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I'm an interior designer from the Detroit Metropolitan area. Design Hole allows me to follow two passions - design and writing. I offer daily advice on decorating, finding inspiration and discovering trends. Plus lots of news from the world of design. -Jennifer Mitchell

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June 8, 2009

DIY project: Covering an ugly brick fireplace surround with metal

Design Hole reader, Elisa, sent me photos of a terrific project she and her husband did themselves. They covered their brick fireplace with sheets of steel. I asked her how she did it. Here’s her story.

Creating a metal fireplace surround

We first got the idea to cover our brick fireplace from a design magazine years back. This was a stainless steel fireplace with a curved design. So we went to Supermarche du Metal, in Lachine, Quebec City, to see what they had. The bottom line was we couldn’t afford to copy the exact design. It was waaay too expensive.

fireplace-mantel1Before: boring brick and a tired brass firescreen

Then, we saw they had sheets of the polished gridplate that was in our budget. We bought two sheets and the very nice man from Supermarche directed us to a place where a guy could bend the corners. Luckily, we had exact measurements. We had the two sheets bent and delivered to our home.

metal-fireplace-surroundThe two metal sheets meet in the middle

We screwed the metal sheets into the brick with small screws on the side and middle. You can barely see the screws. If we ever get bored with it, it can easy be removed. We also sprayed the brass fireplace doors using heat resistant black paint to give it a more modern look.

Elisa did an excellent job, don’t you think? The end result looks very professional. Having perfect measurements is the key to a job well done. Thanks for sharing this with us Elisa!

If you’re interested in ordering sheet metal online, try McNichols.

Do you have a DIY project you’re proud of? Send me the photos via the “contact” link.

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8 Responses to “DIY project: Covering an ugly brick fireplace surround with metal”

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Posted by misterarthur on June 8th, 2009 at 9:32 am

Wow! That’s really great! I’m super impressed.

Posted by misterarthur on June 8th, 2009 at 9:33 am

Love the ceiling fixture, too.

Posted by Maria Killam on June 8th, 2009 at 9:38 am

Wow that is a completely stunning transformation, love it!!

Posted by Joe Posch on June 8th, 2009 at 10:04 am

I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call that brick fireplace “ugly” …

Posted by Nikki on June 8th, 2009 at 10:18 am

I have an ugly brick fireplace I want to redo at some point. The bricks are laid in columns. It’s definitely ugly.

I love what they did here.

Posted by Jennifer on June 8th, 2009 at 11:21 am

Do you want to send me a photo? I’ll give you some inexpensive ideas on how to spruce it up.

Posted by Jennifer on June 8th, 2009 at 11:24 am

Yes, I think I went a little too far. It’s not truly ugly. So, I take it back.

Posted by FoxoFoxo on July 30th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

Looks Great. I am trying to cover a brick fireplace wall as well. My hearth used to go accross the whole wall but I jack hammered it out to just the normal width – 16- 18″ wider than the fire box opening. The base will be boxed in with an espresso wood veneer and then topped with a slab of black granite on top. I want to do the surround in stainlessfor a bright pop and a nice reflection ( compliment) of the kitchen. I want to cover the four inches of brick inside the firebox as well. Is your stainless bent around the interior of the brick? Like an “L”? I want to do 12″ of brushed stainless around the outside.

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