How should I stain or paint my new mantel?

I would stain it a darker color to make it show up more. You can see the wood grain now and it would be nice if you retained that in your new finish.

I agree with Joy, the wood mantel looks wonderful and shouldn't have the grain hidden. With the tiles and paint the same color, a little contrast would look nice.

I also agree. A darker stain would look very nice especially with the lighter colors.

I agree with staining it, it would look beautiful. General Finishes has a super easy to use gel stain, works great for beginners.

Stain! But, please test colors on scrap wood to make sure that you are using the color you really want to use. Wouldn’t want to have to sand and start all over.

First make sure u decide what u want to do

Stain or paint ? If u paint u will not be able to stain after but if u stain u can always paint over it.

myself I would paint , stain is beautiful but when u put pieces on ur mantel paint would make it show up better

If u just leave it plain with nothing on it ?? Then stain.

bet I didn’t help u at all

SORRY !

When we built our house, our contractor told us to stain the mantel because we could always paint it later. She said removing paint was a big messy job and to use it stained for awhile before deciding. We left ours stained.

I would use a pecan stain to go with the tables. Once you paint, it is almost impossible to go back to a natural wood look. Stained wood us so much more versatile than paint. Every time you redecorate you will need to change the paint color. Multiple layers of paint soon look sloppy and are a real chore to remove.

I would first paint with watercto bring oit the grain. Then i would use a light colored would stain that will highlight the wood grain but not to dark since it will hide the grain. Then after dry use a polyurethane satin clear coat to protect.

Stain! But, please test colors on scrap wood to make sure that you are using the color you really want to use. Wouldn’t want to have to sand and start all over