Although the house renovation is mostly complete inside, there are a few things still on the list. Until recently, adding a mantle and some shelves around the fireplace were one of them, but no more!

We’re lucky to have made a couple friends in Scotland, one of them being our neighbor across the street who, just so happens, is an accomplished woodturner and photographer (check out ralphnisbet.com). He offered to help make something for us so, with zero hestitation on my part, we headed to a local reclaimed wood shop to get something to work with.

We found some reclaimed scaffolding board to use like the ones shown here:

A single board was enough to make the mantle and two shelves for the locations shown here:

I don’t know all the magic that was done to them in detail but I know that we kept things simple by just using a combination of sanding and applying finishing oil (no stain).

They turned out really nicely I think. We got some great wood in the house now and our neighbor accepted payment in whiskey.😃

There seems to be a theme around wood at the moment but it’s good. We’re looking to add more woody touches to the house so no telling where it will stop!