Bedroom, Furniture, Projects

Easy peel and stick tile, fireplace surround makeover

Furniture makeovers are my favorite DIY project! I get instant results and usually spend less money than if I had gone out and purchased something brand new. This project today is all about an Easy peel and stick tile, fireplace surround makeover.

Easy Fireplace surround makeover, peel and stick tile. Furniture transformation!

This makeover happened a while ago actually, but I never got around to sharing a proper tutorial on it. Blogging in real life problems! This little beauty has been in my bedroom for years, painted black. I purchased the fireplace surround from a thrift store. It was one of those situations where Dale and I were out on a date night and decided to do some fun window shopping. But then I fell in love with this, not knowing where it was going to end up. We set it in our bedroom, it works great as a bedroom item. I do plan to one day add a new electric fireplace insert, but for now I keep it pretty and just as is, fire free.

The color was black and had a faux brick finish to it. It has some great details but they are hidden in with the dark color. I was hoping to make it shine!

This is an electric fireplace surround, that I will note and reiterate will never be used. The supplies I used for this are not safe for anything that will get hot. So if you are going to replicate this, be sure it is on a fireplace that is just for show. We have our big, massive and perfectly real wood burning fireplace in the living room.

This is the faux brick finish for the fireplace. It is actually a smooth surface, just appears to have texture to it.

To begin, normally I would have recommended sanding this down. However, there is a ton of small details in the fireplace, and sanding it proved to be very difficult. So instead I purchased primer, put on two thick coats before painting it. This also was needed to cover up all of the black paint. The details are already popping with just the primer going on!

The above picture is with one coat of primer and the picture below is with two coats of primer.

This is where the movie magic comes in, also the fact that I was doing this project with three kids running around with pretty frequent interruptions. I forgot to take pictures of the painting process. I painted on two coats of a semi-gloss bright white paint. Again, this is to cover up the black paint and to help long term coverage of the fireplace itself. I wish my kid’s could just respectfully understand that Mommy is busy redoing things and being all “bloggy” and they need to give me some space. The fact that one sock is stuck or their elbow itches is not important to me! Must paint this fireplace!

I liked the light and bright color of the fireplace, but it still felt very dated. Covering up the “brick” seemed like a good idea. I debated a great deal about how to tile this fireplace. Initially I planned to go the legit tile and grout way, the concern of the weight of the tile on this came into play. This is a particle board, glued together fireplace surround. I did not make it, but the lack of support and strength in this is obvious. It is solid to sit and look pretty but holding a bunch of heavy tile might be a stretch for this. I did not want to add support or rebuild this fireplace. If I was going to do all of that I might as well just build a brand new one.

One of my blogging friends recommended peel and stick tile, and I was amazed with the options! I was not familiar with them and found out that they are in most home improvement stores. My goal was to make sure that they did not look like wall paper with some texture. I was so excited when I saw them in the store, they had a lot of options, colors, and textures. They also looked and felt very much like a tile surface. So I get the look of tile without all of the work!

Before you start using any peel and stick tile make sure the surface is clean, wiped down, and flat. Since my faux brick was actually flat I am ok. To begin I used a razor to cut one end of the tile flat. This allows the edge to be flush to the side of the fireplace.

To have them meet together the other side needs to be cut as well. The extra grout side needs to be shaped in the same way, to have the edges interlock. I did this by using two tiles.

Lining them up.

Using a razor and running it along the already cut piece. I set the non cut piece on the bottom and the ready for interlocking piece on top. Running the razor along the cut edge.

Then pull any remaining pieces away to have a perfect cut. The other option to achieve this look is to not cut the edges at all. Just be sure to lay the interlocking edge up against the non-cut edge. Making the appearance of a interlocking tile. Either way can work perfectly fine and is up to your preference and what you are comfortable with.

To get around the corners was a little tougher. I held up the tile square.

Started cutting where the corner should be.

I did remove it from this corner and cut the portion off using a ruler to keep my lines straight.

