AirStone Fireplace Makeover

This is my first home and my first DIY project.

After moving in, I really wanted to personalize our new home. Since the fireplace was the first thing that stood out when entering the house, we wanted to start there.

The first challenge was deciding on what to do. As you can see in the picture, the fireplace was very outdated. 1990 style I think? Green marble and brass.

I wanted to create something very different from all the cookie cutter looking fireplaces. I drew the initial design on the wall and used that to rough in the fireplace. The idea was to put a light in the center behind a interchangeable stained glass triangle. It could be changed out by season and etc...

After nailing up the top and adding plywood, I started on the bottom part. This is when I nervously realized that I would have to basically tear apart almost all of the old fireplace. There was no turning back now. I added two 4x4 to help support the weight of the coming AirStone.

I added a 2x4 top mantel and painted it black to give the fireplace a little more character. I decided to extend the fireplace to the ceiling and add a slight angle.

This was a lot easier than I thought. Very time consuming. My wife would stand back to get a better view and hand me the stone she thought would work the best. This took several days, but we got into a groove.

We had the painters scheduled a while back. This gave me a break for a few days. It was actually a good thing. The walls were painted before the stone was applied to the sides. This was great because I didn't have to worry about them getting paint on the stone.

More stone... The was a daunting task. But we got most of it finished.

I originally was going to use the AirStone, but my wife suggested we use slat that matched the floor. It was a great idea. I also used slate around the fireplace opening. This made it a lot faster. I had to rent a Slat cutter from Home Depot.

At this point my wife was VERY pregnant and I wanted to get the fireplace finished enough for the baby shower. I used 2x4s to hold the AirStone in place while it dried. To my horror, I noticed that the 2x4 I used had a slight bow in it. The Stone was already set and dry. My wife said it wasn't very noticeable, so I left the stone up.

I completed all the stone and slate. My sister made a cute sign with Gage's name. We decided to add it to the fireplace for the shower. We purchased a few decorations for the final touches. The fake fire hydrant was my idea.. LOL thought it was cute. The stained glass center is still a work in progress. The girls did a DIY painted one. We were thrown back by the cost of having them made. $350 and up. So I guess we'll get the stained glass for all four seasons and holidays very slowly...