One of our "nice to haves" on the house checklist was a fireplace. It seemed a bit strange that our house didn't have one, but it's also not uncommon to have had them removed at some point.
When we bought, we knew the original mantle to the fireplace was in storage in the basement. You can see where the original fireplace was in the "Before" photo - it's the chaise between the window and the hallway. Originally, we'd hoped to uncover that fireplace but we realized it was tiny (made sense, as a coal fireplace) and had been filled in with cement.
So, onto a new location for the fireplace: replacing the old "monstrosity" (as the seller's realtor called it) of a built-in cabinet on the left of the "Before" photo with a direct vent gas fireplace.
Before
After
The teardown
To start, Mike tore out the cabinet. It was a presumably 60s style built-in that we didn't serve a real purpose for us. Oddly, there was a return vent beneath it. So, we first looked at relocating the return vent before we realized it didn't need to be as large as it was and we could keep it on the side of the fireplace.
After tearing out the "monstrosity" of a cabinet
The Fireplace
I started looking for the right style fireplace shortly after we moved in, and finally found a
Victorian style model we viewed in August 2020, and scheduled an install for November 2020. Nothing about this process was straightforward, and we particularly struggled to figure out what should come first between the mantel and the tile. In retrospect, it likely would've been much easier to work with a contractor on this but it was such a small project for that kind of work.
The Mantel
The original mantel in the basement, all dusty. The flower work in the center matches our staircase.
We really wanted to use the original fireplace mantel somehow, but it was quite a challenge to find someone who both understood the vision and was willing to take on the project as a custom build. Eventually, we found a guy who was very excited to use the original mantle and build around it to create the full piece. He was able to source used mahogany that very closely matched the original, and cleaned up the original piece very well.
The Tile
The stained glass window was the inspiration for the tile - we wanted to pull in some of its colors.
At first, we thought we could work with a tile installer to help us pick out appropriate tile. When that provided challenging, we picked out the tile and figured we'd worry about who would install it later. Clay Squared had a number of examples of tile work featuring our exact fireplace, so their showroom was our first stop but their colors weren't a great match. Then, I reached out to
Mercury Mosaics and they were just fabulous to work with. Also based in NE Minneapolis, I emailed them to explain the project and quickly got a response with several mood boards of color options and style they'd recommend to fit. They sent samples of our top color choices so we could get a good feel for it in the space, and once we'd landed on colors we worked with them to create a scattered square design in sheets so it was easy to install. They even loaded all the tiles into the car for me, which was great as I was recovering from my C-section at the time and unable to lift much.
After several quotes for tile installation that were out of scope, we ended up going with a handyman who was really easy to work with.
Oooh, ambiance
Altogether, the fireplace took nearly a year to come together. The mantel installation was followed shortly by the tile, and it was fully complete in June 2021. It really completes our "formal" living room space, and I especially love that we got to use that 1889 mantel.
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