Footboard turned Faux Fireplace Mantel...

I thought I would share with you today how we made the fireplace mantel for the wedding...

 

It was definitely my favorite part of the wedding decor. 

Having a mantel to decorate made for such a beautiful backdrop for the headtable.

We started with this....

It's the footboard from an old antique bed my parents own. They still use the headboard, but the footboard has been sitting in their garage for months now & my mom had the idea to make some alterations to it in order to make it work as a fireplace mantel for the wedding.

So we enlisted the help of my dad & had him cut the legs off it....

He's such a good little helper! :)

We needed a ledge on the fireplace so that we would be able sit stuff on it & we were trying to build it with lumber & things that my dad had sitting around the garage, so we used a dog ear fence panel to create our fireplace ledge...

We then used a nail gun to secure the fence panel to the top of the headboard...

Hehe...Dad, bet you will pay attention to what you have on next time I am taking pictures for the blog!

  That's a nice look you've got going on there with your flip-flops & socks!!! LOL!

Ahem....moving on!

So, this is what it looked like once we were finished securing the fence panel to the footboard...

 

Next, we had to create "the legs" (or at least that's what I call them) for the fireplace.

We used the bed frame to construct this part of the mantel & then again, used the nail gun to secure them to the backside of the footboard...

After attaching "the legs" we ended up with this....

In order to give the fireplace mantel more of a finished look, we then took a piece of quarter-round that my dad had laying around the garage & nailed it in underneath the fence panel where it met the the top of the footboard....

Then it was time to prime....

The mantel was given 2 coats of primer followed by 2 coats of a cream colored latex paint that I had left-over from another project. Then we distressed it to give it that shabby chic look that we were going for...

Let's take another look at our finished product....

Voila! 

There you have it! 

A beautiful back-drop for our headtable that definitely made a statement in the room! 

And the best part about it?! It was FREE!!!

Isn't she just lovely?!

I hope you've enjoyed this project & that it will cause you to look differently at those things that you have laying around the garage or in storage! 

Lots of things can be reused & repurposed....you just have to have an imagination!

 

 Linking up here....

Tutorials & Tips Link Party at Home Stories A to Z
Show & Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order

20 Below Thursday at Christina's Adventures
I'm Lovin' it at Tidy Mom

Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots & Jello

Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table & Dreaming

(Sidenote: The decorative piece in the middle of the fireplace was something my mom already had. We just attached it to the mantel using some velcro, that way we could take it on & off easily & my mom could use it again if she wanted to.)