DIY Fireplace Surround and Mantel: Part Two

Where We Left the DIY Fireplace Surround All Summer

Here is the fireplace before I touched anything, and another photo showing where we left things off at the end of part one. Cabinet boxes built and in place, mantel up, panel above the mantel, crown molding and baseboard installed.

DIY Fireplace Surround Tools and Materials

Everything that makes up the actual structure here, the plywood cabinet boxes, the 2×4 blocking on the brick, the mantel, and the crown molding, all went up in part one. You will find that full list over there. What follows is just what I used to finish it: the trim, the filling and caulking, the paint, and the doors and hardware.

Materials

• 3/4 inch plywood for wrapping the columns
• 1×4 for shelf cleat and cabinet face frame
• Pocket screws
• Shelf pins
• Trim for the mantel front edge
• Molding for column caps
• Baseboard
• 1×2 for shelf edge
• Brad nails
• Wood filler
• Paintable caulk
• Sandpaper
• Primer
• Paint – I use Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel
• Shaker cabinet doors
• Concealed cabinet hinges
• Aged brass cabinet pulls
• Pre-taped plastic and painter’s tape

The First Thing I Did Was Take Two Steps Backwards

We lived with our DIY fireplace surround being half done all summer long. Every year when the weather starts to warm up, I find myself buried in outside projects. We ripped out our deck that was falling apart, had a bike path put in, built garden boxes from scratch, added a greenhouse, and more. It was a busy summer!

But after looking at and living with these built-ins for 4 months, I realized that the space I had left for cabinets at the bottom was too short. They really needed to be taller. The first thing I did when I picked this project back up was to take some of it apart.

Getting the Old Shelf Out

First, I pried the face frame off using my trim puller so I could get at the shelf. When I built the boxes back in part one, I had screwed the shelves in from the outside. Now the boxes are installed against the wall and up against the brick. There was no getting to those screws. So I ran a multitool blade through the joint and cut the screws and brad nails instead. It works.

Putting the Shelf Back Higher

With the boxes already installed, I could not attach the new shelf the way I did the first time. So I used pocket holes instead. Using my pocket hole jig, I drilled the pocket holes along the underside of the shelf. This way, they will be completely hidden.

Next, I added a cleat across the back of the cabinet and screwed it into the wall studs. A stud finder is no help here because the cabinet has a back panel on it. Fortunately, I have a trick for this situation. When I attached these boxes to the wall back in part one, I screwed them straight into the studs, and those screw heads are still visible at the top of the shelf. So I lined my laser level up with them and knew exactly where my screws needed to go.

The shelf sets right down onto that cleat in the back. My laser level helps guide me into the correct position for the front. Once the shelf is where I want it, I drive pocket screws up through those holes on the underside and into the cabinet sides.

Then the face frame went back on. I’m using 1x4s for the shelf that creates the top of the cabinet. You want a wider board for the cabinet doors to rest against when closed.

Adding the Upper Shelves

For the open shelving above the cabinets, I went with adjustable shelf pins instead of fixing them in place with pocket holes. A shelf pin jig and that same laser line, and the holes end up level and evenly spaced without any math. Then, you just set the shelves on the pins.

After each shelf was in, I used my braid nailer to attach a strip of 1×2 onto the front edge of it. I’m calling this shelf edge trim, and it does two jobs at once. First, it hides the raw plywood edge, which nobody wants to look at. Secondly, it makes the shelf look thicker and more substantial than a simple piece of plywood. It sits flush with the face frame pieces and makes this whole DIY fireplace surround look like one solid, built-in shelving unit that’s always been here.

Wrapping the Columns

On either side of the firebox, there were still two very plain stacks of vertical 2x4s from part one. Those need a little love to look like gorgeous columns.

I wrapped them in 1/2 inch plywood, one piece on the side first and then one on the front, using my brad nailer to attach the plywood to the 2x4s.

Adding All the Trim and Molding

This is the stage where it stopped looking like a box and started looking like a real, custom fireplace surround. Molding went on the front edge of the mantel, which is what covers that raw, doubled plywood edge from part one. It gives the mantel its finished, gorgeous profile. Then I started installing the trim onto the panel above the mantel to create the box molding that matches the rest of the first floor.

We have box molding and crown running through the entire first floor, so I used the same trim style here on the DIY fireplace surround. It’s the whole reason that this wall feels cohesive with the rest of the house. If you want more details on the box molding, I covered that project here: DIY Box Molding Wall Trim Tutorial (Step-by-Step Guide). If you want to see a finished space with the box molding, check out our downstairs hall: Decorating a Narrow Hallway: Moody Makeover.

For the columns that are supporting the mantle, I added baseboard around the bottom and two sections of trim around the top. It’s those little details that make a big difference. Now they look like fancy, custom columns instead of just boring posts.

Painting the DIY Fireplace Surround

I’m going to be using a paint sprayer for this DIY fireplace surround, which means masking everything that I don’t want paint to get on. Pre-taped plastic went over the brick, over the hearth, and more over the flooring, with extra painter’s tape to hold it all in place. Don’t skip this step. PS… I LOVE my paint sprayer. It attaches to my drill so it’s cordless, and works so well! I also have the plug-in version and have used it for years. Both sprayers are great!

After masking, I used my sprayer to apply a coat of bonding primer to everything that needed it, which was the new trim pieces as well as all the areas that I’d used wood filler on.

Installing the Cabinet Doors

The doors are simple shaker doors that I purchased from Fast Cabinet Doors. I sprayed them the same color as the rest of the DIY fireplace surround, and now it’s time to install the hinges. I used a concealed hinge jig to bore the cup holes.

Then I attached the concealed hinges to the door before attaching them to the cabinets.

Hinges in and doors hung. Suddenly, this unfinished DIY fireplace surround that sat around looking like a mess for months is just about done.

How to Install Cabinet Pulls

First, I marked the pull placement for the top of my handle with a speed square and a pencil. You can buy a special cabinet hardware jig, and if you are doing a whole kitchen, you probably should. But for just four doors, a square and a pencil did the job just fine. Once that first hole was marked, I made a hole using my drill.

The Reveal: Our Gorgeous DIY Fireplace Surround

The brick that was there when we moved in is still there. I haven’t painted, limewashed, or transformed it in any way. I just covered some of it up and built around it.

That is the whole trick, honestly. I didn’t need to get rid of the brick. I needed to frame it out with something special.

If you look just to the right of these dining room built-ins, you can see our window bench. Two things that the main gathering place in your home can always use are more storage and more seating. This window bench does both. If you want to see how the bench came together, I walk through that whole build here: How to Build a DIY Bay Window Bench With Storage

One other reason you might want to check out the window bench post is if you want to install built-ins but have a floor vent. Here is a close-up of the custom vent I made by drilling holes right into the baseboard of the shelf on the left. Once everything was painted, it blends and looks intentional. You get airflow without having to buy a vent cover that never quite matches anything. I used this same trick on our window bench, which had to cover a floor register, and I walk through it step-by-step in that post.