DIY Faux Fireplace

Would you believe me if I told you this fireplace is made out of cardboard and hot glue? This is probably the cheapest and easiest DIY faux fireplace you have ever seen, and I will show you exactly how I did it.

I painted this arch on the wall a while ago to add some character, but it felt unfinished. It just really needed something, and I have been wanting a fireplace in the living room for years.

I happened to walk by an old console table in the basement that wasn't being used, and it struck me that it was the perfect size for a fireplace. I brought it upstairs and put it in its future spot to see how it would look and started thinking about how I could somehow make it into one. Obviously not everyone has an old console table lying around, but you can easily make a frame with some 2'x12' wood planks from Home Depot. (Don't come at me about blocking the vent - I left room in the back for the air flow).

At first I was going to use some large cardboard I found in the recycling bin (which you can also use as an option) but I walked by an old project of my son's made on a tri-fold board and had my eureka moment. I trimmed a bit off the top to make it fit, but otherwise it almost seems if it was tailor-made for this purpose!

Since I wanted the fireplace to blend in to the wall, I covered it with a few layers of flat white paint.

Because the sides of my table were open, I needed to cover them. Plain wood planks would work just as well, but we happened to have leftover Airstone pieces that we used on our front steps and I thought these would help to make it look like a real fireplace. I simply hot-glued them to some cardboard that I had cut to roughly the size of each side to use as a template. I debated painting these, but in the end I painted them the same flat white as the table.

Really one of the only things that I had to purchase were the tiles (and the trim). For the tiles, I used peel and stick which you can find on Amazon or the Dollar store. I attached them to the cardboard tri-fold board, covering it almost entirely. IMPORTANT NOTE: I didn't do the top corners so I would have room to bend it to fit it back into the console table, and did those tiles once it was in already.

Full disclosure, if I could do it over again I would have bought tile sheets that could be cut with a scissor and this project would have been done in an hour. But I really wanted the herringbone pattern and these were the only ones I could find. They are amazing quality and look and feel like real tiles, but to cut them you have to score with an exacto knife and snap, which sounds a lot easier than it really was.

In true Erin-fashion, I forgot about the bottom of the fireplace and had to order a second set of tiles to do that section.

Once the bottom of the table was covered in tiles, I put in the tri-fold board (and added the tiles to the top corners) and attached it to the sides of the table with hot glue. I placed the cardboard with the Airstone glued on on the sides behind the cardboard, facing out on each side, and secured with hot glue. Finally, I added some peel & stick trim to the bottom to complete the look, and voilà: I have a faux fireplace!

I added some candles for some ambiance, but birch logs would work great as well. I'm super happy (and kind of surprised?) how easy this was and how it came out! I would love to see your fireplace if you make one, so make sure to share it with me!