DIY Floor to Ceiling White Brick Faux Fireplace

In our DIY brick veneer fireplace surround project, we transformed a basic faux fireplace into a charming focal point by carefully applying each brick for a realistic, textured look.

Here’s how we turned our simple fireplace surround into a stunning, floor-to-ceiling centerpiece!

I’ve shared the story of this little fireplace before and how the materials came from our previous home. We wanted to take memories from our old home and build them into our new home here. The style of this previous fireplace really didn’t fit our home or the scale so we decided to give it an upgrade… You can see the before above!

And here is the after! We are so much happier with the scale and look of this focal point now. It fits the style of our ranch/coastal home much better and makes the room feel even taller than it already is.

It was several months of hard work and a lot of learning along the way. We were working with a tight budget, so we used the original fireplace surround (we loved that it still hold memories from our last home) and found a budget friendly brick veneer material to use. Unfortunately, it is sold out currently. I will keep my eye on it and share once it becomes available again…

You can see how we began by building the structure up. Wanted it to have a hearth that you could sit on as well. It gives us additional seating in this space.

We also built on top and covered it so there was a surface to install the brick veneer.

This is the brick veneer material we used. I was really happy with it as it was easy to work with, has held up well (so far) and looks realistic! I did my very best to position things as best as I could so that they looked like real brick when all said and done. Nothing is perfect, but again, I was really pleased with the result!

I took my time laying out the bricks and making sure I was doing it correctly. I have never tiled all by myself or laid brick of any kind, so this was a new experience for me.

We also used a premixed concrete material to adhere everything. I was happy with how this was looking and decided I would not grout. The concrete adhesive actually made the brick veneer more durable in the end too. You can see how I worked my way up the structure over time. This is obviously a faux fireplace (non-functioning). We have an electric insert that we made sure would fit perfectly and looks better than it did in the other surround.

I do have a few touch ups to go inside the fireplace, but did paint everything! The inside is a black paint and I used Sherwin William’s Creamy for the fireplace structure itself.

I went back and forth on whether I wanted to over grout the brick veneer… I decided to keep it classic for now and we are going to enjoy it this way for a while. I may choose to keep it this way as I really am in no hurry it do change it.

This new fireplace feels like it belongs here. It is cozy, soft and grand all at the same time. It was yet another labor of love and I cannot wait to gather around it this holiday season!

I have already started decorating the mantel, so make sure to check back soon and see it decked out for the Christmas season!