We had a mantel installed on our fireplace over the holidays.

When we moved here there wasn’t a mantel, rather just a glass mosaic tiled wall surrounding the gas fireplace. Problem was that if we wanted to hang a picture or something above it, we had to be careful about the radiating heat. When we turned on the fireplace we really could only keep it on for a little while (10-15 minutes) before we’d notice things getting too hot. Our concerns were compounded when we decided to hang a TV on the fireplace wall.

Imagining what would look nice, but not too boring or too garish for a mantel, I first imagined a simple block of aluminum or something. With glass mosaic tile and an LED TV, I wanted to avoid a typical ornamental wood mantel. Our first investigation happened to be our best. We discovered Solus Decor out of Vancouver who pour custom concrete mantels and tiles for fireplaces and other areas. Ours is called a “Judd” mantel piece and is a very simple rectangular piece of polished grey concrete. It is modern, beautiful (to us) and refined.

We had it installed between Christmas and New Years by a recommended tradesperson who did a great job. Reinforcing a mounting bracket to three studs and then using the strongest construction adhesive available means we could theoretically stand or sit on this mantel despite its floating appearance, though we won’t test it. Pictures are here for your viewing pleasure. What do you think? Perhaps it’s best seen in person.