Earlier than and After: A $170 DIYed “Marble” Mantel Provides Main Character to a Bed room

When Nashville-based artist Elle Yount moved into her Forties house, she knew she needed to weave cozy parts into her house, however her first intuition wasn’t fuzzy blankets or shag rugs. As an alternative, she turned her consideration to molding and mantels. “I’ve all the time been so drawn to architectural particulars, particularly European ones,” Yount says. “I  actually needed to include that into our bed room so as to add further character.”

After trying round city and on-line for an vintage mantel, her husband steered they make a chunk as an alternative. She pulled a couple of photos for inspiration, after which couple went searching for items of cheap, inventory wooden. “My husband used a router to attain the curved traces within the piece in addition to the architectural items on both aspect of the mantel,” Yount explains. Yount then discovered a shell-shaped medallion to set off the center of the mantel, which her husband added to the fake fire with wooden glue. She additionally bought architectural corbels for both aspect of the mantel for simply $16 every and glued these on, too. To make sure the mantel stays secure, Yount and her husband used 2 by 4s to screw the piece into the wall for assist. Then she hung a gallery wall-style association of images round it and topped if off with a tv.

After the piece was “completed,” Yount felt prefer it nonetheless wanted a bit extra intrigue. “I initially simply painted the mantel white and lived with it that means for a bit, however increasingly more, I felt just like the room wanted some curiosity,” she says. Yount coated the piece in PPG’s Solstice, a mushy, heat grey with a slate undertone, however the change of colour nonetheless didn’t seal the deal for her. Immediately, the proper makeover concept got here to thoughts, and it concerned a pretend ending method — solely modernized for the 2020s. “I’ve all the time been so obsessive about marbled items and simply the general look in a Parisian flat,” Yount says. “Simply months prior, I had really performed with portray an ornamental bowl, giving it a marbled look. This acquired me considering that I may at the least strive it on the mantel. Worst case, it’s simply paint, and I may all the time begin once more.”

To create the marble-like end, all Yount used was a thin-edged paint brush, white acrylic paint, and a cup of water. “When marble, you discover that not one of the veins are the identical; they go each which means and differ in thickness,” Yount says. “So after trying by many alternative marbled mantels on Pinterest, I discovered the one which spoke to me most. I used that picture [as a reference] to considerably copy the traces.”

It took Yount some trial and error as she sought to create the proper fake marble end. “I seen once I made the traces too good, it didn’t appear to provide off that desired look,” she notes. “Attempting to determine the right way to make the veins extra plausible was essentially the most difficult half.” Ultimately, Yount realized that including a little bit of water to the paint to assist smear a number of the traces was the reply. “Not one of the traces wanted to be straight however [rather] considerably blurred and curvy,” she provides. “I added a little bit of water to the paint brush, and over the road I had painted with the white acrylic paint, I might press down arduous in opposition to that line on the mantel to rub the paint in a bit, virtually smearing the road. This positively crushed the comb and as soon as this venture was completed, my paintbrush was, too, however truthfully, the look was so value it!”

All in all, the portray portion of the venture solely took Yount about one hour to finish — and she or he notes that it in all probability would have taken even much less time had there been much less experimentation concerned. To finish the look, Yount and her husband positioned a big, vintage mirror behind the mantel as a way to make their room seem greater and fill out the firebox, since clearly this isn’t a purposeful fire. She then styled out the entrance of the unit with a bust, stacks of outdated books, and an outsized white vessel vase. A swag of greenery atop the mantel provides an additional pure and festive contact to the setup, too.

All in all, all the venture price Yount and her husband simply $170, with wooden making up $70 of bills. “In fact [the cost] all is dependent upon what dimension of fireside mantel you want to construct, however for us, we needed it to seem as if it have been a chunk we present in a small Parisian flat,” she explains, noting that the mantel is 50 inches huge by 47 inches tall. Yount is extremely happy with how a lot the piece has modified her bed room. “Now, it feels so extremely cozy in our room, and the mantel additionally works as an exquisite focus for us on the finish of our mattress with out taking up a lot house,” she says. “The mantel labored virtually because the hyperlink that helped tie in my classic lamps and nightstands with our fashionable, upholstered mattress, thrifted artwork, and my very own paintings as nicely.”