How To Repurpose A Vintage Mantel – When You Don’t Have a Fireplace

How to Up-Cycle A Vintage Fireplace Mantel is a creative way to use a mantel when you don’t have a fireplace for it to surround or the space for a faux fireplace mantel. The repurposed fireplace mantel is now a unique part of our bedroom decor.

In addition, you will see how to repurpose the left over pieces of the mantel. I’m a waste not kind of girl and every piece of the mantel was put to good use.

Why Repurpose a Mantel?

We don’t have a fireplace in our farmhouse. However, a vintage mantel surrounded a faux fireplace in our previous home. Y’all know I get attached to my vintage finds, and when we sold that house, I didn’t want to sell the mantel.

Therefore, the mantel was repurposed in a unique way.

---

How to Repurpose a Fireplace Mantel?

Since we didn’t really have a place for our vintage fireplace mantel, I began looking for alternative uses for this piece. Since we had a large amount of space above our bed, we decided the mantel would make a great shelf.

In order to make the mantel into a shelf, it was necessary to cut the legs off. With a little maneuvering, we were able to chop the legs off with a miter saw.

We originally tried to hang it with the top of the mantel up. It just didn’t look great so we flipped it over. Ta Da! I was loving the upside down mantel.

Pinterest Challenge

In addition, I’m joining Cindy at County Road 407 for her Fall Fireplace Mantel Pinterest Challenge. Each month Cindy and her guests use a Pinterest pin as inspiration for a blog post. Be sure to see the links to all the Fall Mantel inspiration at the end of this post. If you are popping over from Cindy’s creative post, I’m so glad you stopped by.

This month’s inspiration comes from Janelle Trinette lovely Fall Tour 2020.

---

How To Stabilize The Vintage Mantel?

Before we start to decorate the fireplace mantel, we were concerned about the stability of the old wood and decided before adding any weight to the shelf, it needed to be secured. Therefore, we added iron anchors to both ends of the mantel.

They were not only functional but added a decorative touch to the over all appearance of the vintage mantel.

Fall Inspiration for the Fireplace Mantel

First, I didn’t want to completely change my color scheme for a Fall Mantel. Therefore, instead of the usual golds and rust colors, I decided to use some of my dried hydrangeas that still held a touch of blue.

I gathered my thrifted wooden candle sticks, old glass bottles and a couple of DIY projects to pull the mantel together.

I also added three mix matched old mirrors to reflect the beautiful blooms.

DIY Projects on the Vintage Mantel

One of my recent projects was an Easy Spray Paint Update on these old lanterns and I love how the copper looks for a warm fall touch.

Instead of adding a candle, I filled the lantern with faux pumpkins.

Last fall I shared How to Napkin Decoupage Pumpkins and these small blueish ones are a perfect accompaniment to the dried hydrangeas.

Props for Varying Heights

One way to assure your mantel decor is appealing is to vary the heights of your decor. This allows the eye to move around your vignette and is more pleasing.

I like to use vintage books to add height where needed. I have a good collection of blue books which were perfect for this display.

The muted blues and wood tones still work perfectly with the bedding and vintage dishes I added in the spring.

The blue euro shams from Piper Classics will continue to work in this room into the fall.

In addition, the Olivia quilt can be paired with other colors during the holidays. Even the DIY twig hydrangea arrangement works perfectly on top of the Flea Market Flip Chest.

What Happened to the Vintage Fireplace Mantel Legs?

In order to use the legs, we built a cabinet for over the toilet. The fireplace mantel legs were used for the side of the cabinet and shelves were added to hold the legs together.

Then a cabinet door that had previously been removed from our bathroom corner cabinet, was added to the front.

---

I hope you enjoyed seeing how we repurposed the vintage fireplace mantel and up-cycled the legs as well. Get ready for more mantel inspiration.

Click Image for Details

---

Continue on the Pinterest Inspiration Tour

Up next on the tour is Angie from Postcards From The Ridge. I know you will love her Fall Mantel Decor ideas.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Pin it to remember it