A decorative electric fireplace is something that could readily catch anybody's attention. Other than its ability to provide heat, its design and structure are what makes it all the more interesting. While the simulated fire and music are often considered as the main accents of this furnishing, its mantel is another factor that makes it stand out from the rest of the fixtures around the home. However, as it isn't economical to purchase a new mantel, it would be more ideal if you could create one yourself.

Before you proceed with your mantel for your electric fireplace heater, you should first know what a mantel is. Basically, mantel is the shelf-like feature that sits on the wall often located above the mouth of the fireplace. This part is often incorporated to enhance the space where a fireplace would be placed and doubles as a decorative feature where a homeowner can place different objects such as photographs and figurines. Such piece is usually separate from the fireplace but can also be directly connected to the fire feature.

While you have the option to purchase the mantel of your electric fireplace heater, customizing your mantel is a good way to add character to your fire feature. By doing it yourself, you can be assured that the mantel you create will be unique as you could incorporate your own creative vision into it. Although this might be a bit hard to accomplish, your efforts would surely pay off as this project is way cheaper than actually buying a pre-made mantel. To begin your mantel project you would need the following items: saw, nail gun, crown molding, wood glue, router, level, wooden boards and paint.

Measure your fireplace as well as the location where you intend to place your fireplace mantel. Be sure to add at 3/4 of an inch to the measurements you made so as to properly accommodate the thickness of the boards that you will use. Don't forget to use a level when marking the location of your mantel in order to avoid squiggly lines. After doing the measurements, do your mantel design in accordance to your desired theme and scale down the dimensions of your mantel based from the measurements you did for your fireplace.

Create the legs of your fireplace mantel with the use of three boards to form an incomplete box on the wall. Cut the side and front pieces of each leg and secure them together by gluing and nailing. Secure the sides of the box to the wall. To decorate your mantel legs, install crown moldings around the sides of the legs.

Now that you have your fireplace mantel legs in place, create the top and shelf of the mantel by using a frieze board and then place it on top of the legs. To ensure the strength of the mantel top and shelf, nail it to the wall and then install crown moldings around its sides to accentuate it. To achieve smoother edges, use a router to scrap of tiny particles on the edge of your mantel. Then, paint it according to your desired color scheme to complement the interiors of your home.

A decorative electric fireplace can be achieved by customizing your fireplace mantel. Although this is not an easy DIY project, doing your own mantel permits you to capture the design you wanted to incorporate on your electric fireplace heater. You only need to be creative enough, and you should have the patience to finish this project to get the result that you expect in order to highlight your fireplace.