DIY Mantle Project

My husband and I were in desperate need to liven up our fireplace area.  I wanted a pretty decorative mantle that we could decorate for the holidays, and something that will hold the soundbar for the TV. I really liked the look of a rustic solid beam, but didn't want to pay hundreds of dollars for one.

We bought a decorative mantle at the Pottery Barn outlet, but when we started to put it up, I just wasn't in love with it.  It was too small for the space and it just didn't blow me away!

That's when I started searching Pinterest for ideas.  I came across this awesome blog - Addicted 2 Decorating.  This blogger shows you step-by-step how to create a rustic beam mantle simply out of a few wood boards.  For this project, she used pine boards, but my husband and I chose to use red oak. The choice is totally up to you, but we were really happy with the finished product.

(She gives you a very detailed description of each step with photos.  My husband I were pushed for time to finish this project before my mom's surprise 60th birthday party.  So, I was terrible and didn't take pictures throughout each step.)

Needed materials and tools for this project:

• 3 pieces of  1' x 6'  x 8' wood of your choice (pick the straightest boards that you can find!)
• 1 sheet of stain grade red oak or specie of your choice plywood 1' x 1' x 1/16 of an inch thick 
• Wood stain of your choice (We used Minwax Dark Walnut)
• Rag to apply the stain
• Wood glue - Gorilla glue
• Nail gun with 1 inch nails
• Compound Miter saw
• 220 and 150 grit sandpaper, palm sander, or sanding block
• Things to distress the wood.  (We used screwdrivers, gravel, hammer, and chisels). 
• Tape Measure
• Level

Using the miter saw, we cut our wood boards the size to fit across our fireplace area.   Then, we used screwdrivers, rocks, a hammer, and chisels to carve out areas and rough up the wood to give it a more rustic look.  We then lined up one of the boards and used the nail gun to attach it to the flat "front" board.  Once we attached the other board, we had a shape like this - 

Image from - 

http://www.addicted2decorating.com/diy-rough-hewn-wood-fireplace-mantel.html

We used wood glue and went around the entire inside where the seams were, to give it extra hold. We also filled in any areas that may not have looked seamless from the outside.  Since we wanted this to look like one solid beam, we filled in any areas where the boards didn't meet together perfectly.

Once we had this shape created, we cut 2 pieces of the remaining boards to nail and glue into the empty ends.  To give the board a more seamless and wood beam look, we used the stain grade plywood to put on the 2 ends.  Therefore, you won't see any wood ends.  We laid the plywood on top of the ends to get the accurate size and using the miter saw, cut them to the sizes to fit.  After the two pieces were the right size, we used the nail gun and the wood glue to attach the pieces to the ends. We used sandpaper after it was dry, to round the edges together to give it a more uniform look.  

After the beam was already created, that's when we stained the beam.  The blog post that I got the directions from, stained her boards first.  I don't think there is a right way or wrong way to do this.  So, however you want to do it will work!  

I put about 6 coats of Minwax Dark Walnut stain on ours, because I wanted it to be very dark to match our kitchen cabinets.  I used an old t-shirt to apply the stain.   

Here's the finished product - 

(You could add decorative corbels to the bottom of the mantle if desired.  We just chose not to.)

We were thrilled with how this project turned out!  I would definitely recommend this project to anyone who doesn't want to spend a ton on a mantle for their home, but want to have something that looks like you did.  ;)