How To Make A Mantel With Only Two Boards

To start the fireplace makeover, I painted all the brick a creamy white.

First, we removed the bottom trim pieces around the original mantel. This was easy to do with a hammer and flat bar. We left the top board on the mantel. 

Matt measured the top board and we talked about how I wanted the mantel to look so he could get a good idea about the size of pine boards he needed to get. We chose the {aff}  Edge Glued Pine Board for the top and the “box” we had to build.

Matt put the new board on top of the existing board on the mantel and ran a pencil along the underside of the new pine board to get an accurate measurement

I should mention here that I wanted to make the mantel chunkier than what was originally there. Leaving the original top board on the mantel helped with the chunkiness (these are all technical terms). 🙂

Once he had the front measurement, he used the  table saw to cut the pine board. The piece that he cut off was used underneath the front part of the mantel (as you can see in the photos below).

I should mention here that I wanted to make the mantel chunkier than what was originally there. Leaving the original top board on the mantel helped with the chunkiness (these are all technical terms). 🙂

Once he had the front measurement, he used the  table saw to cut the pine board. The piece that he cut off was used underneath the front part of the mantel (as you can see in the photos below).

He used the miter saw to cut the sides down. The pieces that were cut from the ends were used as the underside of the original mantel on each end and also the sides. Nothing was going to waste with these boards.

Matt took the cut ends, flipped them under the original mantel, drew a line with a pencil and made the cut. What was left after that cut was able to be the sides of the mantel. So, he was basically “boxing” in the original mantel as you can see in the photo above.

He used a 9″ level to make sure the top and bottom board were level before he nailed them with the nail gun.

Once we had the top and the sides on, it was time to measure and cut the {aff}  pine trim board.

To get the measurement for the front trim piece, he had to use the trusty-ol’ {aff} tape measure. 🙂

He nailed the front trim piece on and it was time for {aff}  stain. 

With a couple of boards, some tools and some stain, this fireplace looks so much better from where it started. DIY projects don't have to have a million steps, take a lot of time or cost a lot of money to be amazing. We will use this project on future flip houses that need a mantel makeover.

To see the full tutorial and more detailed product links and descriptions, head to my blog: https://mycreativedays.porch.com/how-to-make-a-mantel-with-only-two-boards/

To see a video tutorial of this project, head to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE4TsOVguoA