In Texas, almost every house comes with a fireplace. And they’re in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Thinking about ours, I came up with these 8 Budget-Friendly Fireplace Remodel Ideas.
It’s not like I hate my fireplace.
As a matter of fact, I love it.
And I have 2 of them, so odds are, I could have hated one, but they’re both fine.
But fine isn’t all it’s cracked up to be–at least for me.
I want something fun and cool. But, I’m also thinking about *gasp* budget.
Renovating a fireplace can get costly pretty quickly but, I have good news!
There are budget-friendly fireplace remodel ideas that will make the centerpiece of your living room look beautiful and timeless.
8 Budget-Friendly Fireplace Remodel Ideas
Cleaning
So, I have a confession. I once lived in a house with, what I thought, was grey-ish brown tile and grout on my tiled fireplace surround. I had no money to do a fireplace remodel from the ground up (yeah, I couldn’t even afford new tile), but–BUT!–I thought, maybe, just maybe, I could clean it really well and see what happened. Turns-out I had some nice cream-colored tile and white grout.
Now, this isn’t something that will happen every time. And it was the fault of the previous homeowner who, clearly, had never cleaned the fireplace before. But it was a little bit of a fireplace facelift miracle. LOL!
Decorations
Being bored with the look of your fireplace can be changed with something as simple as updating the decorations on or around your fireplace. That can be everything from a new piece of art above the fireplace to a new flower arrangement.
Before you jump into costly fireplace remodel plans, maybe hop on down to the hobby store or even the thrift mart and grab a new vase with crazy vines or peacock feathers to set on the mantle. Might change the whole perspective.
Screen or Doors
Replacing the screen on your fireplace with something new and updated is a quick and easy way to give the room a new look. Imagine going from an old gold-plated look to a black or even white porcelain look? That would be super-easy and surprisingly cheap just by using a heat-resistant paint.
Or you can spring for a whole new cover or doors. You can have a whole set of doors professionally installed for less than $150 in some cases, making a dramatic change to your fireplace without much cash–or hardly any effort on your part.
Mantle
Adding a mantle to a fireplace when there wasn’t one before can make a huge difference in how the fireplace looks. By adding a mantle, it naturally makes the fireplace a more interesting focal point of the room and breaks up the space in a visually pleasing way.
You can choose to add a floating mantle or, go around the whole thing. Either way it is sure to make a big impact.
If you already have a mantle, but don’t like the look of it you can always change it out for another one, wrap it with new wood or stone.
Or, if your mantle looks a little worn out but you still like the overall look, you can just paint it or stain it.
Paint/Whitewash
Painting or whitewashing the outside of the fireplace is going to give you the biggest change. It doesn’t matter if the surround is wood, brick or stone. It can all be painted or whitewashed.
One thing to think about before you do this, though, is that you cannot go back. So, do a “tester” area on the side where no one will see it and make sure you’re going to like the look of the whitewashing.
Tile It
If the outside of your fireplace is brick and you aren’t too crazy about painting it or whitewashing it you can put tile over it. Either glass or porcelain tile will work best. This is probably one of the more expensive face lifts but, it is still pretty reasonable.
You can do this yourself or have it done, but you’ll want to think about the grout you use and make sure you can keep it clean (because white grout gets smoke stains).
Faux Stone
If you have brick, but you want a stone fireplace, don’t give up on your fireplace remodel dream because of budget concerns. Use faux stone.
Faux stone is much cheaper than using real stones, but is still perfect for use on fireplaces. It is also much easier to install since the faux stones themselves are lighter.
You can either do faux full stones or stacked stone. Both of them look gorgeous when finished.
Fireback
The outside of the fireplace isn’t the only place that can be updated. Updating the inside of the fireplace can make a huge difference. There are many options available today that can even help your fireplace work more efficiently.
However, if you’re wanting to change out anything to do with the actual inside of the fireplace, it’s a smart idea to talk to a remodeling contractor to make sure you’re staying well within the safety ranges–and building codes.
Trim
If changing the whole mantle isn’t something you want to do, you can change (or add) the trim around the fireplace.
If you are changing the trim out, the first step is deciding if you want something larger or something smaller. Once you decide that make sure to check the measurements, so you don’t end up with the same size. That’s something I would forget–so I’m just mentioning that.
Adding trim is a bit easier than changing it. All you have to do is decide what the overall look you are trying to achieve is and go for it.
Helpful Tip
If you decide to use tile or paint your fireplace, extend it to the ceiling, if at all possible. By doing this you will help to make the fireplace even more the focal point of the room. Consider seeking financial support from a reliable money lenders to help you achieve your home improvement goals.
Whatever you do, don’t give up on your fireplace remodel dreams.
Your boring old fireplace doesn’t have to stay boring.
With a small budget you can easily give your current fireplace a face lift and achieve the look you have been dreaming of for your space.
If you loved these 8 Budget-Friendly Fireplace Remodel Ideas, be sure to pin this post to your favorite home renovation ideas board so you can remember them when you’re ready to actually do your fireplace remodel project!