Custom Order - Floating Shelves & Mantle

We had a custom order for floating shelves and mantle.  

The shelves were created from white oak logs. The logs were milled with our sawmill and dried in the solar kiln.  

After the hubby made the shelves, the project turned into a father-and-son adventure for installation. The teenager wasn't thrilled with the early morning start time. 

After he woke up, he began to enjoy the work and learning experience. 

The corners weren't perfect 90-degree angles. The floating shelves were designed roughly a half inch longer, so that the inside corner could be scribed onto the shelf prior to installation.  This allowed the shelves to fit tightly against both the back wall and the side wall despite any irregularities with the drywall corner.

The shelves look great!

Next, was the installation of the mantle.

The corbels (supports for the mantle) were custom made from the same white oak wood as the mantle and shelves. The corbels were screwed into the studs from inside the fireplace insert. The installation process was a tight fit to stand, but it made for a very secure mantle.  

The mantle was attached to the corbels with countersunk lag screws. A wooden dowel flush was cut to hide the screw head and give it a smoother appearance.

Overall, the day went well for this hard-working team!

The finished product:

The next portion was to install floating corner shelves in the kitchen. These were made from the same white oak logs to match the fireplace mantle and shelves.

It required a custom fit with a template to get the exact angle of the corner wall prior to construction of the shelf.   

The shelf is 3 inches thick with a stud frame on the interior. Each shelf was wrapped in 3/4-inch white oak. 

The screws were countersunk and dowels were cut off to hide the screw heads.

These shelves are ready for the homeowners to move in and add their own special touches!