When we built our first single family home in Virginia, we did not have excess cash, and one of the first items we had to remove from our list of “wants” in our house was a fireplace. I was devastated because I wanted nothing more than to decorate a mantel for Christmas. I remember making it a goal that when we built or purchased our next home that we would have a fireplace.
Flash forward 5 years and we were building a new townhouse. I was so excited when I saw that we could build a fireplace, but the location the builder required us to put it and the options for finishes that they were providing was not what I envisioned so once again, we were going to be without a fireplace.
After living here for a year, I started envisioning the perfect spot for our fireplace – the blank wall right on our main level where we had plans to mount a tv. I started researching to see if it would be doable, and luckily my handy hubby was able to deliver.
Vision for the look and feel to blend with the house 
Don’t mind the extra hole, we knew we’d. be cover that
The mantel we used was a piece of wood from a tree on Adam’s family’s property. It is always nice to be able to have meaning and history behinds something that you use. After we cut it to size, we did a small amount of sanding and then stained it to match our floors and to give a nice contrast to the shiplap and tile we knew we would be using.
After that, the fun began. We framed out the actual fireplace. We did not have a vent that we would be using to take advantage of a gas or wood burning fireplace, so we purchased an electric insert and used those dimensions to frame out the rest of the area. Also, side note, if you knew the struggles that came with getting an insert that wasn’t the wrong color, size, or broken upon arrival, you would probably ask why we didn’t just give up. Thankfully we found this one and LOVE it.
After everything was framed, we attached cement backer board to prepare for the tile we would be adding. Next, it was time to throw the shiplap up. Adam used a nail gun and we really enjoyed the look of these prefabricated boards. They are real wood so we were able to get a nice variation of boards and sizes to make it a little more authentic looking. We were not able to center our outlet in the shiplap, but once the tv was up we knew it would be covered. We run our wires behind our walls where we have tvs because I like a very clean look and feel to my house.
Finally, it was time to add the tile. This was no small task and actually took longer to “complete” then we would have liked. The marble held a lot of the grout that we used and took FOREVER to clean. To keep the overall look from being too busy, we added solid larger marble tile on the outsides and I think it really brought it all together.
This is one of my favorite projects we have done to date, and I could not be happier!
Manda Beth 