A couple of years ago I used Ana White’s plan for a faux fireplace, the grandchildren always love hanging their stocking on it for Christmas. But I always wanted to dress it up a bit. I didn’t even attach it to the wall. It was plain, it really needed something.
Look what I did to it.
I added a hearth and faux bricks.
The hearth was a very simple process. I took a 2×4 and cut it to size, then added a plywood piece on top, secured it with my Ryobi Nail Gun and paint. (darn, I ran out of paint. Off to the store.) All Done! Next I added faux bricks. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up 2 pieces of foam at 2 x 4, I had a 1 x 6 that I cut to size 2 at 37” and 1 at 12”.
Time to start cutting the Styrofoam. I found a piece of scrap plywood that was the size I wanted for my bricks, 2 x 5 1/2
Traced my faux brick onto to the foam.
Now get out your trusty serrated knife and start cutting.
I ended up with ~60 full bricks and about 2 dozen ½ bricks vertical and horizontal. I did not use them all.
I glued the bricks to the 1 x 6s that I cut.
You will notice that I also added half bricks to the inside of my legs.
Now you want to get your heat gun and start randomly melt, chip, damage your bricks. Bricks are not perfect so I wanted them to be close to the real thing.
I went to home depot and purchased the Rust-Oleum stone spray paint in off white. Then sprayed all 3 pieces.
Leaving it out in the sun to dry a bit helps the bricks looks a little more realistic (not too long, the sun melts the foam).
Once the paint has dried, get your white painters caulk and caulk between all the bricks, using your finger to smooth. Don’t worry about the over flow to much. Take a wet rag and now wipe the excess caulk. Some will stay on the bricks making it look real.
Attach a 1 x 2 to the back of your bricks and attach to the back of the opening. Now take a piece of black foam board and attach to the back of your bricks. All done!
Oops I need to paint the hearth.
Now that looks so much better. I hope this gave you some ideas on how to dress up your DIY Faux Fireplace.
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