Fireplace Restore/Refresh

The fixer-upper gem of a house we found in Chattanooga was full of charm and potential just waiting to be unleashed. But she was gonna make us work for it. I liked that about her.

At the top of the charm and potential list was this original fireplace. What it lacked in functionality (doesn't work; never will), it made up for in colorful 1930's tile. It just needed a little TLC.

You see the potential, right?!

That faux wood-look paint treatment was... something to behold. I respect the creativity.

Tackling all that was going to be a BIG undertaking, but I at least wanted to go ahead and get ahold of the tile. I scrubbed, cleaned, scraped, and buffed until the grime was gone and the tile gleamed.

With a clean slate to work with, we started putting some thought into how to restore the wood part next.

Our first hope was to sand all that paint off to reveal the real wood underneath. But as we started sanding thick layers of ancient (potentially lead-based) paint off, plan A proved we were gonna need a plan B.

Even when we made it through a few parts of the questionable paint, the wood quality underneath was so weak it was barely holding itself together. So there went that idea.

We resigned ourselves to accept we might just have to paint it. We gave that a try...

That first coat alone was enough to show us this paint option was not the move. It just didn't do her justice at all. So Plan B then turned into plan C.

Our goal was to try to honor the original look and feel, while at the same time, adding a little more height to give the fireplace the prominence and attention it deserved.

To achieve all of that, Dave decided we could encase much of the old wood with new wood, and what we couldn't encase (i.e., the cylindrical columns) we would rebuild with new but similar replacements.

He sketched an initial design on paper, then headed to Home Depot to buy the lumber.

One way Dave kept the project speedy was by designing it with as much standard size lumber (i.e., 1x12, 1x8, 1x6) as possible. That way we could buy the boards in the size we needed without having to make too many additional cuts.

For the cuts he did make, he used a mitre saw for cutting boards down to the needed lengths and for cutting any precise angles, and he used a table saw for a new vocab word I learned– "ripping," which means cutting boards length-wise to make them narrower.

Dave started by removing the parts that we would be replacing, and began carefully encasing the parts nearest the mirror and tile. We made sure to work delicately near those to preserve them.

Next, he encased and extended the columns on either side to give it some additional height and a more "grand" look.

Once the main frame was up, the next phase of the project was more art than science– feel it out, try a thing or two, stare at it, sip whiskey, stare again, adjust.

If the initial framing was about building upward, then adding the mantles and trim were about building outward. It needed dimension, so we experimented with stacking and layering various wood pieces until we had the look we wanted.

We filled the upper frame with a thin plywood panel to create the new tier that would feature the sun ornament. More on that later.

I was so happy with how the combination of old wood encased with new wood came together with a few extra trimmings and embellishments to create the finished look.

With the woodwork complete, it was time to stain.

For some reason, I can never seem to get stain to come out light. It always seems to come out dark. Tips and hints welcome here!

I prefer lighter stain, Dave prefers darker, so I guess we kind of accidentally met in the middle on this one :)

Given the 1930's origin of the fireplace, I really wanted to embrace the art deco style of the era. I had been envisioning some kind of sunburst element above the mirror. So before we even started the project, I shopped around and ended up finding the perfect piece at Target.

Then, when we extended the height and added the upper section, Dave built it to perfectly fit the sun ornament!

Now let's talk about that mantle arrangement. I think arranging mantles is such an impressive art! An art I had no idea how to pull off.

So I studied allllll the home design blogs, and learned that the key is layering. You want to mix different heights and depths to create dimension.

So I tried a dozen different options with the various do-dads I found in our decor stash, channeled my inner Joanna Gaines, and finally stuck the landing:

From left to right:
- a short vase that came with some flowers from a friend years ago + an Ikea fake plant in it;
- the "O" was probably from our wedding decor circa 2012;
- the candle was an Anthropologie splurge when we were selling our old house (we were well-advised that Volcano Blue can basically sell your house for you);
- green vase and small pink fake plant: Target dollar spot;
- tall pink vase: secretly 2 Walmart cups stacked, with a metal Target wall ornament perched on top and a macrame yarn around the middle;
- black pedestal I've had since college;
- furthest right mermaid vase inherited from Dave's world-traveler grandmother.

And because we're weird:

There was a hole in the floor next to the fireplace, maybe where a gas key used to be or something. So I "planted" fake plants in the hole as a joke when we first moved in, and they've stayed there ever since.