Many homes come with their fireplace, and changing the look or function of a fireplace and mantel can be frustrating. Store-bought options may not fit the style of your home, or maybe you want your mantel to do more than just look pretty. A popular trend for fireplace mantels is turning them into entertainment centers, mounting the TV just above the mantel. This setup presents a design challenge as there is usually a mass of cords, wires and components to hide around the mantel somehow. This challenge is just what Marvelous Woodworking has experience in overcoming. When we build a custom fireplace mantel, we work with our client to design a piece that matches their home’s look and style, and we create a unique and convenient way to hide the components of their entertainment system.
Here we built a fireplace mantel and its side cabinets to match the white, framed look that was everywhere else in the room. Our client liked the smaller cabinets as a means for display and storing her TV components. We have found that cabinets are almost required if you want to mount your TV above a fireplace. Otherwise, there is nowhere to store components like DVD players and gaming equipment. Many of our clients also think the fireplace looks unfinished without some sort of visual flanking, which cabinets or bookshelves often provide. We built these half-cabinets with recessed paneling that echoed the square mount behind the TV and the architectural detailing of the corbels.
The mantel itself has a panel that pops off at the bottom where the wires and cables are stored, and can also be easily accessed if need be. The style of the mantelpiece did not have to be sacrificed for this hidden functionality.
Our client loved the neat and tidy fireplace mantel solution that completed her living room’s spotless look.
For this fireplace, our client had storage and seating needs, as well as a place to hide TV wires. She wanted two large side cabinets placed on either side of the existing fireplace and mantel. First we modified the mantel, cutting it down so it could fit between the floor-to-ceiling cabinets. The storage and access point for the wires was a straightforward design; just take off the front of the mantel.
The cabinets had a nifty solution to our client’s needs as well. How do you make a cabinet capable of seating? We crafted a cabinet that was built out at the bottom to form a bench, and put a drawer in the bench to give our client her needed storage space. Voila! A bookshelf-bench-drawer cabinet!
To make sure the mantel and cabinets matched, we did a little recrafting of the framing around the TV to match the style on the cabinet drawers, and we ran the mantel flush with the cabinets for a seamless look. Our client was very pleased with her innovative cabinets and fireplace mantel.
Designing a custom fireplace mantel with special capabilities has its challenges, but the work is worth it, as the end result is a mantel that looks gorgeous while also doing something useful. We at Marvelous Woodworking have built many custom fireplace mantels to meet the needs of our clients; we would love to help you create the perfect solution to your fireplace too!
