Awkward Things in My Living Room Pt 1

Each house presents it's own set of challenges for certain spaces. My house is not the exception to the rule. Take my living room for example. I have this awkward gas fireplace just floating in the middle of the wall. How does this even remotely look like a real fireplace? It doesn't.

   I came up with an idea to add a wooden box underneath the fireplace to simulate a hearth. Did I take pictures of this? Nope. I always forget until the end when I think, "I should have taken pictures of this process, I bet someone else would love to know how I made this." Sorry I am so selfish.

  Could I leave good enough alone? Did I stop at building the wooden hearth box? Goodness no! I decided to add faux stone too! There is a lovely little product that is called Airstone. It's a product that looks like a cross between a tile and a stone. These light weight stone tiles are installed very similar to tile (no grouting required!). Each box of product includes various sizes and colors to achieve a very realistic appearance. 

   The Airstone is available in several color kits. I chose the Spring Creek color kit (grays). Here are some of my pictures of the project process.

 I am a very messy DIYer

 And a poor taker of pictures

 Almost done

The final product with the wooden hearth box in place

    The manufacturers and other DIYers state that this product can be cut with a hacksaw. I had far too much cutting for this project for this to be an option. I used a tile saw to cut the Airstone with good success. Because of the shape of the walls I had to angle, miter, bevel, and back bevel the Airstone. I would recommend this method of cutting.

    Make sure you switch up your pattern. When I found myself repeating a pattern I would suddenly make a switch- turn a tile vertical vs horizontal, make a different shape by cutting a tile, choosing a different color.

   And for heaven's sake make sure that you plan for enough product. I purchased my particular set because of the color and it was on sale! (less than $40 a box). If I had not measured and planned for sq footage +1 box I might have been very sorry.  When I went back to pick up more adhesive someone had purchased all of the remaining boxes.

Total cost of project: Approx $300.00