Easy DIY Floating Mantel UNDER $20!!

When my husband and I moved into our home, we loved everything about it...except for the very awkwardly situated/peculiar looking "crawl space". For 2 years I've looked at it everyday and have struggled to design a way to decorate it. I didn't want to block it with entryway storage shelving because we live in a tornado-prone area, and we found that a fireplace console would run a tad short. Then one day I was thinking about our old apartment and how much I missed having a mantel - decorating it and the liveliness it brought into the living room. Inspiration hit and here we are :)

Before

You will need the following materials:

Power Saw or Hand Saw
Power Drill
Hammer
Protective eyewear
Stud Finder
Level
2 Clamps
Paint or Wood Finish of your choice
Sandpaper
Measuring tape

As far as nails & drill bits - those are personal preference, but I will show an image of the ones I used in the tutorial :)

Boring but necessary technical stuff:

Interior Support Bracket - 3 - 1"x6"x6ft Common Board @ $5.42 each - (Link Here) 
Top, Bottom, Side, & Front Shelving - 1 - 2"x3"x96" Whitewood Board @ $2.17 - (Link Here)
GRAND TOTAL: $18.43!!

Mantel Dimensions (approximate-after sanding down & smoothing edges):
57.5 inches long
4 1/16 inches tall
6 5/16 inches wide

Using your power saw, cut all 4 wood boards to your desired length. I cut mine to 56 inches.

Using the wood leftover from the Whitewood, cut four - 3 3/4 inch pieces. These will serve as the interior frame.

Now to connect the 4 interior frame pieces to the support bracket >> Use a 3/32" drill bit to drill pilot holes into your support bracket.

Then use a 7/16" wood bore in the same spots. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! Doing this will ensure that the bracket will lay flush up against the wall when mounted.

You should have 4 sections that look something like this (shadows emphasized):

Secure a frame over each section with a 3" 7.62 cm screw in combination with wood glue & a clamp.

Your finished support bracket should then look like this.

Now for the front the shelf >> Trim your Whitewood boards  to be 6 inches wide. We trimmed just a teensy bit more than 6 inches in order to account for what we would lose when sanding.

Sand till smooth to the touch. Then choose a paint or wood finish. I choose this paint since it was used for all the baseboards in my home  Plus, leftover paint = no need to spend any $$$ ;)

Remember - you only need to paint what will be exposed.

Mount your support bracket to the wall with the following nails. Don't forget to use your level!

Connect your front, top, and bottom shelf piece to the bracket with FINISHING NAILS - this is necessary so that the nail heads aren't visible.

I highly suggest using wood glue not only for added strength but also to fill in any gaps. Clamp as shown & let dry overnight.

Add the front & side pieces. Sand where necessary so that all edges are smooth and become flush with one another.

If you still find that, despite sanding, there are uneven places where the different pieces of wood meet each other, use wood filler glue. As you can see in the images below, using wood filler glue in combination with sanding makes a drastic difference!

Without sanding or wood filler glue

With sanding & wood filler glue - Left End

With sanding & wood filler glue - Right End

Add a 2nd and/or 3rd coat of paint, decorate as you wish, and you are done!

Before

After

 I designed & created the rustic-weathered picket fence & window accent pieces --> tutorial on these and how I (inexpensively) styled my mantel coming very soon!!