How to Build a DIY Faux Fireplace with Mantel

In this simple step by step tutorial, I show you how to build a DIY rustic farmhouse faux fireplace mantel. This is an easy DIY project for any beginner.

Faux Fireplace Mantel Surround

In our home, we have a real wood burning fireplace. However, it sits in a corner and doesn’t have a mantel. I really wanted something that would fit this space behind our dining room table. I also wanted a mantel that I could decorate.

DIY Farmhouse Mantel Tutorial

Well, I am going to call it a tutorial because this is a basic idea that you can take and create in your own style. I keep our home decorated very simply and I like a lot of straight lines, which means that things are often easy to build.

My finished DIY rustic farmhouse faux fireplace mantel measures, 63 inches long, 51 inches tall, and 8 inches wide. I built this for the space that I wanted to fill so your measurements may be different.

Faux Farmhouse Fireplace and Mantel Plans

This fireplace cost me nothing other than my time and energy because I gathered the wood from our stash in the barn. If you look at the above photo you can see that the first thing I did was figure out how tall I wanted the fireplace surround to be.

I cut the boards to size and on each side I placed two boards side by side to create the base. I then figured out how wide I wanted the fireplace mantel and cut a board as the base for that. Using a nail gun, I nailed the top board to the side boards in several areas to ensure that it would hold together.

DIY Faux Rustic Mantel

Now, this is where you can tell that I am a work as I go kinda gal. When creating this, I just had an image in my head and went with it. The two boards on the bottom didn’t give me quite the look I wanted, so, I cut another board and added it to the middle of the boards, as shown in the photo above. I cut it to long and had to go back and cut it off to match the other boards.

Since I already had the fireplace surround on the floor, using the nail gun, I nailed the mantel on the top. The mantel overhangs the side of the fireplace by about two inches on each side.

The next step was to lean it against the wall to see if I like the way it looked. Initially, I did but then I decided that I wanted a bit of a chunkier look. So, I cut another board to go right underneath the mantel board, which you can see in the photo below.

The mantle was attached to the wall using a nail gun and nailing it in place.

DIY Faux Fireplace Mantel Surround

Hopefully, by those images you can see how easy it is to build one for yourself. I love that it was free and that is solves the problem for my wall. The mantel provides a place to add a few decorations throughout the year and maybe even a place to hang stocking during Christmas.

Decorate a Faux Farmhouse Mantel

Once I got the mantle built and attached to the wall, I had the problem of deciding how I would decorate it. I tried a variety of arrangements but in the end settled with an old window and boxwood wreath that I made from some trimmings off of a friends bush.

You can be assured that this mantel will see many different arrangements. I have enjoyed decorating it for Spring and Fall, and most recently it got a beautiful black coat of paint.

So, what do you think? Would you build a faux fireplace and mantel?

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