The fireplace is often thought of as “the heart of the home”, and with the cooler weather approaching what better project to showcase than our DIY Fireplace Renovation!!
This was the first project hubby took on when we moved into our home. From the picture below, you can see why; it wasn’t a very welcoming spot. Even when I tried to “dress it up”, it was simply…lacking.
As with all of our other projects, it started with a dream – to have a beautiful floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. And like many dreams, that one fizzled out as soon as we figured out how much that would cost (and how difficult it would be to put the stones up the entire wall, by ourselves)
We did, however, figure out how to make it work for us!! So off we went on our first adventure together into the world of DIY projects…
The first thing to go up was a cement board around the original black panels. We wanted to create a larger surface for the stone to be placed on. Next up was the mantel which was a super easy DIY kit from Lowes – Ekena Milwork Faux Wood.
Then came the countless trips back and forth trying to figure out which stone and flooring combo was what we were looking for. We finally settled on the AirStone Spring Creek Wall Stone for the wall and a flooring that was on sale and unfortunately no longer available. (This Romagna Ivory Polished Porcelain Floor and Wall Tile is a similar look!!)
The stone wall was put up using mortar and the spaces in between were filled with grout. (We had to quickly wipe away the excess so it wouldn’t dry on top of the stone – but later realized, that by adding water to a rag, you could wipe it back off again pretty easily)
The floors were put down with mortar as well (he had to use a wet saw in order to cut the porcelain to the right size) and we used quarter-rounds to round off the edges so little feet wouldn’t trip on them!!
The last thing we ended up changing was the color of the black vents and the gold bars. We used Rust-Oleum High Heat spray paint for the vents and bar (so we wouldn’t have to worry about paint and fire!!)
Now we have a beautiful centerpiece to our den (and a spot for me to decorate for every season!!)
If you’re looking to spruce up your living space, I highly recommend looking into the products listed above and seeing if this is something you can do for yourself!!
Here is the Pleasant Hearth Classic Screen, in Black.
Here are the Kirklands Galvanized Milk Jugs.
Here is a similar Fall Leaf Garland for the fireplace.
Have a safe and warm week!!!