How to Design a Fireplace Mantle & Bookcase
Fireplace mantels and adjacent bookcases located on the sides of the fireplace, or even above the mantel, create beautiful additions to a home. This home design feature will add to the resale value of your home. You can use the mantel and bookcase to display decor accents, pictures and collectibles, as well as books. Before you get started building, design a fireplace mantel and bookcase that fits your functional and visual needs. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Take a photograph of your existing fireplace or completely stripped down without furniture, decorations or wall art in the way. By taking a photograph this way you can view the area cleared out at any time and use the photograph to help you sketch out possible designs for the mantel and bookcases.
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Sketch the empty fireplace and use the drawing as a blank canvas for creating your mantel and bookcase designs. Draw just the empty fireplace first, in three dimensions, capturing how sections of the wall stand out or sink in around the fireplace and how the hearth steps up from the rest of the floor in the home.
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Make several copies of this initial drawing using a scanner and printer, or at a local copy center, and then draw in possible designs onto each sheet. Consider placing inset bookcases on each side of the fireplace, extending halfway up the wall or from floor to ceiling. Also consider placing the bookcase above the fireplace to serve as the mantel, or make a mantel that extends across the room and serves as the top of the bookcases.
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Visit your local home improvement center and select several paint color sample cards to consider for the design of your bookcases and mantel. Decide if you want to accent the back of the bookcases with a different paint color or paint the bookcase shelves and mantel shelf piece.
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Choose wood samples to help you decide on the wood colors you want to use on the mantel or bookcase pieces. Choose crown molding samples to help you decide on a molding for the mantel shelf if you want to include molding, or simply use a straight piece of wood or stone.
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