Our bedroom is a pretty deep room. We had the bed on one wall, but on the opposite wall, we always thought it felt like it was missing something.
But one thing we didn’t want to do was just add more furniture. It always seemed to me like it should become some kind of sitting area, but inspiration never really struck as far as how I could pull it together.
One day, I was adding vertical shiplap to the wall to see if that might help me come up with a concept for the space, and that’s when a message came in… “You should add a fireplace over there!”
Something I had never thought about doing in our bedroom! But once the idea was in my head, I simply had to go through with it!
So I taped it up, got to measuring, and found Touchstone’s electric fireplace selection!
The rest, was history!
HOW I BUILT A FIREPLACE FROM SCRATCH TO CREATE THE PERFECT COZY SPACE
First things first, gather your materials!
STEP 1: MEASURE & GATHER YOUR MATERIALS
First things first, it’s important to take your measurements and gather your materials! Think through exactly what you want your fireplace build to look like, how much of a footprint you want it to take up, and list out everything you’ll need for the build.
Excluding tools, here’s a quick price breakdown…
- Fireplace – $419
- 2x4s – $90
- Plywood – $60
- Joint Compound – $40
- Corner Bead – $4
- Mantel Materials – $50
- Extra screws, caulk, plastic wood, etc. – $20
TOTAL: around $680 for a brand new fireplace! Really, the vast majority of the cost will come from the fireplace insert you choose! And you may just have a lot of these materials already hanging around like I did too!
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED…
MATERIALS
- Touchstone Electric Fireplace
- 13 2x4s
- Pocket hole screws
- 2-2.5″ drywall screws
- 1×6 select pine
- 1/4″ plywood
- Plastic Wood
- Caulk
- Wood glue
- Joint compound
- Corner bead
- Paint (The color I used was Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore)
TOOLS
STEP 2: FRAME OUT YOUR FIREPLACE
Using 2x4s, create a framework for your fireplace! I added 4 vertical supports in all 4 corners of the fireplace, then connected them with horizontal 2x4s and pocket hole screws!
I found all the studs on my wall and made sure to secure each 2×4 that touched the wall into every stud I could using drywall screws. I even screwed my boards into the ground!
Once my basic framework was done, I started to add extra supports where the fireplace would sit, where the mantel would be mounted, and where the television would be mounted!
I made sure to make marks outside of the frame where those supports where so there would be no guesswork when it came time to hang everything up!
Once my framework was built, it was time to cover it all up and close it all in!
STEP 3: CLOSE IT ALL IN
I used plywood, but you could also use drywall here! I simply cut down boards to fit the front of my fireplace and both sides!
I started by nailing the front piece to the supports using my finish nailer and 2″ nails. Then, before I closed in the sides, I measured and drew out exactly where i would need to cut for my fireplace insert.
I used my jigsaw to cut out the rectangle for that and sanded down those edges!
Then I marked where I needed to drill a hole for television cords to go into the fireplace to be hidden!
I used a hole saw drill bit to carve out a hole for that!
Once those spaces had been accounted for, I closed in both sides with my plywood boards as well!
STEP 4: COVER IN JOINT COMPOUND
This is the fun step! Now that you have your structure, it’s time to cover it all in joint compound! Of course, you could cover your fireplace in anything you want! I chose joint compound because it was very inexpensive and would give me a simple yet textured look, which I liked!
I used putty knives to spread the joint compound on in thin layers until I was happy with the texture!
I also added corner bead to my corners as well to ensure I would have perfectly straight edges! I simply pressed them into the first layer of joint compound and added more layers over top of them!
Once you’re done with your joint compound, caulk where the compound meets the walls and ceiling for clean lines!
STEP 5: PAINT
Once it’s all dry and your texture is just how you like it, it’s time to paint over your joint compound (if you want!). I used our wall color, Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore.
STEP 6: BUILD YOUR MANTEL
Now we’re getting to the fun stuff! I decided to build a mantel for our fireplace out of 1×6 select pine boards. I simply put them together with butt joints like a box – it was simple, straightforward, and something I was able to do in less than 15 minutes.
My mantel ended up being 4 feet long, so I cut 3 1×6 select pine boards down to 4′ and used scrap pine to cut down to fill the sides! It ended up looking like a 3 sided box with one side left open!
I attached with wood glue then tacked all the pieces together with finishing nails!
I used natural Plastic Wood to fill those nail holes and left the mantel alone – I loved the natural pine look!
To secure it to the fireplace, I simply screwed a 3 foot long 2×4 into the support I added for my mantel through the front of the fireplace, making sure it was level.
Then I set my mantel on the 2×4 with the open side covering up the 2×4, and I nailed my mantel into the 2×4 from the top!
SO simple and easy!
STEP 7: ADD YOU FIREPLACE & TV
The television installation will be different for everyone depending on your mount! We just got a heavy duty television wall mount and screwed it into the supports we added for our TV. I then fed the cords back though the hole I created so they were all hidden behind the fireplace.
Lucky for us, we had an outlet that we were able to close into the fireplace, so we simply plugged everything in there!
Once the TV was all hooked up, we could add the fireplace. We needed to wait, because the fireplace hole was our only opening to access the outlet! Our plan is to simply take out the fireplace as needed when we need to access the outlet (which we don’t think will be often).
We plugged in our fireplace and followed all installation instructions from Touchstone regarding how far elements like the floor, mantel, TV, and furniture needed to be away from the fireplace.
**Make sure to follow ALL safety instructions that come with your fireplace! Each one will be different!**
We double checked before we fully installed the fireplace that all safety measures had been taken, then we screwed our fireplace into our structure using the screws allotted for recessing our fireplace into the wall.
Next, all we had to do was turn it on with the remote to see it in action! Not only could we adjust the brightness and size of the flames, we could also adjust the flame color and turn on the heat settings! SO cool!
STEP 8: TIME TO DECORATE
Last but certainly not least, it was time to decorate!
And a basket to hold some blankets for an extra cozy look!
I’m sure a lot of this will change and adapt over time, but I love how this fireplace make our entire room feel so much more intentional and cozy! Now, I might never leave this space!
What do you think, would you ever attempt to build your own fireplace??
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