FAUX MANTLE RESTORATION
I found this beauty on Facebook Marketplace! My heart beat so fast and I couldn't breathe until the Seller agreed it could be mine. More anxiousness until we picked it up and it was in the truck on its way to our house. It has always been a dream to have a fireplace in my room. This faux fireplace was the ticket!
I used some Citristrip to remove the flaking varnish to reveal a beautiful stained finish. I just couldn't paint over it as I originally planned. I molded the missing column pieces with a molding kit from Hobby Lobby and poured a resin replacement. I also used wood putty to replace the missing archway pieces. I tried resin ones but I couldn't get it to look right. I painted the whole panel black and put a little gold gilding on it. I also repaired the columns and stripped and painted them black and added gilding as they had originally. I filled in some damages with wood putty and restained it all to hide the repairs. We added some moulding to the top edge of the mantle top and replaced the moulding on the front panel. I had to special order it as the size wasn't available in the store. We figured out it had to be an exact width of the original because the front panel is a secret door to a hidden compartment. I had to carefully chisel out the back of the moulding where the hinges were. Some tightening of the screws and a little WD-40, and it was as good as new. I can't wait to decorate my new mantle in my bedroom!
I used some Citristrip to remove the flaking varnish to reveal a beautiful stained finish. I just couldn't paint over it as I originally planned. I molded the missing column pieces with a molding kit from Hobby Lobby and poured a resin replacement. I also used wood putty to replace the missing archway pieces. I tried resin ones but I couldn't get it to look right. I painted the whole panel black and put a little gold gilding on it. I also repaired the columns and stripped and painted them black and added gilding as they had originally. I filled in some damages with wood putty and restained it all to hide the repairs. We added some moulding to the top edge of the mantle top and replaced the moulding on the front panel. I had to special order it as the size wasn't available in the store. We figured out it had to be an exact width of the original because the front panel is a secret door to a hidden compartment. I had to carefully chisel out the back of the moulding where the hinges were. Some tightening of the screws and a little WD-40, and it was as good as new. I can't wait to decorate my new mantle in my bedroom!
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| Repaired the missing column foot with resin |
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| Check out the secret door! |
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| Original piece untouched |
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| Repaired secret panel |
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| Replacing the moulding was tricky |
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| Restored! |
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| Before and after |
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