How To: Vintage Mantel Gets a Makeover

I have owned a vintage fireplace mantel for over a decade.  I bought it at an outdoor flea market during the year we lived in Atlanta. Getting it home on the top of my SUV while driving the Perimeter Highway in Atlanta was a harrowing experience to say the least!  It's a miracle it made it home without flying off and causing a 50 car pile up!

U G L Y.  Oh the things you do for your kids!

I bought it for my daughter's then-vintage pink and white little girl bedroom. It had shabby, chippy white paint and looked sweet set up with a little table and tea set, baskets of books and a few blankets.  But, as she grew, her love affair with this mantel didn't grow and when we moved into this home 7 years ago, she would only keep it in her room if we painted it to match the crazy purple, pink and black decor of her room.  We painted it and added a cork board to the fireplace opening.  This past Spring when she decided she needed a more grown up teen room, she came to me and carefully let me know that the mantel was, well...too girly for her new sophisticated design sense.  Kids grow up and do things like having their ideas. Sigh.  We removed it from the wall and placed it in the garage.

This past summer, I completed a huge transformation on our master bedroom and I decided to bring this mantel back to it's good ole shabby, vintage condition.  The walls are white bead board and yellow paint, so I wanted to give the mantel a slight contrast to the white and add an accent of yellow that would help it make sense in the room.


I first clean and lightly sanded the surfaces, taking care not to sand too hard because I didn't want that rough, chippy surface to be sanded away.  I started by painting the turn leg portions of the mantel with a mustard yellow.  I used Americana Craft Paint in Mustard Seed. Yep, that's right...a craft paint.  I liked the shade and knew that two coats of this as an accent would be perfect.  Here is what it looked like at this point. Don't get too worried, this is all going to work out!!  (Sunglasses required)

Notice that I did a real messy job getting paint all over the background surface?  Well, I didn't spend a lot of time trying to be neat because I knew that I would be covering up those spots with the main paint color.  I let this surface cure for a few days and then came back with two coats of ASCP in Creme.  I chose Creme because I wanted that slight warm, cremey tone to create a little contrast to the stark white of the bead board.  I waited a full day between coats.  I then finished it off with a good smattering of Fiddles and Sons clear soft wax.  Here are the results.

Love how that yellow peeks through showing off the little details in the surface!

I haven't gotten a chance to get this monster set up into my Master Bedroom. I really wanted to show it to you finished.  When I get it in place, I promise to come back and show you what it looks like against the white bead board and  painted yellow wall!

Here's a little before and after...

What an improvement!  This mantel is finally made it's way back to yummy-ness!!  Hope you like it!  I haven't showed it to my daughter yet.  Wonder what her reaction will be?  Who cares...it's mine now! (wink)

-The End-
Linking this post:
WHISPER WOOD COTTAGE - 1st Project of the Year
504 Main