Fireplace Facelift

For those lucky enough to have a working fireplace in their home they know it is often the center of attention when people walk in the room. 

Guarantee someone will comment on it, usually a simple "Oh you have a fireplace," 

If the conversation ends there the person may have been taught that if they can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. 

Fireplace before in all it's green and gold glory

It may be time to step back and really take a look at your fireplace. If your paint colours, furniture and decor have changed several times over the years but you fireplace has not, it may be outdated. 

When it comes to updating decor the fireplace is often left behind. It doesn't have to be. Refacing your fireplace is a mid-level skill job that normally cost between $400 to $1000. Unless you really really need that marble shipped from Italy......

Here is my own Fireplace Facelift
I love my propane fireplace in the hosue we just moved into last year, I did not however, like the green and gold colour scheme going on there. Not only was it a little dated it seemed much too fancy for the rest of the rustic look of my house. 

The other thing I didn't like was the mantel. I felt that the corner fireplace that just ended with a shelf gave me this awkward corner to deal with. I believe the previous owners had a tv up there. 

We carefully chipped off all the old tiles. Be careful not to damage the fireplace, break the glass with a accidental chisel slip, hey it could happen..... Bye bye green tiles!

If you are keeping your mantel remove it carefully  and lay it aside. Reusing it will save you $$$. 

If you are building a new one source out the local building store for remnant pieces- you don't need much and it can save you. You will want to use a nice heavy wood for the project, such as oak. Hubby managed to score me a FREE piece of solid Cherry from a friend who had no use for it.

We framed up a wall to the ceiling and hung 5/8 boards to the front to adhere our stone to. This is less than $100 to finish.

Love my fireplace even more at Christmas time

The stone product we used is available at most hardware stores. It comes in tiles that you install with adhesive. Keep in mind you will need a saw blade that can cut through this type of stone tile. Refer to the experts at the hardware store for help. The tiles cost us approx $300 for 3 boxes.

We then scored some black tiles on the discount table at the hardware store for less than $20 because there wasn't many left of the discontinued tile in stock. No worries! I didn't need very many. Just remember to keep a few in case one gets broken in future. You wouldn't want to have to tear it all out for the sake of one broken tile.

I then stained the mantel a dark espresso brown to complement the grey stonework. We had this stain left over from our bar project. If not pick up a small can of stain for about $6-$10.

So there it is. In all it's glory. Commanding attention as soon as you walk in the room. It is especially beautiful at Christmas time. 

Now when guest come in the stop and say "I love your fireplace!!! Did you guys do that???"

Yes, yes we did! In one full day for less than $500. Have you done your own Fireplace Facelift? How did it turn out?