Taming the beast!

Ah, the beast! This atrocity was apparently a good idea back a few years ago when the house was built, but not so much now that flat screen t.v.'s  are all that we have! Not only does it not work for our t.v., at some point someone thought it would work to stain over the top of white paint! So this poor thing had all kinds of things going wrong! I really wanted something clean and that would make the fireplace look  just a little more grand. So I dreamed up a little plan and made it happen! Here's what I did.....

 

 

 

 Took before pics to remind myself that no matter what I did, it likely wouldn't look any worse than it already did!

 There are no pics, but when the doors were opened there was a huge plywood box inside this hole. It was huge and heavy and thankfully only held in by two screws, one of which didn't even make contact with the framing! So, I took the doors off, unscrewed the screws, said a little prayer and pulled that baby out! Oh- right and I also had to disconnect the electrical that was in the back of the box. I turned off the main braker  just to be on the safe side! I couldn't risk frying the only parent my kids had at home at that moment! Once I got the box out (did I mention it was huge!!!- like I can sit in that hole and have dinner- seriously I think you could put a small bedroom in that space!) I had to make a new backer for the electrical because the builder didn't actually finish out the wall behind the box! So I just used a piece of plywood and cut it to fit then cut holes to pop the electrical boxes back through so they couldn't make contact with the insulation behind them.

 Next I used some screws to secure a 2x4 right down the middle of the box. There was really no reason I needed more than the one in the middle since there are 2x4's on each edge of the hole. I just wanted to be able to hang something right in the middle if I wanted to.

 Time to pretty it up! I chose to use very thin finished plywood for the front. It's really smooth and easy to cut and paint. I decided on a simple design that was the same length as the mantle. I used lock tight and finishing nails to secure it to the wall. I did go ahead and run some lock tight on the center stud too just to make sure it all stuck securely.

 The sheets of plywood are 4x8 feet so I needed two to fit the space. I decided to have my seam run across the top horizontally because I thought it would be less noticeable there. I went all the way to the ceiling with the plywood. I used finishing nails and lock tight on the smaller piece as well.

 To add a little charm I ran two thin 1x2 inch strips up vertically six inches in from each side. I knew I wanted big chunky molding at the top so I pre-measured the molding and stopped the strips so that they would meet the molding. I ended up choosing the same molding for the top as what was already on the fireplace mantle. I think it gives it more of an "always been there" look.

 Fresh white paint all around. I really wanted to have it look like it was always there so I painted everything white including the mantle. I sanded the dark stain off as much as I could and then put primer and white semi gloss paint. I didn't primer the top plywood because it was so smooth and accepted the paint easily.

 Here she is! Much prettier! I think the trim at the top adds so much charm! I didn't want it to look overly fancy or stuffy so rather than having the chunky molding come out into 45 degree angles, I chose to cut the molding straight and finish the edges with plywood.

 The front view. (side note- this was the first paint color I tried for the living room- and I hated it!)

 Here you can see the top molding and how it is flush with the edge instead of protruding out into 45 degree angles.

 So smooth and clean!

 The thick molding up top! So of course I learned something along the way- I would definitely spray paint the molding before installing it next time. It was a challenge to get all of the little grooves and angles covered. If I would have sprayed it or even hand brushed it before I installed it, I would have saved myself a lot of frustration! ~ live and learn!

 Just another shot of that beautiful trim and molding!

  I really love the added height- I think it really adds to the charm of the living room!

 As you can see- this project was just before we did new flooring! I couldn't believe how easy it was to rip out carpet! I was nervous to do it, but it was such a breeze! It was a little weird having raw concrete floors for a few days, but it made it so nice not to have to worry about getting paint on the floors!

 New fireplace and new floors! The living room is really coming together! I will post before pics of the full room so that you can truly appreciate the change!

The finished product! I am very happy with the way this turned out. The moment I had that huge box teetering on the edge of the mantle and was about to drop it on the floor, I did question whether or not I was making a good decision... but... I couldn't live looking at the huge brown beast- so I threw that box to the ground! I'm so glad I did! I am much happier with this look and I'm really thankful it all turned out how I had imagined it in my head!