DIY Faux Fireplace with Herringbone Tile

I wanted to share this faux fireplace I had built for the living room earlier this year. I shared a few behind the scenes photos on Instagram, but since it got completed in February, I just didn’t get around to photographing it until recently. I really have no excuse for why.

When I moved into this house I wanted to add something to the second (back) living room that tied the space down a little more, if that makes any sense. It’s a large room and probably the space I spend the most time in besides my bedroom and home office. There is a real (wood burning) fireplace in the front living room, but I do love having a mantle to style as well as just the atmosphere/ambiance that a fireplace brings to a space. So, I decided to have a faux fireplace built. To me, it’s not important that it is functional, in that it can burn actual wood or gas and is connected to a chimney (since this is not). This is much more of a decor piece for the space than a heating unit. 🙂

And just to be super clear, this is not a DIY. I did not build this faux fireplace myself, I hired a talented local contractor to bring my idea to life. He did a beautiful job and I love how it turned out, so I wanted to share. But if you are looking for a tutorial to build your own faux fireplace, try this one, which you could also tile to be more like mine.

I did take a few photos while the contractor (Daniel) worked on this project so you can see some of the process.

Here is the frame of the fireplace. Once built he tiled it in place as it became very heavy after that point.

I chose this pink rectangle tile, and wanted a herringbone pattern. I love the texture of this tile, and in different lighting it sometimes looks pink and sometimes looks almost lavender to me. This year, I’ve been decorating with mostly warm tones and pink—it just feels very cozy and cheery to me.

Here you can see the tiling in process. Herringbone is one of those patterns that requires a lot more cuts than other, more standard patterns. It takes time and if you’re not DIY-ing expect to pay a little more. This was worth it to me for this project. I just love how it turned out!

I filled the opening with a candelabra and LED candles that I can turn on with a remote. I love turning them on after it gets dark—it’s super romantic feeling, IMO. I may get one of those electric inserts next winter that looks like faux logs and can generate a little heat when turned on. There is an outlet that is accessible in the opening (that I currently have covered since I’m not using it) for this purpose, but so far I haven’t seen a unit that I love the look of. But, I’ll keep looking next year. You can see how Katie created her own cozy fireplace set up here!

Thanks for letting me share my pink tiled faux fireplace! xo. Emma

Need to repair a brick mantle on a fireplace? Check out this post for tips!

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Janae Hardy and Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.