Finish options
After the chimney box is assembled, we proceed to finish the fireplace. However, with the help of ordinary materials, you can make a false fireplace, which will not differ from the real one in appearance. One of the beautiful options is stone or brickwork. Its imitation is available in several versions:
Cardboard. Rectangles are cut out of cardboard, playing the role of bricks. They paste over a box pre-painted with acrylic paint, leaving a small space between the "bricks". In this technology, the right decision would be to use contrasting colors: a brown base and white bricks.
If you want to give the “bricks” volume, then stick napkins or toilet paper soaked in PVA glue on them (papier-mâché technique). After drying, we get an uneven textured surface, reminiscent of an aged brick or stone.
Styrofoam. Styrofoam allows you to create a very beautiful decor in the form of stonework. On a single piece of this airy material, the contours of stones of different sizes are cut with a knife. On them, recesses are hollowed out, separating the stones from each other. The effect of antiquity will help to perform a hard iron brush, which processes the surface of the product.
A few more options on how to do it:
1. Do-it-yourself false fireplace made of corrugated cardboard
Since I myself am a skilled craftswoman in building large crafts, I made a fireplace together with my husband, who, on the contrary, is a techie, and understands the design of fireplaces. A fake fireplace differs from a real fireplace in that it can be made from any material, including cardboard.
2. New Year's drywall fireplace
A year ago, a country house was built, and we really wanted to make our old dream come true, to sit in an armchair and admire the beauty of the fire. We decided to make a false fireplace with our own hands from drywall.
3. Fairy styrofoam fireplace with your own hands
If you made repairs on the eve of the holiday and you still have unnecessary cardboard boxes, packaging foam, a couple of old hanging shelves - do not rush to get rid of them. They will serve you well as a New Year's fireplace.
4. Fireplace in Russian style. Do it yourself
If the forest beauty is already installed and dressed up, then it is quite possible to come up with something more festive to decorate the space. For example, you can make a New Year's fireplace. Yes, yes, it's very easy to make. And how - see and read in our master class.
5. Master class "New Year's fireplace from cardboard boxes"
In the last month of New Year's Eve, you really want a festive mood. Christmas decorations at home or in the workplace are such a pleasant reminder of the upcoming holiday. There are many decorative ornaments that you can easily make yourself from improvised means that will bring a little magic to our everyday life. One of these decorations is a Christmas fireplace. I would like to offer you my version of the New Year's decorative fireplace.
6. Raised laminate fireplace
One of the ways to create a false fireplace from the remnants of floor laminate and chipboard.
7. Making a fake fireplace out of boxes
8. Fireplace made of corrugated cardboard and foam - a quick and inexpensive gift for the New Year
9. DIY Christmas Fireplace Made from Boxes and Wrapping Paper
To create a Christmas fireplace from boxes with your own hands, in a “wonderful” style, the main thing is to stock up on wrapping paper with bright, catchy patterns. Further - it is a matter of technique and imagination.
10. Decorative papier-mâché fireplace
You can involve small children, a husband and a cat in the process. So, for 400 rubles, noisy family leisure is organized for a week, a necessary and unique thing is made, and a festive atmosphere is created.
Getting the job done
First of all, we create a sketch of the future masterpiece.At this stage, we take into account all the details: the dimensions of the structure, the presence of shelves, decorative elements, and the general appearance. The sketch is initially applied to paper, and then to the wall. Then we form the frame of the structure. If the dummy will be located near the wall, then we fix the frame immediately to the wall. If this is a portable structure, we build an independent base. At this stage, we determine the material that will be used for decoration. If it is a tile or decorative stone, the base of the structure should be further strengthened.
Next, we proceed to the sheathing of the frame. From plywood or drywall, cut out the details of the desired size. We fasten the workpieces with screws. After the construction of the structure, we proceed to the most interesting stage of work - decorative finishing. To make a fake fireplace beautiful, you can use a variety of finishing materials. At work, you can use the following ideas:
- Covering the structure with putty and painting with paint. Today in retail you can buy a putty mass that imitates wood, stone surface, crocodile skin. By covering a fireplace dummy with such material, and painting it with a suitable composition, you can make a unique, beautiful design.
- The most common self-adhesive film can turn a dummy into a real work of art.
- Not a bad choice - mosaic, decorative stone, tile.
- For greater naturalism, do not forget to decorate the wall to which the fireplace is attached.
