How to Make an Easy Realistic Fake Fireplace

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How to Make an Easy, Realistic Fake Fireplace

There's something elegant, something so "homey" about a fireplace. It adds architectural interest and detail to the plainest of rooms. But a lot of us don't have them! (What a shame). But no more!

Now you can create a real looking, fake fireplace in any room in your home and here's how:

Start by finding the perfect place in your home for a fireplace.

If you want a mantle, purchase pre-fab shelving in the size you want the width of your fireplace to be first. (I like my mantle to go completely across the front of my faux fireplace). That will give you the measurement for the width of your fireplace stones. Mark off that area with a pencil mark and use mask tape to outline the outside fireplace size.

You can also make your own mantle by using wood brackets purchased from Home Depot or Lowe's and then cut a length of 12" wide wood to the mantle length you wish. Sand, stain and varnish all pieces to match.

Decide how large you want the "inside" of your fireplace to be and mark that area with masking tape as well. This area will not be plastered with the stone stencil.

Using our Stacked Stone Raised Plaster Stencil, plaster pre-colored stones (per our easy coloring instructions where you add paint right in to the joint compound). Keep repeating the stone stencil until you have created a stone pattern in the size you have taped off. Keep flipping the stencil with each repeat so that the stones look different and vary in placement.

Allow the joint compound to dry completely. Paint the inside of the fireplace black and allow to dry. For those with a bit of painting experience, you can also paint the inside of the "firebox" to visually recede back so that it looks like the firebox is actually inset in to the wall.

Screw the mantle to the wall at the top level of the stenciled stone work. Add decorative items to the mantle such as candles, photos or plants as you would normally.

If you want a "hearth", that's super easy to do! Simply cut a ply wood board the width of your fireplace and as deep as you wish your hearth to be. (Consider an 18"-24" hearth depth).
Purchase enough ceramic tiles and thinset to tile the top of the board then paint the edges a coordinating color to the tile color. Grout as you would any tile project then lay the tiled board in front your new faux fireplace.

Lastly, add candles in holders in front of the fireplace (on the hearth if you have created one)  and for even more realism, add a real fireplace screen. Wha La! A faux fireplace that can add the ambiance of a real fireplace to your home decorating.

Comments

[octavia]

i'm totally doing this!