Do it Yourself Fireplace Remodels   Page 1 - Page 2

Here are some great fireplace remodels from people who used our book "How to Remodel a Fireplace" to redesign their fireplaces. You may also want to check out our tool recommendations for this project.

Morgan's Fireplace Before the Remodel

What would you do with this fireplace? This one is a real challenge! I'm so glad that Morgan did a blog post on just how she tackled this one. Here is Morgan's blog post.

Morgan's Fireplace After the Remodel

Isn't this an amazing transformation? I love how the bookcase was integrated to cover up the old firewood storage area. Running the mantel all the way across ties it together nicely. I also love how some of the brick was maintained on the hearth and around the firebox. The brick works well in the room as an accent and ties in well with the exposed beams. What a great solution to this particularly challenging fireplace!

Mark and Carole's Fireplace Before the Remodel

You could see how this floor-to-ceiling fireplace completely dominated the room. With that little shelf as a hearth, it was also lacking warmth.

Mark and Carole's Fireplace After the Remodel

Here is the beautiful finished fireplace. (Well, almost finished, Mark is still planning on adding a mantel.) The hearth adds focus to the fireplace and yet doesn't extend too far into the room. The granite tiles give the fireplace a clean modern look. Great job!

Martie's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Martie's fireplace was a real challenge. She had a craftsman look to her home, but the asymmetry of the fireplace made if very difficult to incorporate that type of look. She also didn't like the idea of tile because she felt grout lines would make it look too busy.

Martie's Fireplace After Remodel

Her solution is so beautiful! She used a craftsman look for the woodwork with a modern influence to work with the asymmetry. For the surround, she used very large tiles with very thin grout lines so that it has a more homogeneous appearance. Notice that she removed the crown molding since it didn't fit with the craftsman/modern look. The mantel is wonderful with its lovely dovetail joint on the side.

Jerry's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Imagine you have a lovely elegant home, but this is your fireplace! This was Jerry's problem.

Jerry's Fireplace After Remodel

But Jerry and his wife had a great vision of how it could look. He used Emperador Dark marble to cover the face and top of the hearth and trimmed the sides with plywood. He created the mantel is from three different types of crown molding. Now this is a fireplace for an elegant home!

Sam's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Sam had a pretty typical red-brick floor-to-ceiling fireplace. It is hard to see from this picture, but Sam's hearth has a row of bricks that jut out. He started his project by sawing off those brick ends to square up the hearth.

Sam's Fireplace After Remodel

Imagine the difference this makes to his living room! The curved skirt on the mantel adds some great visual interest. The heavy pilasters provide some nice weight to the fireplace and the tile ties in beautifully with the paint.

"I must say that the transformation was astonishing when complete. There is no way I could have done this without your book." -- Sam

Karen's Fireplace Before the Remodel

This is what Karen had to say about her fireplace remodel:

"We bought this house with a standard builders grade version of a fireplace surround (left over floor tile and some moulding). We wanted to mount our flat screen above the fireplace and put in a built-in bookcase with cabinets to house our AV components. I built the surround out of oak and slate and the built-in with cabinet grade ply, which we painted, and oak for the top of the cabinet. The AV cabinet has pull out drawers, and it is vented into the attic with small fans to keep it cool. Your book was an invaluable resource for me. I would recommend it to anyone."

Karen's Fireplace After Remodel

I just love the tile that she chose for this fireplace and how it plays so well with the oak mantel. Karen also built the media cabinet on the right, so here is some more detail on that.

Here are some cost-saving tips from Karen on this cabinet:

"That pull out AV shelf rotates so that you can access the cords without removing the equipment. Instead of spending over a hundred dollars on hardware specifically made to do that, I made ours out of heavy duty full extension drawer slides, a medium sized lazy susan, wood for the boxes, and two dowel pins to lock the unit in place. It works great and saves a ton of hassle."

David and Mary's Fireplace Before the Remodel

David and Mary had a typical brick fireplace that had a built in bookshelf added to it. The look was not only dated, but made the room feel small and crowded.

David and Mary's Fireplace After Remodel

David made a beautiful deco-style mantel out of maple and Mary and David tiled the fireplace in a nice large slate. Removing the bookshelf and tiling over the fireplace gave the room a more open and modern look. I also love how the wall colors that they picked play off the colors in the slate.

Tonya and Ross' Fireplace Before the Remodel

Tonya and Ross' fireplace had good bones, but the mantel and brick made it look tired and dated.

Tonya and Ross' Fireplace After Remodel

They selected a beautiful tile combination and that works wonderfully with the darker stained mantel, transforming this fireplace from dated to very elegant!

