Once upon a time there was a girl who longed for something more. Something that would be worth the wait, worth the anticipation, worth the hard work. Until one day, she finally got that special something that made her heart go aflutter and kept her warm her all over. And she knew nothing worth having is ever easy.
Okay, reality check. It doesn’t actually keep me warm. It’s faux after all. And, I love my hubby way more than the melodramatic romance I’m creating here. But y’all. I finally have my fireplace! I feel like this needs a drumroll, Christmas Vacation style. (Please tell me you get that reference.) Ā I’m not even exaggerating when I tell you Robert and I busted out the Christmas stockings and admired them on our new mantel simply because we can dang it! And then we stuffed them back in the closet and counted down the days until we could admire them again in 3 months.
The best part, we might actually be able to afford presents this year since we cranked out this massive project for less than $600! Okay, it’s way too early to be talking about the holidays, so I’ll break down our great big how-to.
I can’t even believe we had this going on in our living room a little over a month ago.
We moved into this house with hardly anything except a couple of sad pieces of furniture from our newlywed apartment days. The tiny bookshelves we had as our entertainment center on this wall really weren’t doing it for us.
And a fireplace upgrade starting at the basic builder price of $5,000 wasn’t going to work for us either. After prowling Craigslist for several months and looking at every single DIY faux fireplace I could find on Pinterest, we devised our plan to build a statement making fireplace for as little as we could. (Living on a one salary income while I’ve started into this stay-at-home-mom gig has made me a tightwad penny-pincher budget conscious.)
To check out how we built the hearth, mantel, and firebox door, check out Part One.
To see how we built the plank wall above the mantel and wired our TV behind the fireplace, check out Part Two.
And you can find how we added whitewashed Air Stone, the concrete hearth, and painted the firebox door in Part 3. The supplies breakdown is provided in the links too.
So here’s the big shabang for Part 4 to finish up this big guy. I got the idea to make a door for the faux firebox from Pepper Design Blog.
Supplies Used: Ā (Affiliate links are provided below. For more information, see my full disclosure.)
- Already cut wood slices or small tree/logs
- Table saw (if your wood slices aren’t already cut for you)
- Matte black paint (I just used chalkboard paint since I already had it in my stash.)
- Paint brush
- Gorilla glue
For the log ends on our fireplace, my father-in-law cut them for me on his band saw. The log itself even has an interesting story. My in-laws were walking on their trail in the woods behind their house when they discovered a beech tree that had been cut down by a beaver. The little guy apparently rejected it for the dam he was building because it stayed in that same spot in the woods for a while, so they snagged it for me. Yay! Free craft supplies! And eco-friendly!
My father-in-law cut them to be two inches long so they would look deep enough to be more convincing of a real log stack.
We detached the firebox door from where it was attached to the fireplace with a piano hinge and laid it flat. I had already painted it with some leftover chalkboard paint. Working with the log pieces was actually fun! It was like a giant puzzle and only took me about an hour tops to get it the way I wanted it.
I glued down all of the pieces with Gorilla Glue. Definitely put down all of the pieces first before you start gluing so you can move them around as you go. Good for us indecisive gals.
While the glued pieces dried, I started painting the Air Stone. I know. I went through that whole process of whitewashing it in Part 3, which I really liked. But I felt like the whitewash plus the log stack firebox, plus the architecture of the mantel all competed with each other. I warned you, didn’t I? Totally indecisive.
I’ve gushed before about my love for Joanna Gaines’s designs. If you haven’t seen Fixer Upper, allow me to introduce you. Gorg!
I love the simple white fireplaces that Joanna creates. This one even has our plank wall!
I’m pretty sure this shiplap is much older than ours though.
You get the picture, right? I lurv the white!
But before, I figured, I could try the whitewash. Once you paint stone or brick, there’s really no going back. I was glad I tried it, so I knew that wasn’t the look I wanted. I probably would have always wondered.
Thankfully, I had plenty of Sherwin Williams Pure White leftover and it didn’t take very long to achieve the all white fireplace. I didn’t snap a photo of me painting it, but honestly, you’re not missing much there.
(Excuse the fall decor if you’re reading this mid-spring.)
Now, I’ve still been struggling with working around the electronics on our mantel. I had hoped to keep them in the space hidden inside the firebox, but since the door is so heavy with the log ends, we decided it would be best to keep them on the mantel and just access the outlet inside the firebox on the rare occassion we need to get to it.
