DIY Fireplace Makeover
I’d like to share the evolution of our
fireplace with you!
We painted the brick, built a deeper mantel
and put in a new ceramic tile hearth.
This is a pretty photo heavy post in order to share the process. Hope you hang in there.
This was our initial
“Before”.
“Before”.
(what it looked when we closed on the house)
We immediately painted the entire house.
With it’s the abundance of Hunter Green.
And I proceeded to cover up the hearth for a few years after busting out the hunter green tile because I was undecided about what to do next?
Until I was sick of the orange toned, shiny brick.
And spray painted it!
Which worked like a charm.
After that, I decided on some pale aqua paint as an accent. It lasted about a week.
This richer, deeper aqua was much better!
Over several years, it looked like this…
Fast forward to building a new, deeper mantel.
The previous one was so shallow,
I could hardly put a thing on it!
Not good for decorating at all.
We doubled the size.
It’s perfect now.
We used a table saw and a miter saw
on this project.
This is my personal handy man!
It was actually sunny that day
{shocker!} so we put up some sun protection to work under.
We needed a big board and I knew I would be painting it white so we went with a Melamine product.
Putting the mitered cuts together.
(because lets face it, they never let you use the tools if they are around! At least my husband and dad don’t.)
Whenever we go to Harbor Freight Tools
or Sears, etc…
I am happy to let my hubby buy
whatever tools he wants 
In fact, I encourage it!
The new hearth was installed and attached right on top of the old skinny one.
This is what was covered up under the hunter green tiles.
A new frame work was built and some chunky, fat trim was installed.
Then the boys did the lining and fill to prep for the cement.
(At this point, we still thought we were going to use the marble.
You can see some sitting there with all the tools, etc…)
Well, when we opened the marble up,
we discovered we had two
completely different lots.
We loved one. (stunning white & grey)
Hated the other. (tan and brown. yuck)
That is practically another whole post so I’ll fast forward to what we ended up with.
It was neutral, in-stock and weJim took it home and installed it the same weekend!
Austin helped Jim by running all the cuts out to him, bringing them back in, and putting them where they belonged to be laid.
All set and waiting for grout.
Installed and grouted.
After the boys did all of the above!
It was my job to;
Prep. Prime. Paint. Photograph & Post.
Here it is.
I’m undecided on decor…
I just popped up a little something so she wasn’t naked for her pictures. I was so over due in sharing this and I really wanted to get this post up… in 2012.
If you have any questions about how
we did anything particular, just ask.
We 
will be happy to answer.
will be happy to answer.
Thanks a bunch for checking out how we
did our DIY fireplace makeover.
I sure enjoy the visits!
This project was featured at;
Linking Up and Sharing at;
Debbiedoo’s, Under The Table and Dreaming,
funky junk interiors
redoux interiors, Savvy Southern Style
French Country Cottage, Crafty Scrappy Happy,
my uncommon slice of suburbia, Domestically Speaking
This content is original to Fox Hollow Cottage and belongs to Shannon Fox.
Appearance in full on any site other then Fox Hollow Cottage is theft!
Appearance in full on any site other then Fox Hollow Cottage is theft!
Love your fireplace makeover. The wall color is so pretty. The fireplace itself looks amazing…especially when you look at the before. No offense, but that before was really bad, which must make the after feel all the more awesome. I really like how that clock looks inside that frame. Great job!
WOW – what a difference!! Your new fireplace is GOR.GEOUS!!
It looks wonderful Shannon. I love the colour of the wall too.
Wow what a transformation! It’s absolutely gorgeous! I love the color and the decor you added looks wonderful. I’m looking to add a fatter mantle to mine also so you have definitely inspired me.
So you tell me I don’t have to comment on all your post and then you put up THIS ONE!!??? LOL! That looks fantastic! Its so perfect. I know it took a while, but oh man was it worth it. You are gonna have so much fun decorating it for the seasons!
I love it!
Magnificent job young lady…(and you cute little handyman too)
Love ya girl
Hugs,
Karin
http://www.artisbeauty.net
It looks terrific, Lilo! Too bad about the marble. I know how much you were looking forward to using it.
But, I love the tile! It all looks fantastic!!!!! Jim and Austin do GREAT work! 
it looks beautiful! i love the color, as you know, love the crisp painted brick, and love the staging!
Y’all did a fabulous job bringing that up to date. We are DIYers, too and my husband built our mantel when we built the house. I had him make it deeper a couple of years ago because it was too skinny for me to put much of anything on it. Good thing we have husbands who can build things. Yours looks great.
Great makeover of your fireplace, Shannon! It definitely looks better bulked up a bit. A true focal point of the room now.
Love it!
Shannon, this is so beautiful! What a wonderful transformation. I have been considering painting my fireplace…white of course! This may give me the courage! Thanks for sharing this.
http://www.the-finishing-touches.net
You did a great job. It looks fantastic. I love the whole thing. If you get tired of it you can always paint the brick hunter green..which, of course, means you would have the paint the turquoise wall above it a cranberry color- just sayin’…..xo Diana
LOVE it Foxy Mama!! You did good!
WoW Shannon…what a transformation indeed! They say good things comes to those who wait and boy did it ever come to you(after all that hard work). Love it, Love it, Love it! Now just think…Christmas is right around the corner but I know you’ll have it decorated for Fall and Thanksgiving first. Have fun with it!
