Bertha Heathcote
After a few months of working full time from home and staring at the custom fireplace I built every day, I decided it’s time to add a mantel! This DIY floating shelf mantel took me ONE WEEKEND to do and cost me under $100! How To Build A Floating Shelf Mantel For A Fireplace So, once you know how to make one, you can use them as shelving, mantels, window ledges… the possibilities are ENDLESS. First, I added beveled edges to my mantel box/floating shelf pieces. I then glued the pieces together to make a hollow box and drove a few pin nails into the edges to help hold them together while they dried.
While the box dried, I created a bracket with the 2 x 3 boards for the shelf to slide over. I made sure to cut this to match the inner dimensions of the floating shelf box. I also added some wood toner to give it a rich and finished tone. While the shelf dried, I installed the bracket to my fireplace, making sure to screw them directly into the studs in my fireplace (if you’re installing this on a wall, you can screw it directly into the studs in your wall). I then slid the hollow box over the bracket and nailed it into place. I had a custom floating shelf mantel for my fireplace in ONE weekend and for under $100 in materials!
It really is so wild how much a difference it made to add this floating shelf mantel to the fireplace!
