We are a military family, currently stationed in Hawaii. Rewind to May 2018-sixteen days after arriving, we were offered a home through military housing; we graciously and excitedly accepted it. Over the course of two years our happiness with the house and the street declined. Skip to November 2020: during the pandemic, my husband requested an extension to stay on island longer than the normal time alloted (~3 years). It was approved! We were contacted by housing and offered a single-family home with a huge yard, which our other house did not have. We accepted and moved houses January 2021-about 1 mile around the corner.
Our new home has this awkward space in between two skinny windows that are not centered on the wall. I was at a loss of what to do with it the first few weeks-and then it dawned on me. FAUX FIREPLACE! We haven't had a fireplace in close to 3 years, not that its needed here in beautiful Hawaii; I just love the asthetics of them. I sent this sad sack markup to my husband to show him what I was thinking. He was on board! (Sadly, I don't have step by step photos like I had with the hutch.)
For the frame, we used wood we had left over from previous projects and made 3 sided columns. My husband anchored these into the wall. I painted the mantle and columns with Behr Chalk Paint in Classic Noir. I used thin wood to create the shiplap, cut it to fit the inside of the fireplace and painted it with Rust-Oleum Linen White Chalked Paint. There are 2x2 strips nailed into the interior legs of the mantle. These strips were used to attach the shiplap, leaving a gap between the wall and the shiplap.
Wooden corbels help support the wood plank I used for the mantle. I trimmed the mantle in PVC trim to make the wood appear thicker. The mantle is about an inch thick without the trim. I ran over the PVC with sand paper by hand (so the paint would stick) and used a nail gun to secure it on. Let me tell you. Getting the angles right on the trim was challenging to say the least. I messed up the first time and had to go buy more. Oops!
Finally, my husband cut plywood to fit the "inside" of the fireplace. I covered that in peel and stick brick vinyl. The plywood is attached to another set of 2x2 strips set further back in order to give the brick a little depth.
Originally, we didn't factor in the white base boards which is why there are two layers of black trim around the bottom of the columns. I think it worked out better in the end. I like the chunkiness of the base.
My husband built me this simple wood box to cover the white baseboard. We didn't bring the "brick" to the floor because I wanted access to the outlet for Christmas decor. Lol. That white "string" on the right is the extension cord. I bought a birch wood bundle from amazon to go in the box to cover the cord, but they get rearranged frequently by my kiddos. :) I may add in a small pillow and throw blanket just to fill up the space. It still a work in progress (decor wise) but we love it!