When I moved into my new home, the previous owners left a fireplace mantel.

It was on a platform, looked unfinished, and was NOT rustic. So, my kids and I got to work and fixed that problem.

Scroll down to take a look at the before and after and watch the video to see the steps we used to create this DIY rustic fireplace mantel for our new home.

DIY Rustic Fireplace Mantels Ideas

Prep the fireplace mantel

The first thing we did was take the mantel off the platform and we detached it from the wall and moved it out the garage to start painting it.

I sanded the mantel a bit before painting it so the paint would stick to the mantel.

Paint the fireplace mantel

My kids helped me paint the mantel white. I didn’t worry too much about making sure the mantel was completely covered in white paint evenly because I wanted this mantel to look rustic, so I wanted some of the oak colored wood to come through.

Sand the fireplace mantel

After the paint dried, I sanded the mantel everywhere. I paid more attention to the edges and corners when sanding because this makes the wear and tear appear more natural. Looking back, I wish I would’ve sanded it a little more than I did in some places, but I’m very happy with the way it turned out.

Add wallpaper behind the fireplace mantel

To complete the rustic fireplace mantel look, I added some faux brick wallpaper I purchased on Amazon to the wall behind the rustic mantel.

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