Steve's Fireplace Before the Remodel

This is a dark and dreary fireplace which makes the whole room feel closed in.

Steve's Fireplace After Remodel

This doesn't even look like the same room! I love the understated elegance of Steve's design. Here are some details about his project that you might find helpful:

"The book was the only source I used, and I can't say how great it was! Best investment I ever made for under $20. I was very unsure before I started. Not only are we going to save money on heating bills, I know we have added some good value to our home as well. I actually enjoy being in that room now. It was very dark and almost claustrophobic prior. I started on the 4th of December (against my wife's wishes as she didn't think I could get it done before Christmas), finished the project on the 18th, and the insert was installed on the 22nd. It was 2 hours before I finally pulled the trigger to do the mitre cut on the mantel, but it turned okay too. Did the project in the evenings after work. The hearth is floor tile and the surround is wall tile. Aside from the insert the total cost would have been about $400 CDN. Fireplace insert was a Valor Gas Insert (Natural Gas), Radiant Heat, which is also very quiet, no fan."

-- Steve, Parksville, BC

Rebecca and Larry's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Rebecca and Larry had a very rustic looking fireplace with built-in heavy pine cabinets.

Rebecca and Larry's Fireplace After Remodel

What a transformation. Notice the different tiles that they used to give a very subtle, but beautifully custom look.

Notice also how the style of the fireplace ties in so beautifully with the oriental rug. This doesn't even look like the same room!

The fireplace doors that they picked offer a lovely finish to the look. They can be purchased here.

Dave's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Dave definitely had his work cut out for him with this white-painted brick fireplace.

Dave's Fireplace After Remodel

Notice the intricate tile work that Dave did to make a beautiful, custom look. I like how he framed in the hearth with the same wood as the mantel. His mantel proportions are perfect. I'm a big fan of deep color, so I love how he painted the dry wall to showcase the fireplace.

Ron's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Ron had a pretty stark fireplace that clearly dominated the room with its wall-to-wall hearth and floor-to-ceiling brick.

After Fireplace Remodel

Isn't this beautiful?

Ron created an interesting transition from hearth to floor that minimized the dominant hearth. He used a beautiful tile that brought both depth and warmth to the room. He used a paint around the fireplace brought out some of the warmth in the tile. Notice how the mantel has some lovely detail work.

It always makes my day to get pictures like this in my inbox!

Toney and Barry's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Imagine if you like a sleek modern look and you have something that looks like this in your living room?

This was the situation that Toney and Barry found themselves in. This fireplace was faced with quartzite and had been painted. Their most interesting discovery was when they removed the hearth. They found there had been a sunken "conversation pit" around the fireplace.

After Fireplace Remodel

They created a completely different look for their living room by reducing the mass and refacing the surround and hearth in a lovely sleek granite.

The also followed the instructions in the book for mounting their TV above the fireplace.

Sandra's Brick Fireplace Before the Remodel

Sandra's house was built in 1980 and had this tall brick fireplace that she always disliked. She had remodeled the entire house, but the fireplace was still in its original brick form. She really didn't like the height of the hearth, so she grabbed a hammer and chisel and removed the top three rows of brick.

After Fireplace Remodel

Sandra's daughter's boyfriend works for a granite company and supplied the beautiful granite surround. She ordered a mantel online, then they sheetrocked over the upper area and now she has a stunning fireplace!

Sandra was inspired by the pictures on our site and wanted to make sure her pictures were included so that she might inspire others to take on this project.

We have been asked where Sandra purchased her mantel. I haven't been able to confirm this with her, but I believe it is this Natchez mantel from BrickAnew.

Mary's Fireplace Before the Remodel

Take a look at this fabulous transformation!

Mary's fireplace was quite dated as you can see from this before picture and didn't tie in well with the beautiful wainscotting and furnishings in the room.

Her husband, Frank, did a beautiful job reducing the mass and making the fireplace a gorgeous focal point in the room. I have included a close up of his impressive workmanship.

After Fireplace Remodel

"Your book was invaluable to him as I had been asking him for years to do something with the eyesore that was our fireplace. Until he found your website and then ordered your guide he had no idea how to start. He followed your book faithfully and as you can see did a fabulous job. I am extremely pleased with the results. Friends and family can't say enough good things about the finished product and believe we spent many thousands of dollars on it. Redoing the fireplace was a great project that took about 6 weeks of working on it nights and weekends; painting and staining took up a lot of that time."

--Mary, Massachusetts

More DYI Fireplace Remodels Go to Page 2

Do these pictures inspire you to remake the look of your fireplace? Please take a look at our fireplace remodeling book for design ideas and concepts.