Kim and I both live in the same neighborhood where the houses were all built in the 80’s. This meant both our homes had original red brick fireplaces that needed major overhaul. We each just completed our fireplace remodels and did them separate ways. We are so happy with the way they turned out and for the most part they were simple projects.
Renee’s Fireplace
The original fireplace to my home looked something like this:
However when I bought my home this past summer the past owners had taken the brick down and replaced it with a brown fake marble tile:
This was definitely not my style and not the type of look I had in mind for my fireplace. I searched all over Instagram and Pinterest trying to decide the type of look I was going for. I really wanted a simple white mantel and some sort of gray tile for the surround. The picture below was what I was envisioning.
The biggest problem I ran into in this design was my window directly next to the fireplace. It left me no room for the beautiful pillars on the side and the mantle surround. The design I had planned simply wouldn’t work for my space. So it was back to the design drawing board. I also liked stone fireplaces and my husband pushed for stone as well. I had to find a mantle that could be a custom size and stone that would compliment my neutral decor choices.
As I have said from a previous blog post, I love the Shanty-2-Chic sisters. We used their plans for our kitchen bench and I’ve seen their floating shelves used in so many other ways. We decided we would build a large floating shelf using their plans for our mantle. It was a fairly easy project and my husband had it done in a day. We stained the wood in Briarsmoke by Varathane and hung the mantle up.
Next came the stone and the vast number of choices I had to choose from. We started our search at a local stone supply store. They had tons of options and the one I liked the best had a 6 month lead time!! No way was I waiting 6 months to get stone in. We went to Lowe’s and I found a white stone in the back splash aisle. I liked this particular stone because it had hints of gray and pretty sparkles. We started the install from the ground up.
In all, the stone took about a day to install. It was a fairly easy project even if you don’t have experience laying tile. We are so happy with the outcome and love the finished product:
Kim’s Fireplace
Kim had an original red brick fireplace and wood mantle in her home. She also had 3 different types of flooring choices in the same room.
Kim began a major overhaul of her kitchen and dining room this summer. They removed a wall separating their dining room from their kitchen and laid a beautiful wood-look tile throughout their room. The original fireplace was placed directly in the center of both the dining room and the living room. The fireplace opening faced the dining room, which seemed odd considering most people like to cozy up on the couch near a fire. Originally they hadn’t planned on doing such an extensive remodel of the fireplace, but good thing they did because it’s spectacular and much more functional. Kim’s husband convinced her to do a “peek-through” style fireplace, which would make the fireplace now visible from both rooms. With a small amount of wood framework and beam reinforcement, they restructured the face of the fireplace, cut the opening, and reinforced it with beams to prevent any structure issues.
The fireplace vent was completely removed and they decided to do an ethanol burner instead of the typical gas fireplace. Ethanol burners are clean burning and do not require the use of a traditional chimney or ventilation. They had white quartz installed around the opening and the hearth. Kim and her husband also debated between using stone to finish the project or doing something different. They even ordered four boxes of stone which they later returned! They ended up buying Stikwood (www.stikwood.com) and installing it from top to bottom. Installation was really easy to both cut and install since it has stickers on the back that attach easily to any surface. The adhesive is guaranteed for 10 years! The finished product is absolutely beautiful and truly makes this room standout from an ordinary fireplace.
There you have it, our fireplaces done two ways. Both different and unique to our homes and styles. We hope you enjoyed and if you have any questions or comments let us know!
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