Pine Mantel Makeover

 I had been staring at this ugly pine mantel since the day we moved it. I wasn’t really sure what to do with it until I saw Layla’s  distressed mantel over at The Lettered Cottage. And then I thought to my self “Self, you can do this!”



So I grabbed a screw driver and took a wack and a jab at it. Then I thought “Self, that looks terrible! Perhaps we should ask our other half before jumping into this”. A word of advise: Don’t take a screw driver to your fireplace mantel and decide afterwards that maybe you should talk to your hubby about it first. The damage is done and it’s a little late. Fortunately for me I have a very easy going man and although he had to swallow hard and trust that I knew what I was doing. (I didn’t by the way) So despite how bad it looked I grabbed the necessary tool to complete my distressing mission.
Here are just a few of my accomplices:



I ended up using a large towing chain, a screw driver, a tiny finishing nail, sand paper and the round end of the key to our fireplace gas switch. This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a project. I HIGHLY recommend distressing to let out a little stress of your own!

After I sanded down all the edges and corners I took my various tools and went to work. Again it looked reeeeally bad but I was hopeful all my sins would be covered by the stain and guess what, it was! I use a can of dark walnut stain I got from Lowes.




This is where the magic happened. See the before:



And after:



I wish I had a picture of the of between stage, with the distress and no stain but trust me, it looked bad and I was sceeerd!

I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. It looks a lot better than it did before that’s for sure!



My next big project is to paint those awful red walls. We have an open floor plan downstairs so these bold red walls stretch all the way through the back of the house and into the kitchen. It’s not terribly offensive but I’m definitely ready to see them go. Also need to paint over the brassy trim and pulls on the fireplace doors. So many things to do!

Linked up to:

Whipper Berry

Blue Cricket Design

Women Who Do it All

Bouffe E Bambini

A Glimpse Inside

Tatortots and Jello

Beneath My Heart.net/