This is awesome Shannon, so pretty. Doesn’t even look like the same fireplace!!!
XO
Kristin
Such a beautiful transformation!!
It looks beautiful, Shannon. I’ve been house hunting and am surprised at how minimal a fireplace surround can be. If one is going to have a mantel, I’d want it a good size like yours.
-Karen
Ok now that I picked my jaw up off the ground, I can speak! WOW Jim…you ROCK sir indeed! Shannon this makes a HUGE difference. Just think of all the fun you are going to have decorating this puppy for the Holidays!~ Nice job. Hey, I’m home now, yay, I have a lot of catching up to do. You were my first stop!~
Love it! It was so worth all the work you and hubby did!
This looks amazing. I love the light look and love the color you chose. I wish I had a fire place, if just so i could hang my Christmas stockings on them. Oh well, maybe in my next house. Love your work.
Thank you my dear for joining the party!~ AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME…I can’t tell you enough.
Love the transformation! (It’s fun to see your pics of the progression!)
Pretty color
Susan
Awesome mantel makeover.
Holy ridiculous, it’s gorgeous! I need Mr. Foxy to come over and fix up my hearth! I can’t wait to see all of the different ways you decorate it!
Just beautiful! I love the transformation!
Oh Shan, it’s gorgeous! Gorgeous, I tell ya! Well worth the wait.
Might I add, I love that clock!
Shannon,
What a HUGE difference! The whole fireplace looks stunning now. Love the white and aqua. That would be a fun mantle to decorate for the up-coming holidays.
Wow! Shannon…..it looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing the journey. You are blessed to have such an amazing support team!
blessings,
karianne
WOW Shannon!!! It looks so great, I bet you absolutely LOVE it. And way to go Jim … might be time for a new tool, or two.
I can see you playing around with that decor pretty regularly now. Oh what fun you’ll have.
You did a fantastic job with this update. Love it!!
Cynthia
Now THAT is a Shannon mantel. All pretty, wearing the appropriate colors, happy and fresh!
That makes it Shannonized.
~Bliss~
Wow! What a GORGEOUS difference. Can’t believe it was the same fireplace & mantel.
looks fabulous, love the aqua, love the clock in the frame!
WOW, WOW and WOW!! I didn’t even know you could do something like this to make an existing mantle bigger! I have a skinny minny of a mantle too. It is chunky vertically, but does me no good for decorating, so I sort of pretend it is not there….kind of like the unfinished projects that live all over my home.
The new tile work is gorgeous, just gorgeous. You are lucky you have a talented carpenter right there in your home!
I am really confused though, why did you paint that lovely Green and Red over? Truly, people have some interesting decorating choices!
Hold on a second while I pick my jaw up off the ground. HOLY WHITE AQUA SMOKERS SHANNON! This Fireplace is a Beaut! The tile you picked out is perfect, paint on the wall…stunning screaming awesome! I love everything about this fat mantel! Everything..feed it some m&m’s because it deserves them!
It’s gorgeous Shannon! The white brick is fab and I am so jealous of your nice fat mantel!!!
gurl…that is a stunning makeover!!! Absolutely perfect!! I agree..let him buy whateva!!!!!
Looks awesome. Love the colors and the tile looks perfect. Great job by all!
Blessings, Ginger
It is beautiful! Bigger is better
I can’t wait to see her dressed up for fall! What an awesome crew you guys are. There is nothing that Fox Hollow and Company can’t do!!! Love it all!
Debbie
What a beautiful new look for your fireplace and mantel and hearth, Shannon–I love what you all did with it!
Beautiful Shannon…you know I love everything you do but thank you for sharing at our first linky party and helping us inspire others…xo
It looks great Shannon! Although I find it hard to believe that you didn’t just LOVE that “before” mantle…VERY nice job.
Your mantle renovation is AMAZING. I love the final look, the aqua on the wall is perfect! AND I have to say this reall gives me hope… I don’t have perfect mantle right now…. but someday someday someday maybe I can copy you and DIY one!!! AND sweet friend a special heartfelt thank you for linking up!!! It means a lot to me!
Jaime
What a transformation! I love it!!
Looks great! Love the wall color too.
-Erin @ DIY On the Cheap
This looks like a completely different space! I love the colors you used…..Gorgeous!~
What paint color did you use? It is very similar to the one I used in our old house. That color was discontinued, though!
Oh, wow, you guys! Shannon, you will have no trouble decorating your new, wide mantel! I came back to see how you finished the hearth. We really need to redo ours because some of the tiles are cracked. It looks fabulous, and we make a lot of trips to Harbor Freight, too!
WooHoo! Awesome mantel upgrade! Visiting from Ironstone Nest. -Angela @ http://mrswhitetwigandtea.wordpress.com
Great job! I am looking for ideas for my fireplace makeover! Thanks!
I love the color of the wall. Do you now what the paint color is?
What is the paint color you used?
OMG…Lovely fireplace. You encourage me to DIY my ugly one. I have 2 questions, what did you use hearth tile basement on the bottom? Would you take a look my ugly one see if I can do what you’ve done?
kahnypark@gmail.com
Thanks!