Eve Cunningham
During our big living room makeover, we wanted to give our fireplace a more modern look. The plan was to remove the faux brick paneling completely and replace it with new material from floor to ceiling. For this project, we used the large tongue & groove panels from Innovera Decor by Palram in a rustic concrete color, and the result was exactly the vibe we were going for.
Once I discovered these panels, I instantly did more research and was pleasantly surprised to learn that they are heat resistant so they can be used on fireplace walls as long as they are 6 inches away from a flame. The interlocking panels made it so easy to install that we really needed to use a little construction adhesive to hold it all together! This DIY fireplace makeover contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t recommend wholeheartedly.
We decided to keep the freestanding gas fireplace because it works great and I love the rustic charm of it. Since we added recessed lights in the ceiling during the living room makeover, we could finally get rid of the wall sconce lights and take the wall panel behind the fireplace from the floor to ceiling.
We had to cut the paneling away from the wall behind the fireplace at the bottom where our gas line was, but other than that, it was simple!
However, since we are doing this behind a fireplace, we added Hardie Backer, instead of traditional drywall, so that it is fire-resistant.
Before any “real” work begins, you want to make sure any residue has been removed from the panels and they have a nice clean backing for the construction adhesive to adhere to. Trim the tip of the adhesive tube at a 45 degree angle with a utility knife.
Depending on your space, you might need to trim the bottom edge to have each panel sit completely flush with the wall. In our case, we had to cut the extra lip from the bottom so it would fit flush on the ground. We found it was super easy to cut the panels as needed for tight spaces.
This also helped incorporate the wood slat accent wall we had planned in the living room. Check out more pictures * all of the sources of our modern boho living room here!
