6 Incredible DIY Fireplace Projects From The ORC®
6 Incredible DIY Fireplace Projects From The ORC®
STORY BY VIRGINIA BESHEARS
Over the past several ORC events, we’ve noticed an uptick in participants bravely taking on major DIY projects, one of which has been transforming fireplaces.
Whether you’re interested in redoing your fireplace yourself or you just love having your mind blown by amazing DIY projects, here are 6 ORC rooms that include a fireplace revamp.
Before Lizzy and her husband Zach tackled the family room of their new home, this fireplace was a very dated purple/brown tile. They removed the tiles using a rented rotohammer, and then used two coats of a quick-drying concrete called Feather Finish to resurface it. After a final coat of paint, the fireplace looks right at home in their updated space. Click here for more details about her fireplace DIY.
IMAGE VIA MB BUILDS
Mel and her husband also started out with a dated-looking fireplace with great bones. On the fireplace itself, they removed the old tile and trim, installed new stone tile, and even cut and installed that beautiful marble slab on the hearth themselves. Then, they created that absolutely show stopping herringbone accent by attaching backing board to the drywall and then adhering all the small wooden boards to that in a herringbone pattern. Click here for a time lapse video of the herringbone accent going up, and check out her ORC story highlight for more details about her fireplace DIY.
IMAGE VIA THE HAPPY HOUSIE
Kristi’s fireplace makeover was relatively quick and easy, but the impact it had on her space is unreal. She started out with a dark brick fireplace with no mantle and a wood burning insert that was too old to be usable. First, she hauled out the insert and painted the inside of the firebox with black heat-paint. Then, she primed and painted the brick. She says the keys to painting brick are to clean it very thoroughly, use a primer that will adhere well to brick or masonry, and be prepared for a lot of brush-work with all the grout lines. Click here to read more about her fireplace DIY.
Emily and her husband Vince started completely from scratch— this beautiful fireplace was just an empty wall at the beginning of the ORC. They first built the frame for the fireplace surround using lots of 2x4s, put up drywall, skim-coated the new wall, and covered the new surround with peel and stick stone tile. The finishing touches were installing the electric fireplace insert, and adding the wooden mantle and floating shelves. Click here for a detailed timeline of the project.
IMAGE VIA SHEALIN ASHLEY
Shea and her husband Jeremy also started out with an empty wall. One of her first steps was to hire an electrician to come in and install a new circuit just for the fireplace (don’t mess around with electrical stuff yourself, folks). Once that was done, they were able to get going building the frame with 2x4s, drywalling, cleaning it up with joint compound, and lastly applying the roman clay finish. She has some great details about the project here, including lots of info about how she planned out the frame.
IMAGE VIA THE GIBBY HOME
Kelsey’s fireplace started out with dark marble and a traditional wooden mantle. She and her husband Noah tore the existing mantle off, and framed and drywalled a new fireplace surround that goes all the way to the ceiling. The finish on the drywall is faux cement. Click here for a full time lapse of the fireplace transformation.
GET STARTED WITH YOUR OWN FIREPLACE TRANSFORMATION…
