Fireplace Surround/Mantel

 I just finished building this fireplace surround/mantel to complete a recent family room makeover. The room has new paint and fireplace/hearth tile, so it needed a new surround.

It's made of solid poplar and painted with Benjamin Moore Super White (paint code OC-152 or PM-1), matte finish. It's attached to the wall with a French cleat, so I can easily remove it if we ever repaint or want a different style.

One problem I had to work around is that the fireplace insert is very slightly off center with respect to the hearth (and the corresponding cutout in the carpet). There's about 1/4" less space to the right of the insert than to the left. We had a few options: making the width of the tile surround on the right 1/4" narrower than the left (my wife didn't like that), making the right leg 1/4" narrower than the left (I didn't like that), or making the right leg overhang the hearth by 1/4". We settled on the last option, meaning I had to cut out the baseboard profile on the outer right leg. There's a small gap around the baseboard that I can fill with caulk if necessary, but it's in an inconspicuous area.

For more details, including construction photos and notes, please read my series of journal entries (at LumberJocks for now, to be migrated here later).

The SketchUp model is on 3D Warehouse.