From Dresser to Mantel

I'm always looking at something and envisioning something else.  I will find myself walking in a home and in my mind I'm tearing walls down, or I'll be shopping for clothing and start seeing curtains.  So it was no surprise to me or my husband when I told him that I was going to make a mantel out of a dresser.  I've been wanting a mantel for years.  We have a small electric log insert for our living area. I see our living room being more of a sitting reading room one day but until we refinish our basement its used for many things including watching TV.   

 Originally I was looking for TV entertainment center to make the mantel.  A lot of them aren't used these days and have been donated. I see the great crown molding they have and the solid wood they are built out of.  While most people see a entertainment center that no one uses anymore.  I found a lot of them but not the right one.  So one day it hit me as I was in the boys room.....I looked at their dresser and I thought that looks like just about the right size.......(NOTE: before I envisioned the mantel I envisioned a toy storage unit)

 Sure enough after measuring the dresser, it was the right size. So now prepare yourself for a lot of pics of my mantel making process...

 Here we are at the beginning with a big cup of coffee.....

 1st thing I did was cut the back off.....The dresser was the right height and width but not depth. So I cut it off on a rainy day and made a mess.....

 Oh and I gutted the dresser too and ended up with this .......

 I framed it in....sorry no pics.  I did pretty good from what I can remember about framing.  I learned a bit from my dad.  Seriously I basically free styled this baby, measured twice, used my level, and my square.....I think directions would drive me to the nut house. I guess rule breaking is in my blood....it a good and bad thing!
Here I'm getting an idea of what size boards I want and layers.  I used paper because its light and easy to work with.

I ended up with something like this after putting the main boards in place.....

 My favorite part was the trim.  It's like decorating a cake.  The wood I used was from past projects. I've learned that keeping things around can be a good thing....though it can be annoying to store.  But in the end I haven't spent a dime on wood yet.
As far as trim you can just keep going and going and making it as detailed as you want.  I would have probably made this more simple if I was going by a plan.   But I had a lot of different trim pieces in my garage and it was so fun to try them out.  Plus cleaning my garage out was nice too.....

 I did pretty much all the work except angle cutting.  Hubby helped me there.

 Here's what we have so far.  I still need to sand this puppy down nice and smooth. Paint it, brick the inside and decide on tile.  We want to raise the TV a bit and get that pile of wires out of sight.  That is Scotty's department for sure!.... and of course center the mantel under the TV....looks a little out of place right now:)

 We have some black marble tile from the bathroom that I'm considering.

So woodworking has been my new adventure lately.  I sometimes think I should learn more in this area.   I'm grateful for my husband who lets me skip cooking dinner a couple nights and lets me explore new things.
More to come on on the finishing touches of the mantel....I'm so excited to have it for Christmas this year.

Are you a figure it out type of person or do you have to have specific instructions?
Are you like me, do you see something and think it should or could be this?