How do you paint/stain a mantle (pic attached)?
How do you suggest I stain or paint this old pine mantle. I am going "modern farmhouse". The walls will be a light warm gray and I'd like to cover this pine if possible. I'm looking for easy, as I don't want to rip this out. Thank you!
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I would paint it white and distress it. If you want a different color than the stain, paint it that color first and then the white. Here are more directions for painting stained wood https://interiordesigninfo.com/index.php/cp9/511-how-to-paint-stained-wood
If you want it to remain looking like wood, you can restain but only in a darker color. To paint, choose any color you like but I would recommend priming first with the appropriate primer (oil under oil paint etc.) Tape off the stone surround so you keep the paint only on the mantel. I would recommend finishing up with a couple of coats of poly so you don't have to do this again.
I have similar, but mine is much more rough hewn. I'm going to box mine in with 1x6 pine and have a fresh surface to work with.
Be absolutely sure you'll be happy with paint before you do it. You could paint a piece of paper to loosely cover it to see how it will look before actually painting the wood. It's hard to go back to stain if you change your mind!
I like Jim's answer: box it in, then paint or stain the new lumber.
This way, the old original mantel is preserved. Once you paint it, there's no going back.
This product works wonders! I used that whitewash in a lot of mine projects