Updating this fireplace was a project I was SO excited to tackle and also scared the heck out of me since it involved adding a few new DIY skills to my resume - demo’ing tile, cutting tile, installing tile, learning to mud and drywall, and applying roman clay! It felt daunting, but the end results is even better than I had imagined. As an interim fix, I used faux marble contact paper to cover the greige tiles that weren’t to my taste and that held up great for a few years till this made it to the top of my house project list.

While it was a labor of love, I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. We updated the mantle with a new wood mantle stained to match the open shelving in the kitchen, removed the glass fireplace cover and applied fresh black, matte paint, remove the greige tile and used roman clay (Portola Paints - Skipping Stone) to cover the entire fireplace surround giving it tons of beautiful movement that looks like stone, added marble tile for the hearth, and then finished it off with beautiful accessories like a new light switch and outlet faceplates.