Disclaimer: DecoArt provided me with the products needed to do this project, however, all opinions and thoughts on their products are my own! For my full disclosures, click here.
If you checked out my living room tour from earlier, you might have caught a few glimpses and shots of this new mantle I made over.
My good friends over at DecoArt provided me with the supplies to make over this $18 (yes you read that number right!) mantle I found buried in the back of the antique store that is conveniently located a few blocks from my house 😉
I was too excited about making over this piece that I forgot to take a picture of it before I started sanding it! The mantle was covered in thick layers of ugly burgundy paint, with some white on the backside of the corbels.
To get this piece stripped down to the beautiful grain underneath, I used my trusty sander (LOVE all of the attachments that come with this one), some elbow grease, and some Goof Off and 99% of everything came off!
After getting all of the old paint off I cleaned all of the Goof off off of the shelf and stained the actual shelf part a dark walnut color ( I think, I just grabbed a can of stain I had in the garage, but don’t actually know which color I used!)
For the corbels I did about 3 layers of the chalk paint in Everlasting, let dry, and did a light sanding between layers. Some of the brush strokes were still showing, but that was fine with it since I wanted to show the stroked and divits and details with the antiquing wax.
Then I used a cut up sheet (don’t use a regular kitchen rag!)and buffed on the antiquing wax in the dark brown.
I wanted a really really antique look, so I buffed on the wax over one entire corbel, then went back where I started and buffed it off.
I did this two times on each corbel, then went back in and touched it up in spots that were too light for me. For the spots that were too dark, I used the clear wax and a splash of white paint to buff over the dark spots.
After a day of drying, I went back in and did two layers of the clear wax over the entire piece, including the shelf, and let it set and seal for 7 days (as recommended by the label).
We bought some heavy duty drywall anchors that held up to 75 pds (just to be extra sure the shelf would stay, this guy was only about 25 pds). The ones we purchased were similar to these.
After shopping my spare box of decor in the garage (and using the base for the Target lamp I made) I finally had this baby decorated!
I also had to show a close up of the bottom of the shelf to show the detail of the knicks and dents in it! I’m not sure what this shelf used to be used for, but there were a lot of nail dents and divits that I love.
Do you like my new mantle? I really can’t wait to get my hands on a new project to use the wax and chalk paint on! I think this calls for another flea market run!
Linking Up With:
A Night Owl Blog,Carrie This Home, Love Grows Wild, Boogie Board Cottage, Coastal Charm, Dwelling In Happiness, The Dedicated House, Confessions of a Plate Addict, A Stroll Thru Life, House on the Way, Tiny Sidekick, The Official Blog Guide, Enjoy the View, Oh My Creative, Just a Girl and Her Blog, Happy Kids Inc, Living Well Spending Less, Someday Crafts, The Blissful Bee, The Kitchen and Beyond, Ruffles and Rainboots, Hymns and Verses, The 36th Avenue, Practically Functional, Domestic Superhero, Coffee With Us 3,
I love your mantle but my husband not when he hears about it. You see we have one of those HUGE entertainment centers from the 90s under our TV that hangs on the wall because its too big to fit in the entertainment center. The truth is I HATE the entertainment center and want something smaller and cuter there, but we don’t have a fireplace so I had never thought about a mantle like that. Love it!!
Sheena recently posted…Last Day of School
OH gosh, hopefully you can find something to get rid of that big entertainment center!
The only thing missing with my mantle is a fireplace underneath. 😉
I love it! We’re redoing our mantel too, and yours turned out great!
Dee recently posted…Easy Flip Flop Cookies
Thanks, Dee! Hope yours turns out well!
Hello beautiful! This looks so amazing. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7pm because we love to party with you! Happy Memorial Day! Lou Lou Girls
I love a good upcycling project and yours is just STUNNING! Makes me want to go antiquing! I also need to try out some of that Americana Decor wax and paint. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Merry Monday! We hope you’ll join us again!
Christine | Where The Smiles Have Been recently posted…How to Make an Upcycled Faux Copper Succulent Planter
Thanks so much, Christine! You’ll love the wax and chalky paint, it is the best!
Hi Kristina, your project turned out great, the paints look like a good product. I have yet to try using chalk paint but am looking for a project I need a reason to try them. Thanks for sharing on Friday Features and invite you to stop to share on Wordless Wednesday.
Have a great day!
Karren
Karren Haller ♥ Oh My Heartsie Girl recently posted…Friday Features Linky Party
Thanks Karren. The paint is amazing, I just used it on some more projects!