Making sure it all lined up the right way.

Then, are you ready for the crazy simple way of using these? This is so easy, not the blogger “easy” where I show you 10,000 cuts, with really complicated tools all with my hair done pretty and full makeup on. This is legit, simple, anyone can do it.

Peel the backing paper off after you have your desired piece. Before peeling, I set the piece on the fireplace and made cut marks where I wanted it to go. Then using scissors cutting the tile into my needed size. This is the back of the tile, this side is the sticky side.

Peel and then stick. Push down, smooth out. You can take it off and readjust if needed. Sometimes I set it on and there was a air bubble. I got rid of it by re sticking it and smoothing from side to side going up. The stick of the tile does become permanent but there is some wiggle room for… wiggling.

Tada! This Easy peel and stick tile, fireplace surround makeover is done! The one trick here is that when laying two pieces of interlocking tile together have the “grout” lines overlap. If you do not do this the “grout” lines will appear larger. Making them blend into one piece is what looks best. So, lay the grout on top of each other to keep the grout size the same all around. This is the only real tip and thing you have to pay attention to.

This took my breath away as I was working on it. I became a really needy child here and wanted to get it done. I had zero patience for anything but seeing the completed project. The process of tiling took about 1 hour from start to finish. Not bad at all. If I had tiled it the standard way this would have been an all weekend project. We are not virgin tilers, we have been around the block. But this would have still taken a while. This was a no mess way of tiling and I love it!

The details of this easy peel and stick tile, fireplace surround makeover popped so much with the white paint. It does not even look like the same fireplace.

Time to decorate this little lovely! We are fortunate to have a big bedroom, so we have a nice little seating area to one side. This room has gone through a ton of transformations, I am starting to accept that no room in my home will be “done”. I enjoy the process of decorating way too much. I do plan to share it with you all, I shared my little work space recently. Now I just need to get my butt into gear and clean the rest of the room up so I can take the pictures. That would mean moving the pile of clean laundry from one corner. Please tell me I am not the only one to have a clean and dirty pile of laundry?!!!

The contrast of the white fireplace and the dark details of the picture work beautifully together! I have moved this picture around a lot in my home recently, but I think this is the happy place for it.

The old fashioned camera’s and binoculars were Dale’s Grandpa George’s. I never got to meet him, but heard wonderful stories, Gavin’s middle name is George and many small trinkets of his are around our home. This home has so many stories and personal touches. No matter the style making it personal with the people in your life and the memories you have made is the best way to make a home.

The firewood is real, and will not be used in this fireplace. I stole them from our real fireplace in the living room. I want to purchase some nice fake wood logs for here. I just could not find what I wanted. I want something dark to off set and warm up the fireplace. I adore the light and bright theme of the fireplace. But having some dark wood to ground and warm up the space will look really nice. The tree picture is a great example of how a little bit of dark colors can help accentuate the light fireplace perfectly.

This space is a mix of store bought, family pieces, secondhand treasures and upcycled furniture. I love this mix!

It is insane how realistic the tile looks. We have done a lot of tile work in our home and this fireplace looks just like all of the other tile work. We have had people over and I have mentioned that these are not standard tiles, no one can believe me.

This easy peel and stick tile, fireplace surround makeover was such a fun and simple furniture redo! I am always looking furniture in thrift store and eyeing it up and down, seeing if I can make it over to something better. Many times just a coat of paint will do the trick. Like this fireplace, it had some beautiful aspect to it, but needed to be brought back to life. White paint and some peel and stick tiles were the perfect addition to this! Creating a little seating area in my bedroom, now I just need my kids to give me some peace and quiet to actually enjoy my bedroom! Or at the very least get it clean enough for me to take pictures and share it here. This weekend it is my personal goal to have it all photographed, so fingers crossed next week the mini bedroom makeover will be done!

