Holy Makeover! Check Out this Stunning Quartz Fireplace

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Floor & Decor. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you have the renovation bug too? I am always up for a good remodel and since we moved into our home 10 years ago we have definitely done a ton to make this house have its own personality that also fits our needs. One of the projects on our list for 2020 was to redo the fireplace in our living room. Welp, you have to check out this stunning quartz fireplace makeover and learn how you can do this too with just a few supplies from Floor & Decor!

Time for an Upgrade

I remember walking into our home for the first time. It was an open house and I was adamant that we would not be living in this particular city, but this home was newly built, hardly lived in (literally like 3 months) and we were getting desperate for a home to move into since I was 5 months pregnant. Our main living room is large, 20 ft vaulted ceilings and welcoming. It has a 2 way fireplace that we can see in both the living room and kitchen, that sits on a plainly white huge wall.

The tile around the fireplace is the same on both sides. It was plain and worked just fine but I wasn’t in love with it. When we moved in, my husband and I built the little shelf mantle and I love it. It is strong and I am able to change up our seasonal decor often, however, it still didn’t really make the fireplace stand out and I wanted something that really looked stunning, personalized and modern. So we decided to take on a quick and easy DIY upgrade and you are not going to believe how it looks now!

Ordering and Pick Up with Floor & Decor

Most of us are home with time on our hands due to the current state of the world. If you are anything like me, those little projects that you have been putting on the backburner are just staring you in the face and you are ready to tackle them! I started searching on the Floor & Decor website for a stone that I felt had texture, would look natural, but modern and would go well with the decor in our home already.

I found this beautiful Rock Ridge Harbor Gray Splitface Quartzite Panel Ledger and knew it was exactly what I wanted. We measured out the square footage that we needed and added in a bit for contingency and placed our order (of course adding in grout and adhesive). The order was ready within a day and we were able to drive straight up to their Customer Pick-Up.

Contact was minimal and every employee was wearing a mask and was wonderful. We pulled into a pick up spot, the employee came out and got my order number and then headed inside to grab the materials. They then loaded everything into the pick up and we were on our way.

The process was super simple and very organized and efficient. We were in and out of customer pick up in less than 10 minutes and our order was exactly as we asked for. It was nice to be able to shop online and have such an easy experience. You can also have items delivered straight to your home if you would like. Floor & Decor also had people set up in front of the store ready to run in and grab samples for you to take home and test out before ordering and picking up. It was pretty awesome.

Out with the Old

We got home and got straight to work. First up, we had to get rid of the old tile. My husband grabbed a hammer and scraping tool and started popping those tiles straight off the wall. They actually came off pretty easily and with very minimal damage to the drywall.

Our advice is to take this part slow and not to pull the tile off by hand. Use the scrappers edge to pry it gently and it will cause much less damage. Once we were done, we tossed the old tile into the trash and grabbed the shopvac to clean up the rest of the mess on the carpet. Easiest demolition ever!

How to Tile a Fireplace with Quartz

You are here for this, I know that, so let’s get right to it. You will need a tile saw, tile adhesive, tile, trowel, a tape measure and of course your quartzite tile to get this project going. Each tile comes with overhang pieces, so to set your first piece you are going to want to use the tile saw to cut just one of the overhangs off to set it flush.

Plug in your tile saw, make sure you have water in it and mark on the tile where you are going to cut. Use the guides to move the tile through the saw and keep your hands clear of the blade and steady. Do not PUSH the tile through fast, let the saw guide the tile through.

Once you have your tile cut to the desired length, add the tile adhesive on the back of the tile using a tiling trowel with grooves. Make sure to cover the tile surface as complete as you can. It is ok if it is thinner on the sides as the tile adhesive will spread to the edges when you press it onto the wall surface.

Place the tile on the wall and press firmly for 20-30 seconds. You want to continue to place the tiles (making sure to overlap the overhangs as you go) and cutting the tiles on the edges as needed to fit your space. We decided to tile from the baseboards up and use a quick setting adhesive that was made for natural stone and vertical installation, to avoid slippage and are very happy with it.

As you approach the fireplace, you may need to cut the tile to fit around the frame a bit. We lucked out and ours butted up perfectly to where the previous tile had been. If you are working around oddities like an outlet, you may want to use some of the smaller tile scraps to blend it together. We were able to piece together the quartzite tile around the outlet and then use outlet spacers to bring it forward safely. It looks really great.

Prepping for the Mantle

We went back and forth about putting in a solid block mantle or keeping the one that we built together years ago. We finally decided that we wanted to keep the one we built because it was the first project we did together in our home and we loved it. However, we had to prepare to mount it and that would take a bit of work.

First we had to problem solve and figure out the best way to support our tile that would float over the fireplace. My husband had kept the scrap of tile edge trim from when we redid the kitchen, so we decided this would be our best bet to support the tile…and we were absolutely right! We measured and cut it to fit the exact width that we needed and made sure to not overlap it because we did not want there to be a gap between the quartz.

Once the edging was screwed in, we continued to tile up the wall, as we had before until we got to the point where our old mantle had sat. My husband grabbed a straight edge and drew lines straight up from where the holes were and then marked measurements on the wall. We decided to keep the mantle in basically the same place because that’s where our studs are and we didn’t want to be too far off them, plus the mantle had been perfectly centered over the fireplace prior.

We then tiled over the previous mantle holes and then using the lines and measurements above the tile, my husband marked on the quartz and drilled the mantle mounts. From there we used new longer screws to hang our mantle on the wall and then finished tiling to our desired height.

We do have 20 ft vaulted ceilings as mentioned, but we decided not to tile all the way up just yet. We are still deciding what we want to do with carpet and paint in this space and want to make sure we are completely happy with the quartzite tile before we commit to scaffolding and another 10 feet of tile. However, the fireplace framed in beautifully, the mantle fit perfectly and we already so in love with the space.

Grouting in the Fireplace

Grouting is actually something I enjoy doing, so I was ready to jump in and put the finishing touches on this beautiful fireplace. Quartzite tile actually doesn’t need to be grouted between the joints because it is set so tightly and one could argue that you do not even need to grout the edges, but I like a finished look and so we decided to grab a bucket of premixed grout in pearl grey to finish off our fireplace makeover.

Grouting can be messy and you will definitely need a bucket of water and some drop cloths to make this happen along with either a grout float or a pain scrapper. I used the latter to apply our grout edge and initially it was a learning curve. I put FAR too much grout on the edges and spent a lot of time using the sponge that came with the grout removing excess material. I decided to show you the initial grouting photo so you could see what too much grout looks like.

The picture above is as cleaned up as I could get this mess to be. I did much better on the other edges, but some advice for those of you that are taking on grouting, less is more, you can always add on more, so start with less. Wipe the excess grout quickly because it dries super fast. We are planning on painting the wall so any of the little imperfections can be blended into the textured wall with some paint. I also grouted around the edges in the fireplace frame to make sure that everything was sealed well and looked clean.

Check Out this Stunning Quartz Fireplace

I cannot even begin to explain what a change this made to our living room. The fireplace stands out, is welcoming and really pulls the entire room together. I love that we did this together and that it was so simple and easy to install. The pictures do not even do it justice and now more than ever we are so excited to paint these awful flat white walls and get new carpet in.

If you are looking to remodel or renovate a place in your home, make sure to check out my friends at Floor & Decor. They have so many amazing options and great resource videos to help with all your DIY dreams. We just love that we are taking this house and making it a beautiful home.

What do you think of this stunning quartz fireplace makeover?

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