Making A Mantel Pretty Again
The mantel in the Octagon Bedroom has looked really bad for a very long time.
.
A chronic roof leak caused most of the damage. Water not only eroded the finish, but caused the mantel shelf to cup on the left, and the small top shelf, left, to cup, too.
This is bad.
I placed the overmantel on sawhorses and liberally applied paint stripper. The wood was never stained. Rather, the original varnish or shellac was tinted. It came off easily.
All the original finish is now removed. The process proved MUCH easier after taking the overmantel apart.
Two coats of amber shellac later, and a partial reconstruction.
Oh, yummy! The columns, of course, are not refinished yet. A little piece on the bottom, center has not been put back.
Ross excited!
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Bravo!
WOW!!
Don’t take too long on this, we are all waiting on the edge of our seats! LOL
I would love to even have a fireplace, let alone a mantle like that! Lucky You! Beautiful! 🙂
Looking good! And appears to be in good harmony with the tone of the bedroom set you purchased for that room.
Looks great. Will you be able to straighten out the wood that is warped or do you have to replace it?
I don’t know yet, John.
It would be easy to replace the mantel shelf. It’s plain with just an eased edge. Dr. Doug could make a new one, easily.
The small top shelf, left side, would require some effort to replicate.
When the temperature gets hot, I can lay each piece in the sun, on wet grass, cupped side down. They should straighten up.
Pray.
So incredibly satisfying to see it come back to beauty!
Agreed, Brenda. My smile gets wide looking at the reborn mantel.
Such lovely wood. It’s going to be truly beautiful. It already looks impressively better.
It does! I’m so excited, Louise!