Next time on Dear Alice.

We love a precast mantle.

I think we've been specifying them in homes for at least a decade, if not more.

It's been kind of a favorite if you're not doing marble.

We do love a marble surround.

But precast has been a way to kind of get the look of stone or just like one solid big

surface. And you can make a more contemporary, more traditional fits great in a transitional home.

It's a good price point to kind of get this really big grand look. So we love it. So in answer to

your question, Angela, we don't just do the top shelf.

We do the entire surround.

So it's got the legs and the top.

And we usually like this about 10 inches deep at least because you want to be able to put your big hurricanes or your candles, books, all of that on top.

Your holiday, if you celebrate the holidays, a nice garland, stocking holders, all of that. It just your holiday if you celebrate the holidays a nice garland stocking holders

all of that it just takes a lot of depth yep so um when you do stew a shelf that's going to really

lessen the depth of it and that's probably one of the biggest reasons why the top shelf kind of

feels like an accent wall when you're decorating a room it just is like one thing and it feels like

it's missing something so we like an entire surround when you're decorating a room. It just is like one thing and it feels like it's missing something.

So we like an entire surround on the mantel place.

She asks, is it pre-colored, painted, or stained?

You can choose what color of concrete when you go to the precast place.

They have several shades they offer.

And the color is mixed right into the sort of concrete

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