Getting Stoned... the under $150 dollar fireplace remodel (and it's EASY)

Let me start off by saying I have absolutely no DIY skill set to speak of other than having no fear, and accepting the fact that if things go terribly wrong I may have to hire someone to fix it! I usually jump in with both feet, do my best and hope for the best. My husband and I have tiled floors, tiled walls, hung wallpaper, installed toilets, installed floors, painted, etc.. Not every project has been a huge success but most of the time we manage to do a good job.

When we had our house built (almost 10 years ago) I was never a big fan of our plain, builder's grade fireplace. It was ho hum and lacked any real pizzazz. And as the focal point of our family room I knew eventually something would have to be done to it to make it stand out. Initially we added molding around the plain tile and I painted the brass accents black. This helped, a bit, but it still lacked style.

Bye bye Brass

Molding added still BORING

I was hesitant to do any real demolishing of it. Once that can of worms is opened there is no telling what you may run into. While I wanted my fireplace to have a brand new look, I did NOT want my family room to turn into a war zone! That's when I discovered Airstone. Airstone is a light weight stone product that is just perfect for remodeling fireplaces or adding accent walls. Best thing is no demo would be required, the product can be applied right over existing surfaces. I couldn't wait to get started! 

I took a quick trip to Lowes to get everything I would need for the project. My shopping list was:

airstone stones

airstone interior adhesive

a hack saw

a putty knife

Initially I bought 2 boxes of Airstone in 2 different colors. I wanted both grays and browns in my stone. (I did end up going back to buy 2 more because I ran out) The colors I used were Autumn Mountain and Spring Creek. Because we were going to be applying them in between our current molding I did not need to purchase corner pieces. Depending on what you are doing you may need corners. Also we chose to use the natural edge as opposed to the flat for a more rustic look. I also recommend using an electric saw, we used a table saw with a mortar blade and it cut the pieces perfectly. I tried to use a hack saw as recommended by Airstone but it was not happening! A planer also proved useful to smooth out any too rough surfaces.

The project itself was very easy. My husband and I completed it in a weekend with outstanding results! You literally apply the adhesive and stick to your surface. For us we stuck it directly onto our existing tile surround. Because I wanted to keep the look totally random I assigned each color a number 1-6 and then threw a dice to choose the next color to go up. Otherwise my organizational OCD would have taken over!! 

Here's the finished product

Airstone is not recommended for use on floor. Obviously because it is not real stone. So we just left the existing tile hearth area intact and it blended beautifully.

I added a few new accents and a bright accent color to the wall to make it pop.

Here is a close up of the color variations. It looks like real stone, right?!

For about $150 and a weekends worth of work, we had a brand new remodeled fireplace. I really think it warms up the space and gives the family room a great focal point. If I can do it, YOU CAN too!

 ~XOXO jules