I would have voted for a tie had you had the option.
Both great projects! Tough decision!
Did I miss the post with the winner?
We hope to announce the winner on friday!
xo – kb
Has the winner been announced??
Did you ever post the winner?
Hi Katie! When will you be announcing the winner?! Can’t wait to see which project belonged to who!
Not yet! Soon!
xo – kb
Soon!
xo – kb
Not yet. Hopefully this week!
xo – kb