Painted Mantel For Faux Fireplace

Welcome Back to Day 8 of my 31 Days of Paint series. See the entire series HERE.

Painted Mantel

I have always wanted a fireplace. I live in the mountains of North Idaho and don't have a fire to sit in front of in the middle of winter. It just feels wrong.  I found this mantel at the Habitat Restore.  

I loved the scroll work, the crown molding and the fluted columns.

What I didn't like was that cherry colored stain. It matched nothing in my house. So I propped it up on saw horses on my lawn and sanded it. Most of the sanding was done by hand because of all the details. 

After sanding, I broke out the white satin finish paint. I actually used porch and floor paint. It is tougher than regular paint since this is going in a high traffic area where it is bound to be bumped into by kids and toys, I thought it was a good precaution.

This took at least 4 layers of paint by hand with a brush and small roller.

These little scroll details were the toughest to cover, lots of nooks and crannies. But it was well worth the effort. 

Everything looks better painted a crisp white, don't you think?

Here is my temporary "fire". I have big plans for the interior of this mantel, but for now my picnic basket, huge Candy Corn and wreath will work.

I love being able to decorate a real mantel, here it is for decorated for Fall. I have since added pops of orange for Halloween.

Tomorrow's Post: All About Distressing. Am I brave enough?