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On a cold blistery day, most of us can imagine ourselves in our living room, curled up by the fire with our favorite comforter and either a good book or even our favorite movie or television show and some hot chocolate or warm tea. This is the image that many of us think about when we see a fireplace, but sometimes the fireplace in our own homes can feel a bit lacking in that nostalgic feeling. How can we give one of the most dominating features in our room a face lift?
Paint Your Fireplace
The simplest and perhaps the cheapest way is to paint your fireplace.
You can see the trend all over Pintrest, pictures of people painting their red brick white. It’s really simple to do, all you need is the following:
- Paint brush
- Paint roller
- Painters Tap
- Drop Cloths
- Protective gear (googles, gloves, etc.)
- Cleaner
- Primer
- Paint
Fireplace Tile / Rock
Tile and Rock overlays are a bit more on the expensive side, but they look amazing. Depending on your style, tile or rock fireplaces can give you either an ultra-modern style or an earthly element to your room. So there is really something for everyone in this styling. The supplies needed are a lot more extensive than painting your fireplace and so are the tools needed. We recommend taking your design idea to a professional contractor or designer. If you have that DIY spirit, then by all means check out the link to the You Tube video by Home Reno Vision.
Fireplace Molding
Ship lap is not just for your walls (Check out our Decorative Molding Blog for more ideas) it is being installed on the fireplace. Not just ship lap a whole variety of wood and MDF molding is decorating fireplaces across the globe. Expense wise this would be your middle of the road option so to speak. Depending on the size of your fireplace it can go up fairly quickly providing there is a proper surface to work with under neither. Do keep in mind, however, that there are building codes that regulate the type of material that can be near the actual fireplace opening. Checkout the International Residential code below and take the time to check out your own local codes as cities will often add additional guidelines.
Below is an except from the International Code Council
www.iccsafe.org
Exposed combustible mantels or trim may be placed directly on the masonry fireplace front surrounding the fireplace opening providing such combustible materials are not placed within 6 inches (152 mm) of a fireplace opening. Combustible material within 12 inches (306 mm) of the fireplace opening shall not project more than 1/8 inch (3 mm) for each 1-inch (25 mm) distance from such an opening.
Mantels
Mantels are the decorative focal point of the fireplace, so it goes without saying that this is an important consideration in your design. You can do a few different ideas with regards to your fireplace mantle depending on how your fireplace looks. What is really in style right now is the “salvaged” beams. This is fantastic for those that don’t have any brick ledges protruding off out of your fireplace. For those that have some type of ledge protruding out from your wall then look into the faux beams. They look just like the real beams but wrap around your ledge. You can buy them already made or hire someone to make them for you.
Now if you’re on a budget you can make your beam or faux beam out of less expensive materials like pine. Then you can age them and stain them to your hearts content.
Check out this awesome You Tube video from a Modern Maker.
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