I was just a girl, standing in front of a mantle, asking it to look cool. It wasn’t. So dated, boring and way too many right angles. I had dreams of ripping it out, installing a floating railroad tie…. and CUT SCENE. mmmkay. But, I did start wondering….. how hard could it be…. how much could I really screw up? Would the house collapse, would my marriage fall apart, would the kids run away….? Spoiler alert- none of these things happened but little did I know, this would start me on my way to DIY.

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If I couldn’t remove the mantle, I could just take the paint off…. then I could sand it, and stain it!! Awesome! Perfect! Wait, how do you do that? After some searching, I came across this product. At around $15 it didn’t seem like too much of an expense and is available at really any hardware store. Please note- you are asking Citristrip to chew through paint. It does not contain methylene chloride, is non-caustic and is safe for indoor use. However, be smart, read the label and follow the directions. Keep your children and pets away from application. I wore latex gloves and safety glasses while handling this product.

Step 1. Prep your space

All surrounding decorative items were moved to leave an uncluttered surface.

I cleaned the mantle with tsp (about 1 tsp per gallon of warm water).

While it was drying, I used painter’s tape to secure drop clothes to the wood below the mantle and given the size, those drop clothes also protected the hearth and surrounding wood floor.

Step 2. Application

Per the citristrip directions, I shook well and applied a thick layer with a paint brush. Good news, it has a nice orange scent. Once it’s on, really you are leaving this product to do it’s thang but here is a valuable tip. Citristrip stays active and wet for 24 hrs. To keep this as tidy as possible, I wrapped it with syran wrap.

Step 3. Ya Wait

It’s so hard, I know…. to wait, to not poke at it, but the longer it sits, the easier the scraping will be. I left it untouched for 24hrs.

Step 4. Scrape

So it’s really just that. Put your gloves back on and gently remove the syran wrap. It will still be slightly soft but intact. I had no idea how many layers of paint would be on this mantle….. lets get to work!

I used a (general) scraper and with medium pressure pushed long strokes across the mantle. And it was really that easy, the decades of paint were coming off almost in a gummy consistency. In parts, I could even pull off sections with my hands (again with gloves on). I was amazed… this was actually working.

I scraped for about an hour and this is what I was left with. I did have some difficulty with the molding around the lip and sides, so I applied an additional layer of citristrip to those areas, covered it back up with syran wrap and left of for an additional 24 hrs.

So after 48 hrs, I scraped the remaining paint, gently used a hand sander and then wiped with a tack cloth to bring this mantle back to baseline!

A note about the paint scraps. They should be discarded in accordance with your city’s regulations on hazardous waste and recycling.

What these pictures do not show well is the underneath stripping of the mantle. I wore safety glasses while scraping, you should too!

Phase one- DONE. We were back to a raw mantle. I picked up Varathane stain and poly combo in American Chestnut and, after one more wipe down with a tack cloth, I applied a thin layer with a brush. Once it was dry, I used a piece of fine grit sand paper (hand sand) to add some slight distressing.

I wanted greater saturation. After gently sanding (by hand) the first dry coat of stain, I wiped again with a tack cloth. Then, I added another thin layer of stain and once it was dry, repeated the steps- taking my fine grit sand paper to distress areas slightly.

I wanted an ultra glossy finish, so after the second coat of stain was dry, I wiped once more with the tack cloth and then added a coat of clear poly with a separate clean brush to amp up the shine. One coat of clear poly seemed to add the perfect amount of shine!

If you’re wondering how much time to set aside for a project like this, I would break it down as the following:

Prep: 20 min

Application: 15 min

Wait time: 24 hrs

Scrape and sanding time: 1-2 hrs depending on molding details

Stain and poly application- 10 min. dry time 6 hrs per coat. A major marketing point for these stains is how quick they claim to dry. I like to add time just to make sure.

Since I did the application and scraping twice, it doubles the time but it was totally manageable amongst all the kids’ schedules and family responsibilities. I would absolutely do this project again. It’s added such texture and visual interest with an approximate cost of $40.

Ever read the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? Yeah, well that set off a full on chain of events in our living room….. Now that the mantle was updated, I wanted it to rest on a wall full of interest and design. Enter the SHIPLAP!!! A note about the Shiplap, we purchased the Pac Trim MDF Shiplap Interior Siding from Home Depot and had it installed by a contractor. It was a great idea. In his installation, he used caulking for a clean finish. I couldn’t have been happier with this decision!!!

And since this redesign, the mantle reflects the seasons.

This project was completed in the fall of 2018 and really is where StayingIn Design began. It came from being home, knowing our needs and becoming sick of waiting around to have more time, make more money, for the kids to get older and about a million other excuses. And really, this is just a mantle. It’s not adding living space or more plumbing. But, it’s the little changes that make a big impact. I hope that’s what you take away from this- just a small change started a much larger process. One that I’m excited to share and one that I think anyone can replicate!!