Create Your Own Faux Mantel

Looking for some more amazing DIY projects and inspiration? Look no farther! Today Krista from The Happy Housie is here to share an awesome makeover: how to turn a beat up old china hutch into a faux mantel… With one of these, you’ll have endless decorating possibilities! Thanks so much for being here today, Krista!
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Hello readers of Maison de Pax!

I’m Krista from The Happy Housie and I am so excited to be visiting here today at Maison de Pax. I have been following Rachel and Maison de Pax for several months now and love her creative DIY Projects and classic beautiful style. I’m thrilled and honoured to be guest posting here while she takes a little time with her newest addition to la maison!
As I said, I spend most of my bloggy time over at The Happy Housie . I called my blog this because I think of myself as a “housie”; someone whose hobby is all kinds of house related stuff like decorating, crafting, organizing, and DIY projects – like the one that I am here to share with you today! I am here to share how we transformed an old china hutch into a faux mantel for our living/dining room area.
Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 1

This baby is my new favourite little thing in the house (though of course I still yearn for a real fireplace mantel one day)… but it was pretty hurtin’ when I picked it up from the local Sally Ann.

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 2

We started by removing the doors…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 3

Look at all that horrid fake brown wood…

Next we built up the bottom with some MDF pieces so that it would stand on a base piece – we just glued these on and clamped them until they set.

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 4

We also removed the glass from the doors…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 5

And we used the glass to trace the shape and then and cut wainscoting sheet panels as new inserts for the doors…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 6

They slid right in and were held into place by the same clips that had held the glass before…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 7

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 8

Next we filled the damaged areas with some Drydex…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 9

You can see it was fairly damaged on the sides near the bottom- but nothing that a little drydex and paint couldn’t fix.

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 10

I whipped up some DIY chalk paint using Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White and this recipe…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 11

I gave the cabinet three solid coats of the DIY Chalk Paint, and then sanded it down and distressed it…

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 12

Lastly, I used a clean (lint free) cotton rag to wax the whole piece….

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 13

This time I put a big ball of wax in the middle of my cloth and then rubbed it all over the piece. I let it dry a few minutes and then lightly buffed it off with a clean part of my cloth.

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 14

Overall it looks fairly solid white but when you look closely you can see the edges have been distressed… I wanted to do this because the piece was already a little aged and damaged so I thought it best suited a distressed finish.

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 15

Faux Mantel by The Happy Housie 17

The Before and After:

Faux Mantel before and after at The Happy Housie

What do you think?? It is one of my favourite makeovers ever, and I just love getting to decorate it for all the different seasons and holidays….

Like Easter…

Spring Home Tour Mantel overall at The Happy Housie

Early Spring….

Gold and Green Early Spring Mantel 3 at the happy housie

Valentine’s Day….

Winter….

January Blues Winter Mantel with reclaimed oar at The Happy Housie

I could go on there but I won’t…. let’s just say there are a lot of mantel change ups around here:) I’d love to have you hop over and visit me at The Happy Housie!

Thanks again, Rachel, for having me here today…I hope that you are completely enjoying your special time with a precious new life:)

Thanks for reading. And remember my housie friends, HOME isn’t built in a day. Enjoy the journey.

image with signature by thehappyhousie
The Happy Housie is a home décor and lifestyle blog that was named this because I must admit to you that I am a bit of a “housie”… (think foodie but for houses). I love all things related to houses: decorating, DIY, organizing, crafting, gardening, and more. I love sharing projects and ideas, and especially love finding old pieces and fixing them up to make them vibrant and beautiful again.
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