A couple of years ago my sister gave me the fun job of helping her to update an adorable Craftsman-style home she bought with her husband in an historic neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. I was really looking forward to seeing the inside of the house, since the outside was pretty perfectly preserved. But then I walked in the front door and came face to face with this. Click through to see the big reveal and learn how we dealt with this fireplace disaster!
First off, let me try to explain what the previous owners had done to it. The whole thing was covered in a textured and — as you can see — horribly colored hand-troweled plaster to mimic the 18"x18" slate tiles they had chosen for the walls of the bathroom (don't worry — we fixed that, too!). It was the single ugliest fireplace either of us had ever seen.
Luckily my sister had a contractor doing quite a few projects around the house so we didn't have to go it alone. We started by asking him to even out the plaster above the mantle and to prep it for paint. If you toggle between the two pictures you can see that we actually left the mantle alone. It was in pretty sturdy shape and we were on a budget.
To camouflage the plaster below the mantle, the contractor applied some paint-grade MDF and added a little decorative trim, leaving a 12" opening just around the firebox. (Note: local codes vary, but usually you will need at least 12" of fire-proof or fire-resistant material around your firebox. Be sure to check with a licensed contractor before doing something similar — safety first!).
We had the awful 4"x4" ceramic tile hearth pulled out and in it's place put down some simple — and inexpensive — honed marble tiles. For the firebox surround, we selected Ann Sack's Crystal Glass Stacked Mosaic Tiles in a light green and had those installed with white grout.
As you can see, these few simple changes made a world of difference! Since it is the first thing you see when you walk in the door to her home, my sister get's loads of compliments and the fireplace really sets the tone now for the rest of her beautiful house.
Images: Bethany Adams
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that's gorgeous! great job, it looks like a brand new mantel even though it isn't!!!
our fireplace is horrendous. dusty blue ceramic tile, plastered walls all around and gold trim. i need ot get an angle grinder and take the tile off, but i'm waiting till we can get a new surround first.
bookmarking this as inspiration!
Phenomenal!!! It looks like a completely different, and much, much nicer house. Well done!
So nice! Will you please come to Utah and help me with my fireplace??
Wow! Fabulous make over.
It looks so fresh - I love your paint color - I am looking for a green just like this will you share?
Wow, wow, wow! Gorgeous makeover. The only question I still have is why you would want to 'mimic' your bathroom tiles on your fireplace.
I don't think the "Before" would have been quite so bad if the walls were in a complimentary color to the plasterwork such as grey, brown or rust rather than yellow...
...but the "after" is definitely much better.
I always find myself WISHING the before and after photos were printed side by side so I could see them at the same time. The never are.
Great job; thumbs up.
Lovely((:
Love!
I didn't think it was THAT bad until I realized the "marble" wasn't real. I thought you'd for sure get rid of the asymmetrical glass shelves or add some on the other side, but you really made them work. That white tile was awful -I love the new mosaic tile surround. Well done! We have a lovely Travertine gas fireplace but it is much to big for our small space.
@Doobie -Our developer used the same Travertine on our bathroom floor/shower surround and fireplace, but with a gut-rehab condo bldg., it makes more sense -conservation of materials, etc. In a house -who knows?!
Woah mama. That is one sexy makeover. Love love loooove.
It's amazing how much better scaled and balanced it looks now.
That fresh green is also a great choice.
Bea-u-t-i-ful!
Well done, much improved. I'm not crazy about the added molding, it just seems superfluous. I'd of created a raised panel effect for the lower section, very much in keeping with craftsman style. Kind of like the bedroom wall in here:
http://ramblingrenovators.blogspot.com/2010/10/master-bedroom-reveal.html
I've got that same mirror!
Excellent transformation!
I don't hate the before so much, but DANG! the after looks stunning!
A vast improvement! Very chic, much more spacious-looking, and a lovely colour palette.
@Eileen Marie - I understand using the same materials, but that isn't even what they did. They did a faux finish to COPY the bathroom tiles. They must have really liked that bathroom...
beautiful job!
thanks for sharing this. We have a combustion heater complete with fake wood panelled wall, brown-yellow tiles and bricks.... in a carpeted room! It's got me thinking how I can redeem it :)
100% improvement!
Goodness! That transformation is unbelievable! Excellent job! :)
Ahhhh! So much better!
Just answering the questions on paint colors. Trim is Sherwin Williams' Snowbound and walls are Sherwin Williams' Netsuke. Thanks for all the compliments!
You are a God.
Beautiful job! I thought it was a new mantel! It looks GREAT! Tip of the cap to you!
love, love, LOVE! looks absolutely fantastic. (one nitpicky thing, though: it's *mantel* instead of mantle...)
I really like the ''before", it had lots of character.
Insanely wonderful.
Can you explain why the firebox looks so much darker in the after pic? I can't quite tell if you somehow painted the firebox, or if there's a black trim piece inside the tile. (I am trying to darken up a red brick firebox to contrast with the white we painted the exterior, and I don't know the best way to do that.)
Thanks!
I think the before is not terrible at all, but it does look like it belongs in a more modern house with no moldings. So, in the context of that room, I think the after is so very much better. Congratulations. And that tile you have around the opening is quite good. It's just modern enough but not too severe. I love it.
Very nice, you did a great job. Love the wall color.
GREAT. JOB. *beam*
Now THIS, THIS is post worthy. Fantastic. Seriously incredible. Well done!!!!
Very nice after. I'd have been driven crazy by the asymmetry of the one bookshelf, but you've made it work so that you barely notice it.
Its pretty straightforward to buy a carved stone fireplace and reface an old one .... I see a lot of makeovers where there wasn't any consideration given to just getting a stone front and getting a great look without the carpentry and compromise. I got a few examples like this one:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v672/rdoeksen/sale/fireplace1.jpg
... from overseas, you can't find that kind of hand carving in the uS for under a couple grand. Having it shipped isn't free, of course, but it isn't as bad as you might think.