DIY Fireplace Update

Our living room is my favorite room in the house. One reason is because of the furniture, but another reason is because of the transforming effect of our new fireplace.

I can't really explain the old one, so I included a picture below. It was short, thin, and orange. Our new house renovations aimed to brighten everything up, so we chose to replace the fireplace, a focal point in the room, with white tile to match our back-splash in our open floor plan.

So, Tyler got to work. We picked out a higher, wider mantle from Wayfair; kitchen back splash title pieces from Home Depot, and larger subway title quartz from Lowes for the floor pieces.

Materials you will need:

-Grout

-Grout spreader

-Water

-Caulk

-Bucket

-Sponge

-Pry bar (if you're prying off old tile or a mantle)

-Nail gun

-Level

-Tape measure

-Adhesive

-New mantle

-New tile

-Trash bags

-Dremmel & tile cutter

This project cost about $300 and took 1.5 days. First Tyler ripped off the old mantle and dremmeled off the old tile. He had to remove some of the sheet rock surrounding the title in the process as per the picture below.

The old mantle is above for reference.

As a note, we ended up laying the floors BEFORE the fireplace was redone, so we had to cut the floor boards after we installed them so we could extend the tile flooring of the fireplace out to where we wanted it; it was previously VERY short.

After, we measured the areas to the side, top and bottom of the fireplace that we wanted to tile. Next, we laid out the tiles how we wanted them. We laid the floors ones on the floor and we laid the sides and top on a table. We measured them a second time to make sure they fit the space, and cut them accordingly with a dremmel and tile cutter (you can get super cheap ones at Lowes for like >$20. This took a bit of time as we were trying to be very precise. We numbered the side and top pieces (the small looking ones below) because they came as sheets of many small pieces together. Then we drew the final looking shape on a piece of paper, with the matching tiles pieces, so we had a drawn replica of how we were going to place them.

Then, we used tile adherent to stick the tiles to the wall. Basically, you spread the grout then go over it with the spreader again to make a grated/uneven surface for the tiles to essentially "stick" to. Here's a quick tutorial; the best lesson learned for us is that you can buy tiles that have stickers on the back so you don't need to buy extra adhesive...next time, my friends!

Then, we grout the tile. We used white grout we brought from Home Depot (note the color grout you use REALLY impacts the final tiling product) and mixed it in a large orange Home Depot Bucket with water, as per the instructions. Finally, we started grouting the tiles to the wall and the floor. This is the part of tile installation that puts the color between the tiles and started the sealing process so water, mold, mildew, etc doesn't get into it. Basically you wipe it over the tiles and then use a sponge to pick up the extra and then just let it dry. Fastest part of tile installation! Here's a tutorial on how to grout and the tools you will need to buy.

After letting it all dry overnight, Tyler sealed it and we caulked the space between the new floor boards and tile. Here is a tutorial on how to seal tile.

Then, we used our machine staple gun to nail the new mantle to the wall (double checking it was level with a level of course!) and I painted it the same white as our new base boards! Check out the final result below along with some pictures of our decor. Some of my favorite things are these great glass picture frames from Hobby Lobby and lanterns from Marshalls. I love to light them up, along with the fireplace, when we have guests over! As always, you can find links to our decor on my Shop> Our Home Decor page.