Ultra modern fireplace facelift.

The fireplace we had in our living room was a gas fireplace insert with a faux stone surround. It was just too plain, too boring, and too small for the room. Having already installed a great industrial pipe shelf unit in this space, and being right next to our modern furniture, the fireplace was really looking out of place and desperate for a facelift.

Located between two large windows, we didn't want to do too much to the fireplace. We really just wanted to update it with a new surround/mantel. The inspiration for our idea came from a photo we stumbled upon when browsing ideas on the internet (probably pinterest!). 

We planned on removing the faux stone surround and replacing it with a simple rectangular mantel. To do this (and I apologize for the lack of progress photos in this post, I don't know how they escaped me!), we simply built the mantel to the desired size out of pressed wood, primed, and painted it white in a high gloss finish.

To install the mantel in place, a short piece of 2x4 was first screwed into the wall near the top of the mantel. Then, the mantel was sleeved over this piece of wood and screwed into it. PL adhesive was used on the remaining back surfaces of the mantel that are in contact with the wall. For the area around the fireplace insert inside the mantel, we decided to use rectangular cedar tiles, installed in a herringbone pattern. For a finished look and to cover the raw edges of the cedar tiles around the fireplace insert, aluminum trim was cut to size, spray painted flat black to match the insert, and glued into place using PL adhesive. 

This design is simple but so modern and so sleek! I love the crisp, white, clean, straight lines of the mantel and its larger size now better fits the space. The herringbone design of the cedar tiles brings visual interest and character and its medium wood tones not only compliment the white mantel, but match the wood in the pipe shelving unit. Finally, the fireplace fits right in.