Our gray brick fireplace reveal is finally here! So much hard work went into putting our vision into a reality. At the bottom of this post you can photos during the construction process from the framework to the completed project, along with notes from Brett. I am so happy with the finished product. Our previous home did not have a fireplace, so each time I turn on our gray brick fireplace I get so excited.
Home Project: Our Gray Brick Fireplace Reveal
SHOP OUR MANTEL AND FIREPLACE:
Here she is in all her glory! From the start we knew we wanted a fireplace in our home, but we had no idea what type of stone we wanted. We went to store after store and just weren’t sold on anything. Then my friend sent me a message and turned me on to El Dorado Stone’s website. We both fell in love with so many different options. I found that discovering El Dorado Stone was similar to when we finally discovered a good flooring company: the coloring of all of their products were just a step above the rest. They GOT it. After going to store after store, I was so set on ordering from El Dorado stone. We were especially drawn to the beautiful gray brick options that they had, and ended up going with TundraBrick in the color ash. It compliments the grays in our flooring and kitchen island perfectly.
The easiest part of the decision making process was choosing our fireplace! Our fireplace is the Sideline Elite from Touchstone. It is an electric fireplace that has the option to emit heat or not. (Perfect for Las Vegas because what if I want to turn on my fireplace even when it’s 110 degrees outside!? It has a very realistic flame and comes with a remote that offers multiple color combinations, heat options, and flame speed. I love seeing peoples reactions when they come into our home to check it out. One of the things that we were drawn to is the minimal framing around the fireplace. I have to say, it is so peaceful at night, and having an electric fireplace made the building process more simple!
I then went on a major deep dive as one does once they finally make a decision on something and started researching mantel options. We opted for this massive beauty from the Hamptons that I found on Etsy. I have never had a mantel and let me tell you, it was mandatory to have one in our new home. I can’t go too crazy with decorations since there is a tv above it, but that’s totally fine with me! I’m sure I will be having fun this year playing around with minimal decorations. IE the valentines day decor pictured below.
Another thing most people don’t realize until they see our gray brick fireplace in person is the true size, so I think the picture above is a good reference! I just LOVE that gray brick so much. We were considering going with the “Chalk Dust” which is a whiter option with grays in it, but I am so glad we stuck to “Ash.” Once the grout was in, it really lightened things up.
Home Project: Our Gray Brick Fireplace Reveal
Gray Brick Fireplace Project – The Process:
I want to give special thanks to our brother in law Jake for helping Brett with this project! The framing went up so quickly that I had false expectations of just how long the project would take. Let’s just say they had hours upon hours of bonding time. LOL. If we could do it over I would probably try to find someone to hire to put up the brick and do the grouting. When I tell you each individual brick requires a significant amount of attention and detail, I am SO serious. I would take the kids out of the house all day while they were working on the fireplace only to come home and see just a few rows were up. It is tedious work to say the least. I’m not sure what the going rate for this would be but I think it would be a well deserved cost. And you guys know we rarely hire anything out. As you can see there have been a lot of changes within the rest of our home that are visible from these before photos including paint, flooring, and baseboards. Here are some notes from the handy man himself!
Notes from Brett:
The gray brick fireplace was probably one of the most challenging projects I’ve encountered. Luckily I had my brother in law who has framed houses before as well as a masonry worker. planning its key during this process. Figure out what material/stone you want first then you can start to factor that in with the size of your fireplace. Jake being from California helped make this thing “earthquake” proof during the framing process. we also had to make it sturdy enough for our mantle pice that is a beam from and 18th century barn. one of my favorite features is the inset so that the TV sits flush with the brick. really gives it a professional, clean look. The brick was by far the most difficult piece of the project, but it was so worth when finished product was complete.
I hope you enjoyed this gray brick fireplace reveal! View more of our home projects here!
