DIY: Fire Place Screen

A fireplace screen can be a fun DIY project.

Fireplace screens can be made from many materials, such as metal and wood, and can serve many purposes. One purpose of a fireplace screen is to keep embers from the fire within in the fireplace. Fireplace screens are also used as decoration to cover the fireplace when it is not in use. Building a fireplace screen is a DIY project that you can complete by first determining what type of design and materials to use.

Things You'll Need

• Old window shutters
• Scraper
• Sandpaper
• Primer
• Paintbrush
• Dish soap
• Paint
• Hinges
• Power drill

Instructions

1. Scrape the old paint off the shutters with the scraper and then use the sandpaper to sand any paint that remains. The sandpaper will remove rough-looking areas and allow the new paint to stick to the wood.

2. Apply a coat of primer to the shutters with the paintbrush. Wait an hour or two for the primer to dry.

3. Apply a coat of new paint to the shutters with the paintbrush. Wait at least two hours for the paint to dry and then apply a second coat if necessary.

4. Put two of the shutters together on their side. Place one of the hinges on top of one side of the shutters and pre-drill the screw holes with the power drill. Insert screws into the holes and tighten them with the power drill. Repeat this step on the other side of the shutters.

5. Turn the shutters onto their other side and set another shutter next to the first two. Secure the additional shutter to the other shutters with the hinges. This will give you three shutters that you can now fold place in front of the fireplace for a screen and fold up when it needs to be stored.

6. Add additional shutters to cover the width of the fireplace, if needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut the shutters to fit over your fireplace with a circular saw if they are too long.

References

• Danny Lipford: How to Build a Fireplace Screen from Shutters
• ECOFriend: Recycling old shutters to create beautiful fireplace screen