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Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel


You know its going to be a project filled day, when you are demolishing tile before you've had a cup of coffee....

am I right?

Here's what our fireplace looked like Sunday before breakfast...

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel - before demo

And here it is after removing the tile, hearth, mantel and trim.

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel - after demo

We did a bit more demo than we anticipated thanks to the way this thing was constructed, but in the end I think it will be for the better. I took pictures of the process, but then realized my SD card was in my camera, so.... yea.

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel - demoed fireplace, tile, hearth mantel

After demo was done - and a trip to Home Depot for some supplies (we returned some things and bought a piece of cement board) - we began to reconstruct the mantel...

First the top piece went back on - it was oak plywood, so we decided to reuse it.

Mid demo - Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel
(I spy a little helper..!)

My husband then cut lengths of reclaimed cedar fencing and nailed them to the top of the mantel.

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel - using reclaimed cedar fence boards

Then he took another cedar board and wrapped the front of the mantel to make it look extra chunky.

Installing - Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel

Next he installed a small board up under the mantel to give himself something to nail the bottom cedar board to. From the underside it has the appearance of being one thick board/beam. We chose not to do a miter on the front corner, because honestly, we just were't bothered by it. The whole thing is going to be sanded to really bring out the grain of the wood and it will also help the cut edge blend in.

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel

Here it is from the front.

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel

Already massively improved!! 

Fireplace Makeover - Reclaimed Wood Mantel

I'm trying to decide if we need to add some sort of corbels to the front. I like how it looks straight on, but from the side you see from the dining room it seems to stick out a little far. It might be a non issue once we add the backer board and tile.

I'm thinking something like this...

Reclaimed Wood Fireplace Mantel

or this...

Reclaimed Wood Shelves

Per usual, I'm undecided for now.

What do you think?

I'm hoping we can get some more done on the fireplace mid week!

Running Total for this makeover :

Cedar Boards - Free
Cement Board - $12*
Nails - $5*

*actually for us this was only $3.00 thanks to a few returns we made. Love that. 



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