This week’s Home DIY post is probably my favorite so far. This week, I’m showing you guys how to make a modern, marble fireplace on your own and for less than $100
For years, I’ve kept a gratitude journal and a vision board. Jon and I update it often and keep adding vacations, home decor pictures, and motivational posts. It’s such an awesome visual process that really helps me see what I’m working towards and define my goals more clearly. While I’ve rotated new vacation destinations and bedding colors, this marble fireplace has had some major staying power when I visualize my dream house. I love the clean, minimalist lines and glam look of classic marble.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the $4,000+ lying around to reface my dated fireplace with a giant marble slab, but I was able to give it a complete update with just a few tools and an open weekend.
Inspiration:
Supplies To Make Your Own Marble Fireplace:
My supply lists are now shoppable for your convenience. Just click any aff. link material below to checkout on HomeDepot.com.
How To DIY A Marble Fireplace
I used some leftover paint from my studio space for the sides of my new fireplace so it matches my inspiration photos. Since we have repainted the entire inside of our house over the past year, we have several gallons of coordinating paint lying around that comes in super-handy for projects like this:
The Process:
When I started, the fireplace looked pretty sad. The entire wall used to be covered with dated mirrors and when we ripped them off, had to also smooth and patch the wall. In the process, we found water damage beneath the mirrors from our roof and a crack in the wall that stretched from the ceiling down to the base of the fireplace. (Good thing we plan on replacing that in the next few weeks anyways.)
Honestly, starting this project intimidated me so much that I just had to start somewhere. Whenever projects get overwhelming the best thing to do is just start right? Since painting was something I was comfortable with, I decided to start there and paint the sides of the wall.
Next, I tiled the wall portion of the fireplace. To create an evenly staggered look, I cut every other tile in half to create a 12 x 12 inch piece. Cutting the tile doesn’t have to be scary. If you have ever cut a piece of foam board for a kids craft project, you can cut this tile.
Just draw your line with a pencil and ruler on the backside, score it (find a link to the knife in the Supplies section above) and fold to snap a clean, straight line. From there, I used my knife again to cut the top laminate from the tile base.I liked started from the back-side of the tile because then I had even more control and make the front-end look more polished and pretty.
Tip: Even though these peel and stick tiles have adhesive on the backside, I recommend using liquid nails as well to guarantee a secure bond. I think if you were laying tile on a floor, the regular adhesive would work great, but since we are laying these tiles vertically, they could use some extra help sticking to the wall.
Since my fireplace had an ugly, geometric, glass front, I decided to build a new frame around it to make a more modern look. We cut inexpensive wood and used more liquid nails to secure the wood directly to the existing stone mantle.
When cutting and laying the tile horizontally, I didn’t need to use any extra adhesive and was able to skip a step.
Try to make each tile piece lay as close to together as possible but don’t stress if there are tiny gaps. We’ll be filling those later.
The final step is to use some white caulking to fill in little spaces and give it a finished look.
We are almost done creating a floor to ceiling marble fireplace!
To use the caulking, just push it out of the tube and wipe any excess off with a wet rag. You can create a finished, even look just by having a wet rag nearby.
Now, when we walk into the living room, we love the huge, statement wall that brings the entire level together and makes the entire space look more updated.
It’s kind of crazy that for years I’ve looked at Pinterest images of similiar fireplaces and felt like they were totally out of reach. If only I had known I could have created this look myself for less than $100!
What I Learned…
When I started this project, I was totally overwhelmed but I was tired of looking at such an ugly wall in my house. I had never tiled before, never used caulking, and didn’t really know how I was going to actually complete it when I began. I’m so glad that I picked up my paint can and just started. Completing this project helped me learn that when you work one step at a time, you can do bigger things than you even expected.
Eventually we’ll install a gas insert and run it up the existing chimney, but that may take awhile. in the meantime, I’ll stack my brand new marble fireplace with white candles or a few logs to decorate.
I hope you guys liked this little DIY project. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments below!
