Making an old mantle look like a fireplace again?
Question:I moved into a house that use to have a fireplace in the living room. I guess the owner just drywalled it up and painted it. I sticks out far from the wall and has a legde all the way around the top of it. I want it to look like a fireplace again Does anyone have any advice? Are there wall papers that I could put up or should I stencle it?
Thanks
Answers:
the very best thing would be if you could open up the wall and expose the original fireplace.
other than that I would suggest using molding to define the sides of the fireplace and putting up tile like a real fire place usually has and then buy a fire place screen to sit right in front of where the fire would normally be. This will be the most realistic look. Also instead of real tiles, many people use faux finishing paint techniques to create the look of marble.
If you don't want to pull the drywall down to expose the original, you could paint the surround & mantle a darker color (if your walls are light) or a lighter color if your walls are dark. Then paint the "inside" black or dark gray, put up a fireplace screen and decorate the mantle.
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