Ugly firplace

[Clubby]

This is my horrible fireplace,i cant afford to replace it but i have been looking at this for 2yrs now so no matter what i do with the room this focal point ruins it,i had thought of spraying it with the plasticoat textured spray but i dont think it would stand the heat and it couldnt be cleaned,i have my creative moments but this is pushing it lol,has anybody given a face lift to a fireplace as nasty looking as this ? i could sure do with some inspiration on a shoestring.

[sallyrice]

You can buy tile covers how about tryin them they do a range of them worth a try

[mondubics]

The granite looks (more than) ok. I'd maybe try to find tiles to cover just the inset part - you could get them in a boot sale (in the summer probably) or by rummaging in charity shops.

[4eyes]

How about tile paint, do not know if this could stand up to heat. Please let us see photo later on of what you did.

[shonastar]

Hi Clubby, both Rustins and Ronseal do a heat resistant paint (do a google search for images), both brands are available in Woodies, I think it would look fab if it was painted matt black. That would be your cheapest option. You could also tile over it, it's a very small surface area, you'd probably spend 30/40 euro altogether for tiles, adhesive, and grout. If you don't feel confident enough to tile it though, paint is the way to go.
Kind regards,
Shonastar.

PS just had a thought, how cool would this be done mosaic style with broken tiles?!

[Scrabble]

I would paint it. The hearth looks fine. A wooden shelf would look nice. If you got a good carpenter (theres plenty out of work at the moment) they could make a shelf that would fit over the existing tiles.

Myself and my husband made up our own fireplace last year. For a couple of years we had an electric fire. When we wanted an open fire the prices were crazy so we went to a really nice shop and had a look around. We bought the hearth from them and while there we spotted the main board for the back. I forget what its called but its like a slab of plaster made to look like stone. It had a small stain on it(that we sanded out) and I think we got it for €50.We already had a chunky wooden shelf on top so my husband just made two side bits to finish it off. The pic shows it all decorated for christmas.

Regards
Scrabble

[Clubby]

I knew i could count on a few ideas here ,thanks.

Shonastar my first thought was black heat resistant paint but i dont know if the matt could be wiped down the way a satin finnish would,its hard to get a satin finnish,and im realy likeing the idea of a mosiac,i use to collect broken tiles before and covered a step in my last house,im going to see whats available round here,even if i just done the inside darker part and maybe painted the lighter tiles,its a bit daunting tho because once i start i cant go back lol.
Sally rice the tile covers would make life so much handyier,im not sure how heat resistant theyd be tho,the inset gets fairly hot,maybe id get away with it on the outsides,il look into it.
A lovely job Scrabble,so much nicer than an electric.
Il keep you posted on what i come up with,Thanks All.

[melissabell]

You could get tiles that would cost you nothing, large chain places are always throwing out end of lines and also on here you'd get some as it's only a small area. If you mosaic'd the insert and had the other tiles in a plainer colour, then you could make a wooden mantle yourself and put a lip around it so it looks deeper.

Something like this.... (I've too much time on my hands) lol

[Clubby]

Wow Melissabell your a whizz on the computor,thats just brilliant,i know what you mean about the mantel,missed out on a nice beam that was in the feild beside,theres a house been buit on it now and i bet the builder had the same idea about it as me so il have to improvise ,im in Portaloise and as far i know theres only 1 tile place near me but they have a great selecton so im bound to find something there.roll on the fine weather when my dogs are not camped on the hearth so i can get cracking,realy looking forward to this now.
the pic made it clearer in my mind how it could look...thanks againn.

[palminnie2]

reclaimed tiles/or cheaper tiles and a large slab for the bottom, say in glowing blue (flames are orange so that would be complete complementary colours in contrast)
paint the whole thing white and add a fab slate at bottom

[Alebop]

I painted the tiles on my fireplace matt black and it turned out lovely and its easy to clean. The only place with a problem is the hearth as the paint has come off just infront of the fire from the heat and probable from shoveling and hot coals falling too, but it is not that noticable as the fireguard covers it. Going to give it a quick lick of paint to freshing it up. This happened after a year so wasnt too bad.

[joanmul]

If you were going to mosaic it you could decide beforehand on a simple central design like a sunflower or a lily with maybe just one leaf, on both sides. You would need to draw that first to have a template for when you're working. There might be tutorials on YouTube.

[Clubby]

Alebop i might just go with the black so,did you paint or spray ,did you prime it first?

Joanmul i have sourced a supply of broken tiles so im spoiled for choice now,just for the insert tho,as you suggested something simple like a leaf,all i need now is the warm weather so the fire is not needed.
Thanks to all for the inspiration and suggestions.

[Sable67]

Hi Clubby

Check out The Home - Miscellaneous section. JTer in Mayo giving away lovely marble fireplace.

Sable

[Clubby]

Thanks Sable,very thoughtfull of you ,huge distance and collector had to remouve,i probably would have owed money for dammage done to their house in the process lol.