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Written by

Emily

26 Comments

Alli Smith says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 5:26 am

I would have never known that was peel and stick tile! It’s awesome and sure has come a long way. I love the entire makeover and the fact that you brightened it up with white paint. It’s gorgeous.
robin rue says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 5:38 am

Your fireplace is amazing. That’s the one thing I wanted when I bought a house and didn’t end up with. Next time for sure, though!
candy says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 6:37 am

These different peel and stick tiles look really nice. If a person didn’t say anything don’t think you would ever know they are peel and stick.
Amber Myers says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 7:08 am

I just love how this turned out! How pretty! I need to do something like this. We don’t have a fireplace though. I wish! We just bought one of those fake fireplace furnace thingies.
Jeanette says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 7:16 am

I definitely need to try these. I do not have a fireplace but I have a good idea of where I would love to decorate my house with these. They look beautiful.
Alessandra says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 7:37 am

Sooo beautiful! Looks like a million bucks, seriously!
tiffany says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 8:58 am

This looks amazing!! I am using something similar on my kitchen backsplash. It is easy and so lovely. I need to redo my fireplace as well but it is huge.
Jenn @ EngineerMommy says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 10:47 am

I love the transformation of your fireplace. I did something similar with glass tiles, but I needed to use mortar and grout. This is a simpler option that looks good!
Heather says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 11:48 am

I love it!! Amazing job! I’ve been leaning toward doing something with peel and stick tile or wood planks in our downstairs bathroom. It really needs some help, it’s as plain as can be. I love love your fireplace!
Saidah Washington says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 12:42 pm

That is beautiful. I have been working on home improvements and this is something I have been thinking about.
Tomi C says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 1:04 pm

This is stunning. You did an awesome job and it didn’t look as complicated as I thought it would be. Great job!
Sara Welch says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 2:10 pm

That looks really great! It is such a great project idea.
Sarah Bailey says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 2:33 pm

Oh my goodness what a difference that has made to the fire surround, I’m not looking at ours and wondering if we could do something similar at some point.
Reesa Lewandowski says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 4:08 pm

Wow I have never seen these tiles before! They really made such a lovely difference on your fireplace1
Roch says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 6:59 pm

I also don’t like the wallpaper effect of most peel and stick tiles. These are cheaper than actual tiles so it’s such a good steal to get and find those pieces to add “texture” in the fireplace.
Michelle James says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 9:10 pm

The fireplace came out beautiful Emily! I love the tile and can’t believe it’s peel n stick!
Adriana Lopez Martin says:
On February 14, 2018 @ 11:49 pm

I do not have a fireplace but if I had one most definitely will revamp it to look just like yours. Looks gorgeous!
Sandy N Vyjay says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 1:10 am

Love the white fireplace. It looks so well with the overall decor of the room.. I really love fireplaces, they lend a touch of elegance to the room. We loved your ideas for the office space and will be tuned in for more.
Ricci says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 2:26 am

I absolutely love your fireplace redo! That completely opened up the room!
Chubskulit Rose says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 8:30 am

You did a great job! We have a fireplace at our new house but we don’t use it so we covered it with a big TV, maybe we should this instead.
Terri Steffes says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 8:33 am

I love it. Once you painted it white, I was sold but then you put that tile on… it truly changed everything! Great project with a ton of impact.
Kelly Mahan says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 10:28 am

Looks so pretty!! I love these easy to make decorating ideas, thanks for sharing!
Our Family World says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 9:06 pm

Fantastic makeover as always! The peel and stick tiles really made the fireplace pretty! I just can’t believe the transformation!
Rachel Ferrucci says:
On February 15, 2018 @ 10:58 pm

That came out so nice! I wish my fireplace was in my living room instead of down in the family room but it sure does need a makeover and this is so simple!
Anosa says:
On February 16, 2018 @ 12:59 am

What an incredible transformation, I do love this big time and given me an idea for my parent’s fire place. We do love tiles in our home so this easy peel and stick would be a hit
Kim says:
On November 2, 2018 @ 9:05 am

Did you mention what the name of the tile is and where you got it?? I really want to do this to my fireplace.