Believe it or not our fireplace mantle use to be even more ornate. You can see on the sides a faint outline of pilasters that were ripped off for whatever reason!?

So that history has left us with some unfinished looking trim like this base. We are not going to create the pilasters but want the mantle to still look complete. So we mocked up several ideas which you can see two of them above.

In the end, we decided to just extend the base and give it a proper termination. We created the exact profile on the router table and table saw, so hopefully once filled and stained it will look like it was always there.

We also needed to replace the trim below our new travertine top. It was also missing sections from the past removals so it was easier just to replace it in its entirety.

Of course we mocked up several options before settling on a cyma curve with a fillet and created it on the router table.

Lastly, we are going to add a ‘backsplash’ on the mantel, but have not decided on a profile (and need to take a break from thus project for our ‘secret’ quicky project).