Cozy Faux Fireplace

Christmas has come and gone, and I haven’t shared my big project with you all! I really did mean to put it on here last month, but once I was on vacation, being on my computer was the furthest thing from my mind. You may be wondering what was it that I did? I made a full-sized faux fireplace for my office!

A few years back I painted a fireplace for Sister’s cat, Hazel. We still have it and keep it in her area to make her sleeping quarters more homey. I wanted to do something similar for my area at work. It’s in a government building, so there is really nothing homey about the space.

My original plan was to buy a large piece of foam core board from the craft store and paint a fireplace on that and fix it to the front of my desk. That is until I made one of my daily trips to the receiving department at work. This one fine day at the end of the hallway I saw the most glorious site my Christmas crafting, diy loving self had ever seen: a massive refrigerator box! The office fireplace plan just got an upgrade.

I asked Mr. M. who’s box it was and if I could have it. He asked the guy in charge of the purchase if I could have the box and he said yes! I could hardly wait to take it home. I had to wait weeks before it was opened up, but thankfully, my friends back in receiving all knew to keep an eye on it and not let it get torn up during the unboxing process.

The Plan

I made a few sketches. Some had round rocks others were more whimsical, but this is the one I settled on. The year was just a random number I liked. When asked why I chose that number I would respond with, “It was a good year for crops.”

The Build

The day finally came to take my precious find home and cut it up. Ben helped a lot with this part. The cardboard that makes up refrigerator boxes is super thick. It took a skill saw and a jig saw to make these cuts. While I am fully capable of using the electric saws, what I wasn’t comfortable with is being stretched out cutting across the 8-foot-wide sheet of cardboard.

I had drawn up the pattern for the cuts and folds and placed them so that some of the folds of the fireplace would line up with the folds already on the opened box. I then measured them out on the box and we started cutting.

Since this was going to be a big project, I made it modular so that the pieces could be assembled and disassembled as needed. The box also came with a large piece of Styrofoam. I cut it in half and placed the pieces end to end for a hearth. I carved out a groove in the Styrofoam for the bottom of the fireplace to fit in.

The piece making up the mantle was then glued together. I had added some of the original box hardware before closing it up so that it could be screwed to the fireplace base once in its final spot in my office.

The Mantle

I wanted the mantle to look like it had been carved with a mountain cabin scene, but carving was out of the question. I needed to add dimension coming out. To do this I used some quick dry spackling and the most precise tool I could find, a plastic butter knife. Once I had all the trees, mountains, cabin and wood texture the way I wanted it, I painted it all in brown craft paint then used various darker browns to add detail.

Painting the Fireplace

Next came the stones of the fireplace. I cut an arch out of some more cardboard and glued it to the front to give some added depth. I used the same spackling to give a little bit of texture to the cardboard and define where the stones would be. Those were then painted using a textured gray spray paint. Tans, taupes, browns and grays were then used for a natural stone look. Highlights and shadows were added and a darker gray was painted where the smoke would stain as a finishing touch. It sounds so quick, but this took so many days! The Styrofoam hearth was also painted in grays to make it look like stone slabs.

Quick note: Spray paint melts Styrofoam. A pitted appearance just added to the look.

The Firebox

Next came the firebox (I think that’s what it’s called.) This is just a flat piece of cardboard that will be attached to the back of stone piece with food bag clips. It was first painted black then bricks were drawn and painted to look like it was receding into the wall. The flames and logs were then painted. A few faux logs were positioned in the front to make the depth of the fire even more realistic. I really like how it looks like it’s glowing.

The Chimney

The chimney box was next. This was made from a second refrigerator box. I know! Two boxes! I am a rich lady.

I wanted the sides to be angled inward at the top and the front to be angled backwards. I started with a flat piece for the main shape, then cut the two pieces for the sides. Once the sides were glued in place it was painted green and wood slats were painted on. These side pieces had holes where the bolts held the box together. I cut some cardstock and painted them to look like massive nails to cover the holes. The holes are not even, but I’m using what I was given.

The Decor

Skis were made from more leftover cardboard and I revamped a secondhand store wreath. I had to call my parents for help with this part. I really wanted some holly to add in but couldn’t find any in the craft stores. Holly grows wild all over the place back home, so I called to ask my dad if he would pick me some sprigs. He did and my mom crammed as much as she could into a mailing box and sent it down. My dad had picked so much that I had enough for this project, two garlands for my front windows, a wreath for my door and a swag for the wooden sled I keep at my door.

Some of the men at work took apart the back part of my desk so I could get this set up against the wall. They had no idea what I was bringing in, but helped anyways. Ben and Little Bit helped me get it set up and put up a Christmas tree that a super awesome coworker bought for the area.

I added some polar bear log irons made out of, you guessed it, more cardboard! I painted flames on overhead projector sheets, cut them out and glued onto the logs so that there would be flames towards the front also. Then some twinkling fairy lights were wound around to look like sparks flying. Decor was placed and I was finally done.

This project took a while, (around two months) but I am so glad I did it. It added so much Christmas cheer to my area. My coworkers liked it too. I even won the Holiday Cheermeister award for the building! It’s a good thing I didn’t know there was a contest when I made this because if I had I probably would have gone a bit overboard.

Now that Christmas is over you may be wondering what happened to the fireplace? Well, a coworker asked for it and it is now in Dr. L’s office for her enjoyment.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this project come together! Have a super blessed day!