Three Easy Steps to a Fixer-Upper Worthy Fireplace

It’s upon us! The season that draws us to the fireplace with a nice warm blanket and steamy mug of hot chocolate. Doesn’t that sound perfect?? Of course, the holidays are right around the corner, and where does everyone congregate? The kitchen and the family room. Make this the year you give your fireplace a makeover and make it the focal point in your family room.

This year I did just that! I have never loved the look of our fireplace and have always wanted to change it and make it stand out. With tile surrounding it, it always felt cold and uninviting. The mantle was builder grade and just kinda boring. I dreamt of a fireplace we could sit by and feel the warmth, but with no hearth, this was not very comfortable…….

Changing the Mantel:

So on a cold winter’s day, in Nicole-fashion, I got up and decided-today is the day. Let the demo begin! My first step was to pull out the mantle and replace it with a faux wood beam. These are very easy to build and are basically the same concept as floating shelves. I wrote an entire post on how to get rid of your builder’s grade mantel and build a faux wood beam here…

Isn’t that amazing, just that one change makes!? Add whatever stain you love and it looks like you got it straight out of an old barn. I chose MinWax Jacobean for mine. (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Building the Hearth:

Our family from Georgia comes up every year for Christmas and we always gather at our house for a few of the evenings. As our family grows, finding space for all of us in our family room becomes more and more strategic. This is part of my reason for wanting a hearth-it provides extra seating and it looks great! Building a hearth is no different than building a bench seat. Build the frame with 2×4’s, wrap it with quality plywood (I like to use birch), outline it with trim, paint and you have a hearth….

I’m telling you guys, this stuff is so much simpler than what you may think!! Here’s my full tutorial, with lots of pictures, on how I built my fireplace hearth….

A hearth adds so much more oooomph to a fireplace. It really makes a statement and makes it feel like a bigger part of the room.

Changing the Fireplace Surround:

Last but certainly not least, it was time to get rid of that cold tile. Covering it up proved to be the easiest and made the most sense. Add some MDF board and paint and no one would ever know there’s tile under there. Again, so simple! This “changing the fireplace surround” tutorial wraps up my fireplace makeover tutorials.