Family Room
Every home needs a cozy fireplace! Since our home did not come with one, we added it ourself!
Let's start from the beginning...
Our great room had this nice long wall that was just begging for a fireplace.
Time to make a plan!
I am very much a visual person so once I get an idea started in my mind, I always like tape it off to make sure the measurements are what I was envisioning.
Let's start with a frame
I knew I was going to be covering my fireplace in actual stone, which is very heavy. Because of the weight, I wanted to make sure that I had a foundation that was strong. I went ahead and did the blocking for the television and where I was placing the mantel. This made installing these items so much easier in the end.
Time to make it pretty!
I covered the studs with backerboard to give myself a nice strong base. After that, it was time to start thinking about the rock placement. These particular rocks came in sheets and did not include any corner pieces. The entire fireplace became a giant puzzle trying to make everything fit together in the best way possible.
Starting to make progress!
Of course I had to make sure that the television was functional while working on this project! I added the tv mount and the mantle so those pieces were already in place when I got to that point with the stone. Here you can see that I am slowly working my way up. I tried to do this in a few different sessions for two reasons: 1. The stones need time to set up before stacking more weight on top of them. 2. The stones are really heavy so taking breaks was necessary!
Time for cabinets!
Once the fireplace was complete, I built custom cabinets and floating shelves to complete this wall. I was able to match the cabinets to the mantle so it all tied together nicely. The fun part was getting to decorate this area!
Fireplace Photo Gallery
Before and after photos as well as a look at the work as it was completed.
