A $350 Fireplace Project (with an IKEA Hack!) Transforms This Living Room into a Chic Parisian Salon
If you’ve been putting off updating a space in your home because your dream decor is out of your budget, this is your sign to try a DIY, like Galina Efremova (@galinaefremova) did in her living room. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on the mantel style she was after, Galina upcycled a worn-out vintage marble mantel into a perfectly Parisian staple and completely transformed her living room.
It all started when Galina sourced a mantel that was original to a Brooklyn brownstone. “I was looking for the old mantel for a long time, as many are expensive, so I picked a dirty one for $350,” she says. It was covered in three layers of old paint, but that didn’t deter her from giving it a much-needed makeover so it would work in her space.
“I wanted the Parisian aesthetics in my condo to make it chic and cozy,” Galina says. With a plan and a few clever DIY hacks, she got the job done.
A $350 mantel got a glow-up.
Cleaning three layers of paint off of her new mantel was no easy task — it took two weeks to get it all off. With a clean slate, Galina had a new starting point for the piece, well, pieces. She had to find a way to construct the three mantel pieces into a freestanding piece of furniture.
“I had to create a solid wood frame and come up with the system to add the marble pieces together,” she says. It required a lot of focus to make sure she didn’t drop or break any pieces. “The marble pieces are super heavy, so it was tough to move them around,” Galina says.
IKEA mirrors make a chic fireplace insert.
With the mantel in place, she fashioned IKEA’s BLODLÖNN mirrors into a fireplace insert. The result? A chic conversation starter that provides her plenty of display space to boot.
“The final result completely changed the room’s appearance,” Galina says.
An accent wall completes the project.
Galina chose an accent wall in the middle of the room, added wall moldings from Lowe’s, and painted the wall and moldings with Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue, an indigo blue shade that helps the mantel pop.
“The fireplace creates the sense of a chic life every day. I feel like I am at a rich Parisian house,” Galina says. “I can also display my favorite mix of vintage and modern decor pieces like candlesticks, art, ceramics, [and] flowers.”
“Don’t be afraid to try a complicated project like this. If you really have a vision and want it, it will come true,” she says.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.