Another project completed! We now have a brick wall behind our fireplace in our dining room. We did something a little different with our brick than what is standard today, and I love how it turned out! Let me tell you all about it!

Our Brick Wall behind our Fireplace

From Flat to That- Where it Began

For those of you who may have just found our page, we have a new-build home with all white walls and even white floors. Some people told us that the look was very sterile, but we knew from the start what it would become. Over the last year, we have been adding texture and warmth to each room in our home. 

We called the series, From Flat to That. We have been adding texture everywhere! We added wallpaper, beadboard, and now brick. To see some of the transformations, you can see them here: From Flat to That Series Roundup in 2023. 

Last month, we also added wallpaper to the ceiling of our entryway to give the appearance of a tin ceiling. We even painted it with a bold metallic paint. We still need to add the crown molding, but you can see this project here: Tin Ceiling Wallpaper in our Entryway. 

From Flat to That- The Dining Room

In February, I began wallpapering our dining room. The room is roughly 30-feet by 15-feet, so it was a huge undertaking. I love the interest it added to this room, though. Most people with a new-build home probably aren’t trying to make it look old, but that is exactly what we are doing! We want this home to have so much character that it looks like someone has been living here and making memories for a hundred years. You can see the addition of the wallpaper here: Floral Wallpaper in the Dining Room. 

Now, to our current day project: our fireplace surround! The fireplace in our dining room is a gas fireplace that is double sided and can be enjoyed in both the kitchen and dining room. You can see see a before of this fireplace here: Tour of our Fireplace Mantels. The mantel itself is over 100 years old and we actually found it on Facebook Marketplace. You can read the story here: 100 Year Old Fireplace Mantels. 

Our builders did a great job incorporating this old mantel into our new build. They installed the gas fireplace, surrounded it with a muted neutral brick, and then added the mantel. We recently decided it was time to continue the same brick around the fireplace up the rest of the wall. Oh, I am so glad we did!  

The contractors just finished installation yesterday, and they did a magnificent job. We thought the textured wallpaper added a lot of interest, but the addition of the brick really makes the fireplace a true focal point in the room. 

What We Did Differently

We had them slightly stagger the depth of the bricks so they aren’t all laying flat and level with each other. If you glance from the side, you can see that they are all sticking out at different depths. It makes it look like an old brick wall on an old building. Because we don’t want to blend in with all the other new-build homes, this was the perfect option for us. Character! 

Also, if you glance closely at the pictures, you will notice that the brick surrounding the mantel is darker than the brick surrounding the fireplace itself. When they installed the brick around the fireplace during the building process, they pulled the grout over the brick to give it the muted, neutral look that we love so much. We intended to do the same thing with the recently installed brick, but once I saw it installed the way it was I decided to have them leave it. It’s darker, but it really does add a glowing warmth to the room.

What’s Next

We have two antique sconces that we had mounted around the fireplace, but they were never fully installed to be usable. We want to have those actually installed as light fixtures. Also, now that the brick is in place, I can finally decorate this mantel for Spring! Here are some of our past Spring fireplace mantels for inspiration: Neutral Spring Fireplace Mantel, Simple Fireplace Mantel for Spring, Woodland Spring Fireplace Decor, March Fireplace Mantel for Spring. Stay tuned for the completed look soon.