How to make a fireplace with your own hands - step by step instructions and drawings, manufacturing and decor, spectacular photos of work

Fireplace has long been considered a sign of luxury, wealth, confidence in the future. Such a feeling originated in those distant times, when the fire served as a reliable protection from cold and hunger.

Today this piece of decor is most often used as a decoration of an apartment or house, but sometimes it is also used for its direct purpose, especially during spring and autumn slack weather, when the central heating is no longer working.

Manufacturers offer a huge number of modern models, which successfully replace a real brick and stone fireplace. This is a great way to cope with the cold without much hassle and give the room a completely unique look, filled with the warmth and comfort of a home fireplace.

For those owners who do not really need a natural fire, but want to create a non-standard design, you can create a false fireplace with your own hands and enjoy the comforts of home in a not quite standard setting.

The components of the fireplace

It does not matter that the decorative fireplace will only serve as a decoration item for a certain room or an allotted zone. It still needs to be made as similar as possible to an antique piece of home life or its modern copy.

Any fireplace includes an anteroom (base), a firebox (combustion chamber), and a chimney. To recreate a natural fireplace, future masters will have to make all three parts.

But for the trial manufacture of a source of heat and fire it will be enough to try to make a light version.

Advantages of a decorative fireplace

Despite the fact that such a decorative element will not bring heat, it has a lot of advantages compared to a real fireplace:

when installing a false fireplace, there is no need to reinforce the floors;
it is perfectly safe for the environment, people, animals;
does not create soot and smoke.

Placement of a fireplace

Most often, the fireplace becomes a decoration of the living room or bedroom, so the materials for decoration are selected in such a way that the homemade creation emphasized the style of the room, and not become a foreign object.

Traditionally, a decorative fireplace is installed under the TV. Here it will get maximum attention, but will not distract it from the TV panel and will not harm the delicate mechanism.

Although if this place is firmly occupied by a cabinet or chest of drawers, it is worth finding another place to place the fireplace. This can be placed:

under a window;
between two window openings;
near a sofa;
between armchairs.

You can use any place that will please the owners of the room, especially if the fireplace with their own hands decorative will be a filler only for the holidays. Such a detail of the interior is very often used for the New Year, and then removed for the year.

Material of manufacture

The most popular for the manufacture of a false fireplace uses cardboard and ready-made cardboard boxes. This material holds its shape well, lasts a long time, is inexpensive, easy to use, the finished product is easy to carry from room to room.

For masters who have understood the basic rules of creation and have got a hand in the production of simple fireplaces, you can try to make a similar creation from gypsum cardboard, foam plastic, wood, old furniture.

Making a fireplace

To make the simplest fireplace, it is enough to cut a hole in a cardboard box. It can be standard rectangular or exquisitely semicircular.

If the box is small, and you want to make a fireplace quite a massive structure, several boxes are combined into a single whole with glue, the internal partitions are removed completely or partially, leaving the ribs of rigidity.

If there is a box from a plasma TV with a small height in the house, it can become an excellent base for a homemade fireplace. It is enough to lay it horizontally and fix the handmade firebox on top.

Similarly, do with the lid of the fireplace.

The basis of the decorative fireplace is ready, it remains to finish the craft and "build" a fire inside.

Decorating the fireplace

The answer to the question of how to make a fireplace with his own hands as realistic as possible depends on the desire of his creator and the possibility of acquiring finishing materials. Most often as such materials use:

wallpaper;
decorative film;
siding;
wall panels;
stucco or plaster stone.

Wallpaper with marble or brick masonry looks very nice. By the way, if there is no wallpaper with bricks, you can cut it yourself from white (brick) paper and glue it to a previously plastered base, creating the effect of masonry.

Ordinary ceiling skirting boards will help to beautifully finish the corners of the creation, creating a finished look.

Sometimes a fireplace is simply painted. But such an option can become too boring.

Fireplace Decor

Decorating the fireplace can be anything that has long been looking for a non-standard placement. The only thing you need to pay attention to is the weight of the products. Cardboard may not be able to withstand the load of, for example, a large flower pot.

As elements of decoration most often apply thin candles in elegant candlesticks, books in expensive bindings, soft toys, photos and cute trinkets.

For the holidays the fireplace is decorated according to the festive event. It can be:

Christmas toys, tinsel, crafts with fairy tale characters;
bows and hearts for Valentine's Day;
bouquets for March 8;
chicks and Easter wreaths;
crafts for May 9;
green sprigs on Trinity.

If there is a piece of glass, a special fence can be made.

Sometimes a mirror or frosted glass is installed inside the fireplace, such a firebox will perfectly reflect the lights and increase the inner space.

A beautiful addition to the fireplace will be special tools for this fixture: scoops, tongs, poker.

Fire inside the fireplace

To give more authenticity, the fireplace can be provided with an imitation fire. Sometimes candles are put inside, but this solution is not too correct from a safety point of view. Candles can ignite the entire piece and cause a fire.

A spiral LED strip or ordinary Christmas garland would look beautiful.

For people who have got the talent of an artist, you can draw a fire out of wadding paper.

Firewood

Firewood placed inside the fireplace will help to create a sense of naturalness of the fireplace.

It can be:

real logs or tree branches;
imitation logs made of remnants of wallpaper;
pieces of charcoal.

Fireplace with their own hands without experience and skills to do very difficult, this work is better to entrust to professional builders. A mistake can be very expensive and will destroy all the spent effort.

A beautiful fireplace will be a charming completion of the design of the room and will give romantic sophistication to any room.