Easy DIY: Farmhouse Fireplace Makeover

Ready to find out how to upgrade your fireplace to have that farmhouse feel without breaking the bank? Today I am sharing a recent DIY farmhouse fireplace project with you! We spent only a little over $200 on this project that made a huge transformation to our living room space.

When we moved into our house three years ago we had a huge punch list of items to tackle including a master bath renovation, kitchen renovation, refinishing and extending the hardwood floors and so much more. It was a long 8 weeks of renovation and it took a lot out of us, so when we nearly finished all of those things we took a break from home projects (for like, two years). My husband is the handyman and he needed a break.

It’s been three years since we moved in, and now we’re all settled and some of the bigger projects are finished so it’s time for the fun small projects to help make this home perfectly ours! First on my list, replace the awful dull tile that surrounded the fireplace. It was cold, and unwelcoming. My home vibe is both parts farmhouse and boho tied together with a thread of warmth and hospitality. The sterile tile was NOT feelin’ that vibe. So it had to GO!

ugly tile before farmhouse fireplace makeover — Before: This is the original tile that was used when the house was built in the early 2000’s.

I’m honestly not sure why we didn’t do this sooner. It really wasn’t all that difficult and cost us just a little over $200. The finished product is SO good, you guys. Like, I am just swooning over it. I just want to sit and admire it in all its farmhouse fireplace glory, with a good book and a cup of coffee.

No, I want you to come have coffee with me and we can admire it together!

Demo Day

First things first – #demoday: This involved a hammer, a rubber mallet, and just a little bit of patience. We started out by cracking the tile with a hammer. Once the tile had a few broken pieces, we used a rubber mallet to break up the tile into smaller pieces that would be easier to get out. We didn’t want the kids stepping on any broken tile so my job was to come behind with the shop vac and suctioned up all the broken pieces and dust. This actually really helped make the clean up process faster. It is going to make a mess, there really isn’t a way to avoid that. But using the shop vac really made cleaning up less of a chore.

Pro-tip (j.k. – totally a rookie mistake) Be sure to wear gloves and protective eye wear when breaking up the tile. When you start hammering or using the rubber mallet, tile pieces can sometimes go flying. Ryne did get a cut (that should have landed him a few stitches but…men) on his hand because he did not have on protective gloves to start. Once we learned the hard way, I made sure that he had protective eye wear and gloves on for the rest of demo day.

Dad working on farmhouse fireplace demo with son on his back. — DIY Projects + three Littles = a lot of interesting compromises. Someone just wanted to be close to his daddy this night.

Setting Tile

Set tile: The “brick” is actually a brick veneer. This means that it’s more of a tile that has brick looking face to it. So basically, my hubs grouted and placed the brick veneer pieces just like you would tile. We tested out a few pattern options here like herringbone, stacked, and alternating before we started laying any of the tile. I would suggest doing this to be sure you know exactly what you want before getting started. The brick veneer product we used was from Home Depot and had great color variations. I still wanted the color to vary even though we would be covering it with a German smear. So Ry made sure to choose the tile pattern carefully. In the end we went with the alternating rows that were closest to the fireplace face. I liked the look of the side by side rows as an accent pattern, so we incorporated that into our farmhouse fireplace renovation.

farmhouse fireplace brick veneer tile — We used tile spacers to be sure they were equally set.

brick farmhouse fireplace — When all the tile was placed, we allowed it to sit for about a day. I wanted time to decide if I really wanted the German smear look or not.

Getting the Perfect Look

Grout: Last, we used the premixed Polyblend grout in bright white to grout all of the tile. This is where the “smear” piece comes in. To achieve the smear we used the grout spatula. We took the grout and smeared it across the brick in a sweeping motion to get our desired look. First, we made sure to fill in all of the grout lines. As we did this, I would go back and wipe away some of the grout that went on too thick. You will want to decide what thickness best fits your personal preference before the grout dries. I would recommend trying a small corner to start and go lighter to start. You can always add more grout if you think it needs a heavier look.

Brick Veneer with German Schmear for a farmhouse fireplace makeover — We used bright white grout and filled the gaps between the brick veneer and lightly spread it across the brick to achieve a German schmear look.

We used bright white grout and filled the gaps between the brick veneer and lightly spread it across the brick to achieve a German schmear look. The trick is to work slowly and lightly, you can remove the grout easily before it dries but you should be careful not to “smear” it too much or too little depending on the effect you are going for.

This final product has totally transformed our fireplace and brought all of the character and warmth that I had envisioned to our living space!