Beautiful Tiled Fireplace and Mantel Update

It’s day 2 of our Holiday Guest Series, and we are excited to welcome Sabrina back! She shared her bathroom makeover with us here, and she’s back today to show how she updated her tiled fireplace and mirrored mantel, on a budget, for this beautiful finished look in her beautiful living room:

Sabrina has all the details of her makeover below, and check out these other mantel updates as you scroll…

easily make your mantel a focal point

or create a faux fireplace and mantel like this

or like this:

install a super easy wood mantel on a brick fireplace

or a reclaimed wood mantel on a stone wall

Here’s Sabrina to show you how she updated her tile fireplace and mirrored mantel from “meh” to AMAZING! Give her a warm welcome back:

DIY Tiled Fireplace and Mirrored Mantel Makeover
by Sabrina from Pink Little Notebook

Hey all! I’m Sabrina, the girl behind the home improvement blog, Pink Little Notebook. I document the ups-and-downs of renovating my home alongside my husband, Mike. I’m always experimenting with some sort of DIY project and I love sharing what I’ve learned so be sure to stop by and check out some of my before and after home transformations.

Today I wanted to share one of our recent makeovers—our gas fireplace. It was old, it was dingy and more importantly, it didn’t work. Before we even began the update on this corner fireplace, we had to replace our gas insert. We did hire a certified installer for this part, however, the rest of the finishing’s were completely done by my hubby and I.

Before and After mantel makeover using mirror above fireplace Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

After contemplating a variety of ways to tackle this corner unit, we decided to keep the oversized mirror above the mantel. This mirror didn’t want to budge at all. Taking it down, meant replacing messy drywall so instead I worked it into the design.

Mantel update using marble hex tiles, oversized mirror, and diy pillars Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

To begin this project, we started by creating a mini soffit. This helped with two things we needed to address: 1) hide the electrical wires from our pot lights that were recently installed; and 2) create a nice transition from the crown molding to the soffit.

mini soffit for mantel redesign, diy fireplace makeover Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

To secure the MDF box to the ceiling, brackets and screws were used from the inside of the frame. Another MDF piece was nailed to the bottom to close and complete the look of the soffit.

marble hex tile for fireplace update Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

Next we added a classic marble hex tile to dress up the surround of the fireplace. Make sure to refer to your fireplace’s manual to make sure you are meeting the minimum clearance for combustible and non-combustible materials.

Marble hex tile for mantel makeover Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

marble tile used in fireplace surround, DIY mantel update Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

Once the tile was glued and grouted, we were able to put the old mantel back up and begin framing the mirror.

MDF panels to frame existing mirror, DIY fireplace remodel Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

Using MDF panels cut-to-size, we glued directly on top of the mirror using PL Premium (a permanent constructive adhesive). We used a width of 8″ on the two sides while using a width of 3″ for the top and bottom panels. A great trick to keep everything from shifting while the glue is drying is to use a good quality painters tape.

DIY Mantel pillars using plastic pipe Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

I wanted to add visual interested to this fireplace so I came up with the idea of adding pillars to either side of the mirror. However, purchasing pillars is a costly expense so I made my own out of 3″ plastic pipe.

DIY mantel pillars for fireplace makeover Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

In order to secure the pipe to the fireplace, we came up with these very clever decorative bases out of leftover MDF. We simply put glue inside the pipe to make sure it wouldn’t twist and nailed the base to the mantel and soffit.

DIY mantel pillars for fireplace surround update Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

I patched up the existing grooves on the legs of the fireplace surround for a sleek look and filled any reminding seams and nail marks.

DIY corner fireplace update Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

I’m all about details so in order to give the mirror a finished professional look, I added cove molding along with a thin decorative trim around the perimeter of the mirror. It was glued directly over the seam where the cove molding meets the MDF. Again I secured it with painters tape until it dried.

Cove molding as mirror frame, DIY mantel makeover Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

When the final coat of paint was completed, the last step was to attach our homemade pillars

homemade pillars for DIY corner fireplace update Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

and voila we ended up this. . .

How to update a dated tile fireplace and mirrored mantel -- such a great DIY job for a fresh look! Pink Little Notebook on Remodelaholic.com

Marble hex tile in DIY fireplace surround makeover Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

IKEA hack console, with corner fireplace DIY makeover, marble tile, oversize mirror over mantel Pink Little Notebook featured on @Remodelaholic

Source List:

Gas Fireplace: Napoleon Ascent 36 Vented Gas Fireplace
Wall Colour: F-Stop (P5243-44), PARA Paints (eggshell finish)
Trim & Fireplace Colour: Whitewash White (P2089-00), PARA Paints (satin finish)
Tile: Marble Hexagon Mosaic Tile 1.2″

Cost Breakdown for Updating Mantel/Fireplace Surround:

Fireplace Mantel: $0 (salvaged old fireplace)
Paint/Putty/Glue: $0 (leftover from other projects)
MDF sheets for framing: $40
Cove Molding + Decorative Trim: $25
Plastic pipe: $15
Marble hex tile: $95

Total: $175
(does not include cost of new gas fireplace insert)

————————————————–

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Sabrina! What a beautiful update!

Remodelaholics, head over to Pink Little Notebook to see more of Sabrina’s DIYs and style, like how to paint stair risers in 10 seconds or less and her foyer makeover.

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We love hearing from fellow Remodelaholics, so let us know what you like about this and leave any questions below in the comments. If you've followed a tutorial or been inspired by something you've seen here, we'd love to see pictures! Submit pictures here or by messaging us over on Facebook.

Published: December 22, 2015Filed Under: Before and After, Guest Bloggers, How To, Living Rooms Tagged: Fireplace, Holiday Guest Series, mantel, mantels, Mirrors, White

About Cass

Cassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. Since then, Remodelaholic has become a great community and resource for all those wanting to know how to make their builder-grade home BEAUTIFUL on a budget!

Beautiful Tiled Fireplace and Mantel Update

DIY Tiled Fireplace and Mirrored Mantel Makeover
by Sabrina from Pink Little Notebook

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DIY Tiled Fireplace and Mirrored Mantel Makeover by Sabrina from Pink Little Notebook

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DIY Tiled Fireplace and Mirrored Mantel Makeover
by Sabrina from Pink Little Notebook