Mac's mantle

I changed a few things on mine. I wanted the mantle to be deeper in case we want to put a natural gas fireplace insert in it in the future so I used 1x8's for the sides I also used the remaining 48" or so 1x12 for the base and used 1x3's to trim it in to make it a bit wider. I did something similar to the top I trimmed it with 1x3's using pocket hole screws. As for the mirror, my wife had an old mirror that she wanted me to use and it was actually an after thought but it fit in there perfectly! I just used 1x3s to trim it in the front and used smaller scrap pieces and screws to wedge the mirror in the mantle in case we want to use it for something else if we install the gas insert. That's about it I used traditional cherry 1 coat and 3 coats of polyurethane I had to pull up the base board trim and cut it to get it flush against the wall. My wife was upset that I made her wait to decorated it with picture frames and porcelain birds. The polyurethane hadn't cured yet and I didn't want marks on it after spending so much time on it.
Thanks! She loves it!