Renter Friendly Fireplace Makeover

We moved to Connecticut back in May and since we’re still learning the area we decided to rent a home. You know I love a good home improvement project so renting drives me crazy but I’ve found some ways to incorporate my DIY skills and still keep the projects renter friendly. For my first project of the year I tackled upgrading the boring fireplace to a more modern look that includes a DIY wooden fireplace surround and hearth cover. Here is my step by step process for this renter friendly fireplace makeover.

Before

Let’s take a few moments to appreciate (or in my case not appreciate) the original fireplace. Here is what I didn’t like about it.

1. It doesn’t have a mantle
2. The white trim is boring
3. The black and white contrast is too much for me
4. Honestly, I just think it’s really ugly…

So I challenged myself to come up with a solution to makeover this fireplace without any fasteners. This was a fun project for me to combine my engineering skills with my creative side.

My Design:

What I came up with is a wooden fireplace surround that sets on the elevated hearth. I needed to design it in a way that the existing trim would fit behind it with no issues and the wooden surround would lay flush against the wall.

To accomplish this, I used a stairstep approach with two different sized boards leaving enough space in the gap on the backside of the wooden surround for the original trim to fit.

Below is the concept design the I put together using the free version of sketchup. It was useful to get the measurements that I needed for board lengths and visualize the layered design. That said, I couldn’t figure out how to model the individual boards with all of the bevels and miters in the correct spots so there are no build plans for this project (sorry). I’ve captured photos and explained each step for you to follow along if you want to build a similar fireplace surround.

This is the view from the back of the surround. You can see the void space where the existing white trim that extends off the wall can sit in.

Materials and Tools

For the wooden surround I used 1×6 and 1×3 boards. This is because I had some boards already in my stock pile. If I were to build this again I would recommend ripping down 3/4″ plywood if you have the tools. The common boards that I used were warped and it made matching up the miters and bevels more difficult. It wasn’t anything that I couldn’t fix with some wood glue and sanding but you could probably save some time on finishing.

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Materials

• (4) 1×6 x 8′ boards
• (6) 1×3 x 8′ boards
• 1/2″ plywood or mdf – for hearth cover
• Wood glue
• Clamps…lots of clamps (different sizes)
• Wood filler
• Sand Paper ( I used 120 followed by 240)
• Primer
• Paint
• Paint brush

Tools

• Table saw (must be able to rotate blade 45 degrees)
• Compound miter saw (double bevel)

Directions – Renter friendly fireplace makeover

Step 1 – Construct the top and sides

The top and sides use 1×6 boards. The back of the boards that will be against the wall will be flush with the wall so you won’t need to bevel that side. The front of the boards however will match up with the front face (next step) and for a nice mitered corner look you’ll need to cut a 45 degree bevel along the edge using a table saw (see step 3 for photo example).

Where the top board attaches to the two side boards you’ll want to cut a 45 degree bevel using your miter saw.

I did my best to try and detail where the bevel cuts go in the image below. Note that the 2×4 shown at the bottom is just a spacer so that I could square it up.

After I had it aligned properly, I used wood glue and clamps to glue and attach the top 1×6 board to the two side 1×6 boards. Corner clamps would have come in very handy here but I didn’t have any at the time. I used the corner block method shown below to square the corners.

The red clamps that you see on the sides are my favorite ones. They are definitely an investment, but totally worth it.

After the glue has set you can remove the clamps.

Step 2 – Build the front face and attach it to the top and bottom

Next you’ll need to construct the front face which is also made with 1×6 boards.

The sides of each board for the front face have 45 degree bevels on the edges. These match up with the bevels on the top and side pieces from step 1 and the next layer (step 3).

Where the side and top boards meet you’ll want to cut a 45 degree miter with your miter saw.

Below is a picture of the front face with the mitered corners already glued up. I have it sitting face down and you can somewhat see the beveled ends. They are on the left and right sides of the two side boards and the top and bottom of the top board.

Next you’ll need to attach the front face that you constructed to the top and sides that were glued together in step 1.

