Making a Fake Fireplace

Making a fake fireplace can add the finishing touch or a clever focal point to shabby chic or country cottage decor. By recycling salvaged architectural items and old furniture, you can create the illusion of a romantic fireplace. Old, broken furniture that has exceeded its original usefulness can be picked up for pennies at yard sales, flea markets and even alongside the road. Salvaged trim from houses that have been torn down can be found at architectural salvage warehouses, or may be free for the asking from family and friends undergoing a remodel.

Scrap, Salvaged and Rescued Items for a Fake Fireplace

You will need a tall dresser about the size of a fireplace, or of the size you envision. It does not need drawers. Look for a frame from an old vanity dresser mirror. You do not need the mirror, so don't overlook a broken one. It is best if it is approximately the same width as the dresser, but it can be easily adjusted. If a mirror frame is not available, old trim and molding from salvaged houses will also work nicely. You will also need red bricks and leftover white house paint.

Building a Fake Fireplace

Remove the drawers from the dresser. Remove the inside guts of the dresser with a jigsaw; you will want nothing left inside the dresser. Measure the depth, on all sides of the dresser, 8 inches from the front, and mark. Use the jigsaw to cut along the 8 inch marks, removing the back portion of the dresser. This front is the base for your fireplace. If you're dresser has legs, cut them off or remove them.

Place the vanity mirror frame on the front of your fireplace base. If your mirror has four sides, remove the bottom side by cutting it off using the jigsaw. Use wood glue and brad nails to attach the sides of the frame and the top of the frame to the front edges of the dresser. If your frame is not as wide as your dresser, cut the sides of the frame from the top. Attach the sides of the frame to the side front edges of the dresser and center the top of the frame at the center front edge of the dresser. If your frame is wider than your dresser, cut away the excess at the top of your frame on each corner and attach. The frame is decorative, so whatever you think looks nice will work.

Finishing a Fake Fireplace

Paint the inside and outside of the fireplace base using the white house paint. Allow the paint to dry. Distress and antique your fireplace to give it a more shabby-chic look by sanding the surface edges corners and decorative moldings, allowing the wood to show through.

Stack several red bricks under each side of the fireplace base, to bring the fireplace to the height you desire. Cover the bottom of your fireplace base with more red bricks. Place an arrangement of candles on the red bricks to complete.

References

• Cyndee Kromminga; Craft and Interior Designer, Kro Crafts; Winfield, Kansas