Don’t you just love fireplaces? They can be such a restful focal point with a nice fire in the winter. They can also be a beautiful centerpiece and even the heart of a room. It’s considered to be a permanent part of your house, at least without making a major capital investment. They add character and elegance as long as they complement the décor.
What do you do if your fireplace is beginning to look old and tired? Is there anything you can do without spending your life’s savings? We have a few ideas for you to brighten that big black box. Changing the exterior facing is one big option. If the fireplace is brick, some of the
fireplace ideas might be prohibitively expensive. Replacing the brick is an option that may cost thousands of dollars and requires professional help. Making them look new again is something that is not some expensive or difficult.
Have you have been in someone else’s house where the fireplace looked like a disaster area? Maybe that one is yours. The look is boring or cold. Sometimes it is more like a wart than a part of a well planned design. You may need to change it to match and complement the rest of the room. You may be stuck with the basic design but that doesn’t keep you from accomplishing a makeover that revamps the exterior and surrounding areas. Let’s start with the mantel.
Traditionally, the mantel is a major opportunity for you, the designer, to turn it into a personal statement for the room. Traditionally, the mantel helped characterize the design of the interior décor. The style could be one of many including traditional, Renaissance, French, American, classic or Victorian. Those can still be done today if you want to add on or replace a mantel. Traditional fireplace mantel designs are normally crafted from stone or wood. If it’s wood, it may be finished or refinished in countless ways. Stone can be striking but more limiting when wanted a change. The easier the mantel is to change, the easier it will be to change the entire look of the room.
Mirror treatments over the fireplace, above the mantel or instead of one, can unfold traditional or modern tastes. This can largely be done by choosing a particular style of mirror. Items that may be used along with a mirror or without it include clocks, pictures, paintings, wall sculptures and candle holders. Family heirlooms of all sorts might find a good home here. Make the area uniquely yours. You can often match features of mirror trim or picture frames with fireplace tools, wood holders or fireplace glass doors. The lighting of candles sitting on the mantel or in wall sconces can really draw attention.
A major improvement involves fireplace ideas with brick as many traditional fireplaces are faced with brick. This building material is expensive and lasts for ages. If you are thinking of replacing the brick, it is super expensive.
Hiring a contractor to replace those bricks will likely cost you several thousand dollars. New sheetrock or a new fireplace surround to cover the brick is a possibility that can also be expensive. You might be disappointed with the end results. The best solution for this problem is usually brick fireplace resurfacing or refacing.
An easier, cheaper and faster option is to redo the brick’s finish with
brick fireplace paint by resurfacing the existing brick. The materials required to do this job come in an easy-to-use kit that is shipped to your door. The package comes complete with all the tools for a do-it-yourself project that can be done in a couple of days. Clear instructions are included. The finished product has a
textured sandstone look and is available in a variety of colors.
Even if the fireplace bricks have been painted before, you can still use this method and you don’t have to strip off all the old paint. The use of the fireplace resurfacing kit will likely produce much better results than the previous one. Flakes of the old paint, if any, can be brushed off before the resurfacing materials are applied.
All you need to do this metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly comes bundled in a single package. The
fireplace resurfacing kit comes with: 2 packages of base coat/sealer, 3 containers of undertone colors and enough glaze to cover approximately 100 square feet of fireplace brick. A paint tray, glove, brushes, rollers, sponge, paint tape, stir stick and complete instructions, written and on DVD video, are all included. For brick that is rough or porous, extra base coat/sealer may be needed and can be ordered in addition to the standard kit. The look is similar to a more expensive marble or tumbled stone using the special fireplace brick paints.
Take some of these
fireplace ideas and dramatically modify the look of your tired fireplace.
