It’s Electric! How Two DIY Fireplace Renovations Transformed Our Home
We used three electric fireplace inserts to upgrade and significantly modify our home’s two most frequently used living spaces.
Disclaimer: SimpliFire by Heat & Glo offered these three fireplace inserts so that we could install them in our home, provide photography of the products, and offer our honest review, as they noticed I had been brainstorming fireplace ideas in my Instagram stories. The fact I got these for free has not influenced my opinion of the product and/or ease of installation whatsoever. I'm actually sitting in one of those spaces now, admiring the glow of the Allusion Platinum as I write this.
Let’s begin with some background:
In March of 2019, my husband Jason and I moved into our current home, a 1999 fixer that seemed to have been frozen in time. The first thing one would see upon entering the home was a dated three-sided gas fireplace with 3,984 built-in media nooks. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but I was like, Why would they put SO many pockets in the framing and drywall? Who ever thought this looked nice?
Do you see what I mean?
After living in our home for about two and a half years, this fireplace had seen three revisions to its facade, none of which felt right to me in this home. The more we updated the other spaces, the more I looked at our lime-washed-drywall with a bump-out in the front—but only on one side—fireplace, and thought, This still doesn’t fit with the rest of our home.
Enter SimpliFire Electric Fireplaces by Heat & Glo
An email came in one day from a SimpliFire representative who was offering to send one electric insert to be installed in our home in exchange for styled photography, before and after photos to show the transformation, and my honest review of the product.
I spoke with my husband about installing the 36” Built-in Electric Fireplace in the living room side of the new(ish) structure we had built, and after watching videos of the Heat & Glo Electric Fireplaces in action, he gave me a quick “Heck yes!” After all, we already had framing in place, and since we had accidentally cut the vent during demo, we wouldn’t need to tear out the upper drywall in order to attach a new vent (electric fireplaces don’t require ventilation since they’re just really, really ridiculously good-looking space heaters). Our fireplace, though, was a stand-alone column separating two spaces in our home: the more formal “sitting room” and the less formal “family room.” I heard my parents’ voices in the back of my mind… They were saying what they used to tell me when I had a report card grade that was a B+, but so close to an A- that it might be worth it to say something to my teacher. You know, ask if there was something I could show to prove once and for all that I had mastered the content. They’d say, “It never hurts to ask!”
So I asked for a second 36” Built-in Electric Fireplace Insert. I explained that the two spaces shared the fireplace column, and the Heat & Glo team agreed it would look incredible to insert them back-to-back—SCORE!
The Process:
Since we already had the structure framed, it wasn’t too big of a task to add in the supports that would hold up these built-in fireboxes. We removed the non-functioning gas insert we had installed a couple years ago, and we opened up the painted drywall on the other side. Once I saw it all opened up, I decided on a new look for the whole structure. Rather than painting it with yet another coat of lime wash paint, I wanted it to have a more modern-cottage vibe so that it would align stylistically with the direction in which the rest of our interior was heading.
We removed the bump-out that served as our version of a modern-industrial mantel before we had figured out what our home’s style identity would be. Next, Jason added supports to the existing framing according to the dimensions of these new inserts. I had selected and purchased a beautiful large-format (24” x 48”) porcelain tile that Jason installed in such a way that it has the effect of a large slab of marble as the surround. Since we had created that bump-out mantel before we installed our wood floors, we needed to either fill in some wood flooring (woof!), or cut some out so that the marble-look tile could continue into the floor. We chose the second option, and the results were better than I could have imagined!
For the family room side, Jason sourced a beautiful white oak solid block that he ripped down to eight inches deep and installed as the mantel, supported by two stacked 2” x 4” boards ripped at an angle made for the crown moulding he used to conceal them. On the sitting room side, he created a hollow (faux) wood beam using wire sawn white oak boards, and then fitted it to the fireplace by creating a cleave in the back. Did I remember to take photos when he was installing these? Of course not. I’m sorry. Mom duties > DIY blogger duties.
He then installed some super-basic, inexpensive 5” W pine boards vertically up to the ceiling, and after the babies were asleep for the night, we poured some red wine and painted the pine, crown moulding, and trim details in Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace, semigloss. I love that these boards are imperfect, so even with crisp white paint, they still show some character. The next day, when the paint was dry, I styled and photographed the two sides to showcase our hard work and these beautiful SimpliFire 36” Built-in Electric Fireplace Inserts by Heat & Glo.
But wait, there’s more!
We loved these electric inserts so much that we added another one in our basement!
It’s true! I should disclose that during this process, I had asked my SimpliFire contact whether he would be interested in being a part of our basement renovation. I built a concept showing what I had in mind (essentially that part of the basement will be the kid zone and the part with the fireplace will be the adult zone), and he said the brand was quite interested!
My husband and I began the renovation the second week of January, and we were finished with the adult living space by Super Bowl Sunday! This just goes to show how easily these inserts can be installed. In fact, most of the time was spent demoing the old carpet and base, painting, and installing the new flooring! Framing for the 50” Allusion Platinum electric fireplace, drywalling, and inserting it only took four days, and that’s with two children ages seven months and three years running around and wanting Dada! Fun fact: The Allusion Platinum can actually be installed built-in OR mounted directly on the face of a wall, no demo or framework needed whatsoever.
We love the customization options that are available with this gorgeous modern fireplace. For starters, you can select from clear glass pebbles, white rocks, or faux wood to go inside the glass (we layered ours by putting the white rocks along the bottom, then stacking the faux wood toward the center). There’s a whole variety of color options, too! Our toddler loves changing the colors of the flames and the rocks, then telling me, “Mommy, don’t touch this. This looks really good.” (Usually it’s the green rocks, blue flames setting haha!)
It honestly was finished so quickly that I didn’t even think to capture in-progress photos! Well, that and we all had Covid during this time, so no childcare, therefore my brain wasn’t screwed in correctly. I had to screen-grab these from my Instagram stories so I could share how we installed this! Hint: hire a drywall guy, and maybe he’ll stick around to help you lift the insert into its final position when he’s finished.
Check out these photos of how this part of our basement turned out! We spend SO much more time in this space now that it feels modern and pulled together. I also can’t complain about the heater function on the Allusion Platinum fireplace, as it’s been a frigid winter here in Colorado!
If you’re interested in upgrading with a new fireplace, I have a special offer for you! Use NESTOUTWEST10, which is good on any SimpliFire fireplace on ElectricFireplacesDirect.com through March 31, 2022.