A leafy vine from Michael’s isĀ my solution for now. It disguises the speakers, Bluray player, and Playstation. Can you see them? (If you can, just pretend you don’t.)
If it were up to me, I would have no TV on our mantel at all but life happens and no other wall would really work for that. (Hi, welcome to our home. Excuse the mess but we live here.)
Sometimes it’s better to keep the hubby happy than turn our house upside-down for the sake of appearances.
I am so ecstatic to have this huge project knocked off our always growing to-do list. Our living room is coming together little by little and I already have our coffee table that I’m getting ready to tackle next. I’m hoping to do a big reveal of the entire room soon. I’m not quiiite there yet.
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Absolutely stunning and you totally fooled me with the wood!
Yay! Thanks! I’m hoping to fool everyone. š
I am floored! This is incredible! I can’t believe it was just a plain wall and now it is a gorgeous showpiece! I’d love for you to link this up to my Creative Ways Link Party that’s about to go live. Hope to see you there!
Blessings,
Nici
Thanks, Nici! I appreciate the invite! I just checked it out and linked up. š
LOoooove it Lauren! I was obsessing last year over the faux logs and wanted to do something similar on our bench/”log holder” No luck finding anything that was cheap or local. Awesome that your in-laws snatched that up for you. I agree with the TV over the Mantle I had the same thing here but though the house is for me to decorate…its also there for my family to live in ; ) You did a great job and I really love the books for now…I am sure you’ll figure out another solution. P.S. when am I coming over for coffee? lol
Girrrl, you can come over for coffee any time you want. Haha I was definitely lucky with my in-laws finding the wood. I was in Michael’s last week and their wood slices the same sizes as mine were $6-$10 each…um WHAT? It’s definitely not cheap if you don’t have access to a tree. Since it will be getting cold soon, you never know. You might be able to find cheap or free firewood on Craigslist. I love your fireplace though. The gray you chose is gorgeous!
it really is gorgeous xx
Thank you! š
Simply stunning! I love that you broke out your stockings just for the occasion, haha! Too cute! (And yes, I get the Christmas Vacation reference!)
Haha If you build a mantel, it’s a rite of passage to break out the stockings. It’s like the equivalent of breaking a champagne bottle on the bow of a new boat. That’s my excuse anyway. š So glad someone gets the Christmas Vacation reference.
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This is stunning! You did such a great job! Love the wood pieces inside it. I’d love for you to share this at my weekly link party. http://www.thelifeofjenniferdawn.com/2014/09/a-little-bird-told-me-link-party-106.html Hope to see you there!
Thanks! I’ll be sure to pop in and check it out. š
This is beautiful!! I had a blank wall like that and if I hadn’t already done built-in bookcases I would totally do this. I love every part of it. You did a great job!
Thanks, Kat! I’m aiming at built-ins for our back wall in here next.
This is so amazing! Seriously, I just adore it. Pinning and would love to have you link up with us at the DIY’ers! http://biggerthanthethreeofus.com/the-diyers-15/
I definitely will! And thanks for the pin!
AMAZING! I am seriously in love with this. I am pinning for down the road when I muster up the energy to try this. I really makes such a difference in that room!
Thanks, Colette! It definitely takes some stamina but it’s so worth it. I’d love to see it if you try it later!
It looks great and I know your proud of it. The stocking story is adorable! I can’t wait to start working on adding faux stone to ours.
Thanks, Rachel! Are you planning to use Air Stone too?
Amazing! I definitely want to make the stacked log piece to cover my gas fireplace. Thanks for showing off your mad skills! š
Thanks, Stacy! If you try it, I’d love to see how it turns out. Be sure to send me a pic!
wow, so this is amazing. i love the how the books pop against that black wall and the wood slices are such a great idea.
Thank you! I have to come clean. That is actually our television but I’m so glad you can’t even tell! That makes me feel way better considering I tossed those books up there to hide our Playstation and Bluray player. š Three cheers for internet photography deception! Teehee
I love this! I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams, starts on Fridays š Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.
Thanks so much! I’ll have to mark it on my calendar this week. š
Wow! That faux fireplace is breathtakingly gorgeous. I love how easy, and not to mention affordable it is. Now the room has rose to a new level of loveliness. Thank you for sharing that amazing DIY feat! I hope to do that one, one of these days. Wishing everyone the best of health this fall!
Essie Reed @ Valley Home Improvement
I’m not sure how I missed this post, but I really love how you did this, Lauren! It looks so realistic and your photos are amazing! Have a great weekend!
