After looking at our Christmas mantle display for about two seconds I realized that one of the major eye sores of this area was the fireplace opening. It was just missing something. And also creating something….a big fat mess. And a migraine in my brain every time I saw said big fat mess.
So I decided it was time for a fireplace insert….the ones that look like cut logs. You know the ones….they are all over Pinterest and they make your fireplace look like it has stacked branches and logs inside. They cover the ugly mess if you’ve got one….and add interest and block any draft. And here is the spoiler – it ends up looking like this….
I am gonna walk you through how we made ours because it was easier than most of the DIYs I’ve seen. And you know me….I’m all about being easy. How do you think I got Jeremy?! 🙂 (kidding mom!)
SO the first thing you do is assess the situation. My fireplace opening is a sharp angled opening….it has a metal piece at the top that would be my stopping point….the wood insert would not sit farther back than that. There was also a lip in the bottom where the stone meets the concrete. It gave me only about an inch to the front of where I wanted my logs to stop so that meant I couldn’t cut thicker pieces of wood. Also, my fireplace opening is very wide and not very tall. It also has a set of gas logs that were here when we bought the house and we rarely use. We have used them before but I always get headaches when we use it which is weird because I never did with our old house. That being said – I just needed something I could access only about once a year.
I started out by going into the wood stash and finding this piece of underlayment. It’s a super thin piece of board and I cut it to size with my circular saw. Weston clearly labeled it for me with a W….then scribbled out said W when LJ clearly labeled it with an L. Boys 🙂
I grabbed some of Rust-Oleum’s charcoal chalk paint from my stash as well and William gave it a quick coat for me. I love that I can give him tasks like this now. Sure…it’s messy and I had to smooth out big globs of paint but overall, he did AMAZING. And it made my job super fast!
Then came time to cut the wood. Jeremy grabbed three different size sticks for me out of the woods (we have plenty of fallen wood) and I love how the biggest branches had inner circles that showed how fast the tree grew.
Once I felt like I had enough, I took it all inside and arranged it on the board until I felt like it looked natural and organic. My one tip is to make the bottom row fit pretty darn perfectly. And then each slice should be pushed down onto the row below it….kinda like how gravity would pull it down if this were upright.
Then I hotglued each piece in place with my Ryobi glue gun. And yes, it will take a lot more hot glue than you expect. I went through a dozen glue sticks.
Then I simply slid the board into place. It rests against that concrete lip and the metal bracket.
At first I just left it there and didn’t fix it to anything….but in the middle of the night, it fell and scared the living tar out of Jeremy. Like he was ready to attack our stacked wood intruder 🙂 So the next day I put some hot glue globs on the back where it hits the metal piece and now it is securely in place.
And if you remember the before….it wasn’t so pretty….just a mess with those little pebbles that would need to be cleaned up constantly….
But now it looks really festive….
Jeremy and I decided that we didn’t know if the wood should go all the way to the top…I think I might just cut some more pieces and squeeze them in there and not glue them down to see if I like it.
I definitely think having the screen in front helps make it feel finished though.
I think that the best part is that there isn’t a big black hole there anymore….it feels so much cozier and warm!
And the best part is that this didn’t cost me a DIME. It was fahhhhh-reeeeeeee! Leftovers are the BEST. So if you are thinking about doing a little project like this….something around your Christmas decor and it helps take care of a mess that you have sitting around staring at you….just go for it! It’s amazing how much this one little thing has perked up my Christmas spirits!
I have been wanting to do this forever but have been put off by the idea of having to buy or find birch logs – did you worry about bugs in your yard wood at all? I have a ton of it too and would love to move ahead with this project!
Very COOL! LOVE this idea!
Katie! I am OBSESSED. This looks so ridiculously good, I can’t even handle it. I have been wanting to make one of these for a while but I feel like you don’t see them in real fireplaces all that often (just fake or no-longer-working ones)…I love how this looks and you’ve totally convinced me that I need to make one for our house! Love, love, love.
What a neat idea!! And where did you get the metal houses from? I LOVE them !
What a great idea! Hmmmmm….something (for me) to consider, lol! If you do decide to put more, plz update us.
Big improvement! I think the little bit of black space at the top looks more organic or realistc. You wouldn’t stack logs all the way to the top. I think your whole manyel/fireplace decor is gorgeous!
I absolutely LOVE this! Now I need to sell my house and buy a house with a fireplace, so that I can make me one too! Love it!
If your gas insert gives you a headache there may be a leak in the gas line. You should really get that checked out by a plumber so there are no issues with carbon monoxide poisoning!!
I would get a headache when we had our gas fireplace going too. We had it serviced and there were no leaks. It turns out that our logs were not lined up 100% correctly which was causing the flames to burn the paint and other chemicals off the logs.
This looks great! I do think that a few more pieces going right up to the top would be a good move.
Headaches brought on when using a gas fire? – carbon monoxide springs immediately to mind. Using a CO monitor/alarm is essential in any room with a gas appliance, as is an annual (or so) servicing by a qualified tech.
I feel silly asking this, but how did you cut the wood? I want to do this too 🙂
I actually made a fireplace insert a few years ago to help with the draft issue and faux painted it to look like the firebox. I think I could attach the wood circles right onto this and it would help with the ‘black hole’ look. Now I have to figure an alternative for the fallen wood you used…
Just a thought on your comment on why you don’t use the gas logs because you get headaches. You could have a small gas leak or something wrong with the gas line. Although they put something in the gas so that you can smell it, some people dont. It might be worth checking if you decide to use the gas logs again. Otherwise cute idea!
I used our Ridgid miter saw 🙂
From Joann Fabric store 🙂 You can se the post about them here —> https://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2017/12/our-christmas-mantle/
This looks awesome! I really loved this.
Can’t help but wonder how you keep your kids safe around the fireplace though. We just moved to a house with a nearly identical fireplace and we put a baby gate around it to keep them from bashing their heads. It’s not a beautiful solution though. How do you keep your kids from doing that? Or train them to avoid it? Even the screen itself would be pulled off in seconds at my house.
They would bang their heads on corners? I guess I never really did anything specific….they just don’t play over there….all the fun stuff is other places 🙂
xo – kb
We did. We actually had my brother check it (he is a plumber) and then we had our friend who works for the gas company check it also (he has a different tool that detects even smaller leaks)….we were good to go up here. I think I am sensitive to changes of environment – even water vapor changes (which happens with fireplaces).
xo – kb
Yikes!
xo – kb
We did that – it’s not a leak. I think I’m just highly sensitive to certain things.
xo – kb
Yes – we had it checked twice (thank you for the warning though!!!) – I think it’s a smell thing or a water vapor thing. I am the same around any burning fires…not just ours 🙂
xo – kb