Distressed Mantel

We are getting closer to having our family room completed.  I will show more photos tomorrow.  Today I wanted to show you what we did for our mantel.  We used this tutorial as inspiration.

We started with a blank slate.

While Mitch worked on framing out the fireplace surround....

the children had fun distressing the pieces for the mantel.

They beat it with hammers, nails and pretty much anything they could get their hands on.  They were very excited to be part of the process.  We originally wanted to use old barn wood, but it just didn't work out.

I did not take photos of the whole process, but here is what it looked like before he did all the finishing work.

He built the mantel, stained, and sealed it.  He also trimmed out the rest of the surround.  Then we painted the surround and trim (and walls).  Then he installed the mantel.

We obviously still need to put up crown molding.  There will be more on that tomorrow.

We have gotten tons of compliments on the mantel.  It seems to be what people notice when they walk into the room.

We are really happy with how it turned out.  The kids are also very proud they were able to contribute, which is very sweet.