Use wood glue and clamps to attach the front face to the top and sides. Below is a picture right before I laid the beveled side of the top and side piece down onto the beveled side of the front face.

Step 3 – Add the next layer

Now you’ll add the first “stair step” layer using 1×3 boards. The picture below is the best one that I took showing the beveled edges on the boards. For this step one side will need a 45 bevel using a table saw and the top will have a 45 bevel using a miter saw. This layer goes back toward the wall.

The picture below shows the bottom of the fireplace surround. The top of the board that I am fitting in place also has a 45 degree bevel.

Once you’ve finished cutting the boards for this layer just use wood glue and clamps to attach it to the front face.

You can remove the clamps (and weights if you go that route) after the glue has dried.

Step 4 – Add 3 more 1×3 layers

To continue the “stairstep” design you’ll need another 3 layers of 1×3 boards. Each layer will be rotated 90 degrees from the last and only the exterior corners will need to have 45 degree bevels cut on the table saw.

Each layer is is attached with wood glue and clamps. Below is a good photo that shows all but the final layer that I forgot to include in a progress picture (sorry). You get the point though. Just imagine there is one more 1×3 attached to that board on the left.

Here is what it looks like from the front once all of the layers are attached.

And this is what it looks like from the back. You can see the larger gap in between the first and second layers to allow the existing trim to sit in.

Step 5 – Finish

To finish the mantle I first applied wood filler to any gaps and knots. Then I sanded with 120 grit followed by 240 grit sandpaper.

I applied 2 coats of Kilz primer with a paintbrush.

Then I applied 2 coats of Behr paint in the color Mesa Taupe.

Step 6 – Optional: Shim and trim the bottom

When I placed the wooden surround onto the brick hearth it didn’t sit exactly flush with the wall. I’d like to blame that on the wall or hearth not being square but you saw my process photos so you know that it was a little wonky on the bottom. ;)

The good news is that it was an easy fix. I just added some wood shims under the bottom of the front face and then glued on some small trim pieces that I had from off cuts in the garage.

Below is a picture of the trimmed out bottom after I attached the trim, primed and painted it.

And here is the finished rental friendly fireplace surround. Once I set it in place I knew that I needed to build a cover for the painted white brick portion of the hearth. Continue to next step to see how that turned out!

Step 7 – Optional: Build cover for hearth

If your fireplace is elevated like this one, you may want to build a cover for the hearth. Or maybe you’re lucky and your hearth is all the same non painted stone/brick like the fireplace at my old home.

I used scrap 1/2″ mdf that I had in the garage and cut the mdf width to match the height of the hearth. I cut the length of the front piece to cover the front of the hearth and extend past 1/2″ on each side to cover the edges of the side panels.

Since this is a renter friendly project and nothing is physically attached, I had to notch out the back of the side panels to fit around the baseboard trim. If it were permanent I would have just used an oscillating tool to cut out the trim.

The sides are attached to the front using wood glue. I used several clamps to hold the panels in place while the wood glue set.

Here is a photo of the baseboard trim and my best attempt at notching out for it.

I think this renter friendly fireplace makeover turned out pretty good! The hearth cover sits flush with the wall and my cutout isn’t too noticeable. The shims and trim on the bottom of the surround allowed the whole piece to align flush with the wall. It’s pretty stable. I wouldn’t recommend putting anything heavy on it but I could totally hang stockings and not have to worry about it tipping over.

Renter friendly fireplace makeover – after photos

Here is the progression from before to adding the new surround and finally adding the hearth cover. I like it so much better now.

I love the depth that the design brings and the richness of the color.

The hearth cover fits nice and snug.

And one with me for scale.

I’m very pleased with how this renter friendly fireplace makeover turned out. What do you think? Improvement over the original fireplace or is this not your style?

Now I need some artwork for above the fireplace. I’m also going to be building some cabinets for the sides. Stay tuned for those! And if you noticed the unfinished IKEA pine dresser sitting in my living room, that’s my next project that I’ll be starting this weekend!

Speaking of renter friendly tips and tricks. Check out my guide on how to hang artwork without damaging the walls.