Fireplace Mantle

I told Adam I wanted two big house projects completed this year. One of them was the fireplace Mantle. We were in a hurry to move in and a mantle certainly isn't necessary. So, we've done without for the last 20 months. But, that has all changed.

Before.

 We've been checking out mantles for the last several months, trying to determine our style. Thankfully, we have very similar taste and were able to decide easily. Adam drew a detailed plan, complete with sections and dimensions. He bought the trim and set to work drawing the layout on the wall. It turned out beautiful!

Adam started by screwing 2x4s to the wall and then painted and mounted plywood over that.  This sets the whole mantle off the wall a couple inches.  Then, we ripped down some 1x4s to create the outer panels.

We installed the outer panels to create a grid and then began installing some picture frame molding inside each box.

Here's a close up of the picture frame molding inside the right box. 

We painted everything white; the raw wood was primed with oil based paint.  The mantle top wraps around the wall.  Here, Adam is screwing the top shelf into the ledger boards.

Here is the completed trim.  We have crown molding directly below the mantle shelf and then a row of picture frame molding below that.  These both wrap the sides.  We also put half-round on the edge of the shelf to hide the edge.  This picture was taken after we caulked everything, but before the final paint.  You can still see some wood putty.

Here is the finished product!  Like our mantle decorations?

And here's a sneak preview to our next project . . . we just need the wall-mount to arrive and the new TV will go above the fire place.  Adam has already been working to create a wire chase inside the walls.  But, that's another post.