How To Make A Faux Mantel Tutorial

I want to thank Zibra Paint for partnering with me on this How To Make A Faux Mantel Tutorial. All opinions of their amazing brushes are my own.

There is nothing better than coming up with a project idea, talking it over with Matt and having it come to fruition. One thing about being a creative is that my mind is spinning all the time. As someone who loves finding the potential in all things, it is hard to turn my brain off when we find amazing pieces to bring home. A couple of months ago, I found a mantel at a thrift store and put it in our living room after I gave it a makeover. It has been my favorite piece in our home ever since. After I posted that project (find it HERE), I received many messages from people who wanted the same thing, but were frustrated about the chances of finding a mantel like I did at a thrift store. The messages kept coming, so I knew we had to come up with a way to create a faux mantel easily and without spending a lot of money to do it. 

We found a way!

For me, when I find anything that has potential, I have to bring it home. If I find a beautiful architectural piece that came off of a building, it is like winning the lottery (maybe not as good as winning the $1.6 billion jackpot, but you get my point). The same goes for pieces from old furniture. Matt and I rescued a 1800’s organ for free at a yard sale years ago and I have used pieces of the organ as home decor for our home. I made a grocery sign for our kitchen makeover HERE and painted a couple pieces to hang above our old entry table HERE.

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Whenever I find the tops of old dressers or buffets, I pick them up. The last one we found came at the right time. It was when I was receiving all of the messages about wanting a faux mantel and this one was so big and ornate that I thought it could be turned into a beautiful faux mantel. After talking over what I was thinking with Matt, he said it would be such an easy project and we shared the process LIVE on Facebook. (We have been sharing an easy DIY project at least once a week, live on Facebook. If you aren’t following us there, we would love to have you join us. Find us HERE.)

Before I share more about the project, check out the LIVE video we did to put the mantel together:

Faux Mantel Supply List:

Zibra Paint Brushes

Table Saw

Miter Saw

“Drop Cloth” Dixie Belle Paint

Wood

Nail Gun

Piece From Old Dresser

Orbital Sander

Once we had the faux mantel together, it was time to start painting it. I knew that once I painted this mantel, it would really come to life. I chose the color  “Drop Cloth” Dixie Belle Paint  and used my favorite Zibra Paint Brushes to apply it. Zibra designed paint brushes for people like me. Their brushes are perfect for detailed pieces like this faux mantel, but they are also amazing for trim work on walls. Zibra has many different style paint brushes for any kind of painting job you have. I used to get so frustrated with brushes I was buying in stores because they just didn’t fit the jobs I was doing. Once I discovered Zibra, I have never looked back. If you paint anything or want to start painting, invest in good brushes! If you know someone who paints, gift them these brushes and become their new favorite person. They are that amazing.

Once the paint dried, I used my orbital sander to rough up the edges so the beautiful detail of the dresser piece would show. 

Like I shared in the video, since I knew I was painting this faux mantel, we were able to use scrap wood we had in our garage to put it together. You wouldn’t know that it wasn’t all the same wood. I think things like that stop people from trying projects. They think they must have everything new or everything has to be the same. Home decor DIY projects are all about coming up with creative ways to decorate your home the way you want, without breaking the bank and using what you already have. 

I couldn’t be happier with this faux mantel. I love it so much that I tried to convince my family that we could leave it up in our back porch and not have the TV in there anymore. Even though they all thought it looked great, they weren’t excited about giving up movie night and game days in the porch. 

I have enjoyed it for a few days in the porch, but we put things back to the way they were yesterday. I don’t think we have room for this beauty in our home so I will probably have to sell it to someone who will enjoy it as much as I do. 

I am so happy we were able to find an easy way to create a faux mantel for your home if you don’t run into one at a thrift store like I did. I know I will receive questions about finding pieces like we used from old dressers. I find them everywhere. Check yard sales, thrift stores and especially Restore. Once you start looking for them, you will be amazing how many you see. 

Do you have a mantel in your home? 

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If you liked this faux mantel post, you will also love these easy projects:

How To Build A Wood Bench

Wood Candlesticks DIY: Make Candlesticks From Table Legs

Pottery Barn Style Mantel