This is a beautiful post! I am looking to create a similar look. I have a question about the logs. Did you treat/seal them or leave them raw? Thanks!
Thanks, Antonete! Good question! I should have mentioned it. I left them raw but I didn’t put them on while they were green. They had been seasoned for about a month beforehand.
You did a breathtakingly GREAT job!
I just stumbled upon your blog trying to figure out something to do with my actual fireplace. I wish I could turn mine into something functional (bc it is never going to be used to burn wood and all outlets are too far). Anywho, absolutely amazing what you guys did!!! And I have to comment on your ceiling fan….what the?!? I NEED ONE OF THOSE! Your house is amazing!
Haha Thanks Sam! We’ve been really happy with it. The fan is from Lowe’s. It’s called the Harbor Breeze Twin Breeze. If I recall, it was about $180 and it works super well.
So beautiful! I have to show this to my mom, she would love it. If we can’t get our hands on a fireplace (or just want to add one) we could totally try this out when we move to Stockholm. š
It really did add a lot to your room, and I just love the decorations you put on top of the ”shelf”.
Thanks, Sara! And that’s so awesome that you’re moving to Stockholm! I have lots of family in Sweden and am dying to make a trip out there soon. If you try out a fireplace yourself, I’d love to see the finished product. š
I love it! I live in Texas where we have absolutely NO use for a fireplace, but I’d love to make a faux one with the TV just like that. My only question is, how did you hide the cable boxes and stuff?
I know exactly how it is, Lindsay! We don’t have much use for a fireplace here in South Carolina either. I’m actually working on a solution for our cable boxes because they’re currently sitting on the mantel. The original plan was to hide them behind the firebox door, but since the door ended up being so heavy, we decided not to. We do still have access to the outlet behind the fireplace though, which we drilled a hole in the top of the mantel to run the cords through. You could also run your cords through your drywall, but we weren’t confident in doing that and decided to drill the hole in the wood instead. I hope that make sense. Good luck if you try it! We’re very happy with ours and we’ve already had it a year.
I found your fireplace after seeing your bedroom on Instagram for Emily A Clark’s challenge. š I know this post is old, and you’ve probably figured something out for your electronics by now, but if not, you could use an RF controller. Basically, you can hide all the components in a closet or something and use a radio frequency remote to operate everything. I wanted to do it for our entertainment center, but our cable box wasn’t compatible. All the things you listed should work, and then you would only have to disguise a little infrared receiver. š
P.S. Oops, just realized it wasn’t your bedroom I saw on Instagram! It was one from At Home With the Barkers, which led me to a post of hers about decorating with wood planks where she linked to your blog. So funny. The Internet is full of happy rabbit trails! š
Hey, however you got here, I’m glad you found me! Thanks so much for the tip about the RF controller! I will definitely look into that. I didn’t even know that existed.
I am doing this!! Just showed my husband and said I HAVE to do this…just found a mantle on craigslist for $100 too! My question is…my hubby has to keep his mammoth tv too…what did you do to hide the cords? I can’t see the playstation which is awesome!!
Yay! I’d love to see it when it’s finished! I know a few other people who have tackled it now and it looks sooo good. For the cords, I just bought some cord cover molding strips to stick to the plank wall running down to the DVD player and Playstation. I think they sell them at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Our Playstation and DVD player are hiding under my magnolia leaf garland on the mantel. It’s not the ideal solution, but it works. š
Hi, Lauren! My husband and I absolutely LOVE your faux fireplace and will be attempting it in the next month or two. We just painted our family room last night, then we will frame out the windows next, build a farmhouse coffee table with 2 end tables. After that comes this beauty to finish the room! I found a fireplace insert I would like to add. What size is your TV? We have a 59″ but I don’t want it to over hang or cover all of the shiplap. If it would then I would move it to another room. Thank you for your help and I’ll be sure to post the finished product in June! š
Yay! I can’t wait to see it! Sounds like you’re going to be VERY busy! Our TV is actually 60″ so yours should work out perfectly. š
I have admired this project for a while. You did a beautiful job. I am wondering where you put the dvd player and/or cable box.
Thanks, Jolena! We ended up having to put the DVD player and Playstation (that we used as our cable box since we only do Netflix/Hulu) on top of our mantel on the shelf piece. We just decorate around it. Our original plan was to put them inside the firebox but the door ended up being too heavy
What is wall paint color
How did you insert the board w the wood on it into the fireplace and get it to stay?
We hung it using a piano hinge. š
I would love to do this custom for an electric fireplace!