SIMPLE DIY Fireplace Mantel (no nails or skills required!)

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written a new blog. I would make excuses about how busy I am with 3 children ages 3 and under and working a thriving business from home…and life…blah blah blah…but I recently watched a Ted Talk about how “not having time” really means “not a priority,” so I’ve been trying to incorporate this idea into my own daily thinking and instead of making excuses for myself and allowing other people in my life to make excuses about the things we supposedly “don’t have time” for, I now have an understanding that what we really mean is that we make time for the things in our life that are a priority. So tonight, I’m making writing a priority and I thought I’d come back with something outside of my normal marriage and parenting focus and highlight a recent DIY project I thought others would enjoy.

I love to sit outside. We have a screened in porch and a covered deck off the back of our home, and ever since building our house last year I had visions of sitting on my deck in a cozy chair, coffee in hand, feeling the Springtime warmth against my face as I listen to the birds chirping happily in the trees…

But that dream is often interrupted by the screaming of one (or all) of my children. I DID, however, want this space to feel cozy for when the rare occasion DOES come so I decided I wanted to add a wooden fireplace mantel to this space. And the search began.

I visited antique stores and yard sales for months but to no avail. I could not find a mantel in my price range that I loved. The one time I came close to paying the hefty price for an antique mantel recovered from a 1920s-built Atlanta home, the store owner mentioned “lead paint” but swore it wouldn’t be a problem as long as I wasn’t ingesting it. Enter 3 kids…none of which can be trusted to not eat lead paint chips. So the search continued.

Then I had an idea! What if I made my own? Now, please understand. I am not handy. I do not know how to use a saw or a hammer (without injuring someone) or do anything useful. I envy people who can…but I am not one of them. My craftiness is limited to painting, and even that is not a skill I have mastered.

I found a picture of a simple mantel surround and thought that perhaps I could find a few pieces of scrap wood at Home Depot and wood glue it together and paint it so that it would somewhat resemble a cozy fireplace mantel–and on the cheap–and it worked!

This is for all you DIYers like myself who require SIMPLICITY and have a couple of hours one afternoon to kill. All you need is:

• 1 2 in. x 10 in. x 8 ft. piece of lumber…ask them to cut it into 2 4 ft. pieces and 1 2 ft. piece (About $10)
• 2 wooden corbels ($3- $5 each)
• 1 wood applique ($5-$10)
• 2 small and 1 larger pieces of baseboard or wood trim (this will be your mantel and base trim–we got ours from the scrap pile near the cutting machine and had them cut to the width of the boards and they only charged us a couple dollars for them)
• Liquid Nails ($3)
• Paint (I used chalk paint in color “Lace” from Hobby Lobby for about $5 with the 40% off coupon)
• Husband to do all of the actual gluing (optional)

Lay the two longer pieces parallel to one another and glue the shorter piece in the middle. You’ll want to use something to push the pieces toward one another to make sure it’s glued securely.

Wait for that to dry. Next, glue the wood corbels in the middle of the two outer pieces, and measure to find the center of the mantel and glue down your wood applique. You’ll also want to make sure it is low enough that it won’t be hidden by the actual mantle piece.

Once the corbels are dry and secure, glue down your large baseboard piece for the mantel, and add your two smaller trim pieces to the bottom of the long sides of your mantel.

This is what ours looked like before I painted it. I let it dry for a couple of hours so that I could move it around for painting without it falling apart.

Then lastly…paint and (optionally) distress with sandpaper on the edges!

Voila! Did I mention this was SIMPLE, y’all?! And cheap! And once you dress it up…

It can cozy-up even the most boring of spaces. So if you’re like me and don’t want to invest hundreds of dollars in an antique mantel that your children will likely destroy, or if your style changes like the wind and you want to temporarily add farmhouse charm to your home or outdoor space, this may be for you.

If you enjoyed this “episode” of simple DIY or for more marriage and parenting stories from the front lines, please follow!