Hello!! If you didn’t know by now, I love DIY’s. I love building things and being creative. I will see something in a store or online that I want and will almost always think “I wonder if I could build that?” And chances are good that I will try. My latest project is something I had been wanting for my bedroom. A faux fireplace. I got all the materials at Home Depot for under $100. I started with a 2 x4 cut into two 48 inch pieces for the sides. I added 1 x 3 to the bottom to make a “foot” and then layered a 1 x 2 on that.

I repeated that for the other side piece. For the header I cut another piece of 2 x 4 to 33 inches. I then added decorative trim to the front of each side piece using wood glue and clamped it until it was dry.

For the back I used a piece of 4′ x 4′ plywood that was 1/2 an inch thick. I fastened the sides and header to the plywood using wood glue and 1 1/4 inch finish nails.

Then I added some pieces of 1 x 2 to create a frame around the header piece and added a 1 x 4 across the bottom. And a 1 x6 cut to 52 inches for the “mantle.” I wanted it to hang over a bit on each side.

Once the whole thing was assembled I laid it down and stained it. I used Behr Stain in Jacobean. I planned on painting the whole thing white and heavily distressing it but I like to stain pieces first so that when you distress it that darker wood shows through.

• 

• 

• 

After the stain was dry I painted the whole thing white. I used Glidden in Antique White with a flat finish.

I then distressed it using my sander and a piece of steel wool. I was going for a super chippy look and so I really wasn’t to careful with the sanding process.

• 

• 

For the inside I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. I decided on book pages for right now but will most likely be adding some faux brick or shiplap in the future. But I’m so pleased with how it turned out. And I love it in my bedroom.

This project only took me a day and a half. And was so inexpensive. Are you a DIYer? Or are you intimidated by projects and building things? I think the more things I build the more comfortable I am to take on these projects. I’m already thinking about my next DIY build. Stay tuned!!

XX, Shanna