Create an imitation of fire
Well, what is a fireplace without fire? A do-it-yourself dummy in the photo will not look real if it is not equipped with an imitation of live fire. This question can also be solved using one of the following ideas. Designers recommend installing an LCD screen in the portal, which will display an image of a burning fire, an electric fireplace panel, or equipping the dummy with candles.
To make the model look like a genuine fireplace, you need to place accessories used when working with wood-burning hearths near it. It can be a poker, a basket with natural firewood, a shovel for removing soot.
How to make a fake fireplace with your own hands is shown in the video.
Summing up, we note that with a great desire and the availability of the necessary tools and materials, creating a fake fireplace design will not cause great difficulties. Following clear, step-by-step instructions from professionals, using personal design ideas for decorating a fireplace, you can easily cope with the task. When creating a structure, be guided by the interior design of the room in which the model will be located. Since the design style, dimensions and color scheme of the structure should be selected in accordance with the design of the room.
How to make a decorative fireplace with your own hands Design and materials
Obviously, our apartments are not adapted to the construction of a full-fledged fireplace. Technically, this is a completely impossible task, especially in an apartment building. However, for those who would like to decorate the interior with such an element, there is a solution, and it consists in the construction of a false fireplace. It retains the external signs of a full-fledged hearth, but does not require the arrangement of a chimney and a firebox. Moreover, making a false fireplace with your own hands is quite a doable task.
A niche in the wall, stylized as a hearth
A place for reading books - an empty fireplace opening
Natural materials will add warmth and comfort even to the most ascetic interior.
Since the imitation of the hearth does not require a radical reconstruction of the room and special skills in its arrangement, the design of a false fireplace depends only on the imagination of the home craftsman. The main thing is the frame of the hearth. It can be made from metal profiles, wooden bars and slats, or simply use an overlay panel with a decorative firebox window. The dimensions of the interior element being constructed depend on the size of the room itself, where it will be placed.
Victorian style decorative fireplace
The original solution - the presence of a fireplace in the bathroom
On the fireplace shelf there is a collection of nesting dolls, photographs and grotesque paintings, and inside the firebox there is a wicker vase with branches
Practical use of a decorative fireplace
Decorative plywood fireplace
The advantages of such a fireplace are: quick and easy assembly, the ability to change the location of the fireplace in the room, low cost of materials, safety and environmental friendliness.
When choosing materials, there are two options: buy ordinary sheets of plywood and wallpaper them, or purchase plywood with a three-dimensional pattern.
Beautiful plywood sheets for the fireplace
For work we need:
- screwdriver, self-tapping screws;
- roulette;
- jigsaw or other tool for cutting plywood;
- wooden boards for the base of the fireplace;
- furniture legs.
The procedure for assembling a decorative plywood fireplace:
- Any project begins with the development of a drawing. In a notebook or on lined sheets, we draw the shape of the future fireplace, mark the dimensions, indicate where the frame will pass.
- We cut wooden bars into sections of the required length. For convenience, we sign each of them.
- Let's start assembling the frame. We connect the bars with each other with self-tapping screws (we screw them with a screwdriver). We check the correctness of the assembly according to the drawing. We fasten the legs for furniture to the base board. We fix the frame to the board - the base. Installing a fireplace mantel.
- Cut out the fireplace portal from plywood. In order to avoid chipping the material, at the place where the cut is planned, we apply a ruler and make cuts with a sharp knife (on both sides of the sheet). Next, we glue the place of sawing with masking tape or ordinary tape (PVA glue is also suitable if it is applied with a layer of 1-2 cm and wait for it to dry) and cut using a wood saw with fine teeth (or a jigsaw). Sand the plywood across the grain or in a circular motion.
- If the plywood is ordinary and its further pasting is planned, then it is advisable to fasten it with special threaded screws intended for plywood or wire nails. The optimal step between them is 20-40 cm. But in the case when decorative plywood with a pattern is used, it is best to use glue designed for gluing wooden products. When gluing, both surfaces are cleaned and thoroughly coated with a roller or brush.
- The finished false fireplace is decorated with wallpaper, ceramic tiles, imitation of natural stones, paint or other methods. A mirror installed behind the back wall of the “firebox” looks unusual and very aesthetically pleasing. Logs, vases, and other elements appropriate for the occasion or suitable for the interior are installed in a niche.
In order for wooden parts to last longer, special impregnations are applied to them before assembly (for example, moisture resistant).
