Go the Cheap Route for Fireplace Mantels
I recently purchased a cozy three-bedroom house. One of the major selling points was a large fireplace positioned in the center of the living room. It was beautiful except the woodwork around it was threadbare and shabby. I started shopping around for fireplace mantels to spruce the room up and I was amazed at how much of a difference a bit of wood and stain did to brighten the whole space up.
If you’re operating with a tight budget, as I was, the best route to go is getting a mantel that is ready to be stained. This means that it will come shipped without any sort of finish, but you can easily apply one yourself. I preferred this because the cost of having it treated was significantly higher than the price of a bucket of stain and an hour of painting it by me. The results were just as pleasing as models that come colored already and I had the satisfaction of doing it myself. It added more character to it, really.
But if you are willing to spend the money, beauty does come with a price. You can spend upward of five hundred dollars to have a flush piece fit over your fireplace. Many people prefer their mantels to have an aged patina in order to look more distinguished. This is another thing you can actually do yourself with some copper finish and sand paper that will give the wood more character if you want it to look older. Your best option is to do a little research online or at your hardware store to get the best outcome for the lowest price.