Do-it-yourself false fireplace: 8 beautiful ideas on how to make it step by step (photos and videos)

Fireplaces have long been associated with the very concept of home, warmth and comfort. But it’s not possible to make a real one everywhere, and in city apartments this is rather an exception. And in private houses, it is better to plan a full-fledged brick fireplace at the construction stage. But with a good imitation, everything is much simpler - it will perfectly complement your bedroom or living room. We'll tell you what you can do!

False fireplace made of cardboard

To shop around for artificial fireplaces and have fun with your kids, your first test model can even be made from unwanted cardboard boxes. Large boxes of equipment are ideal - from one - a podium, from the other - the fireplace itself.

Mark the doors for the future firebox, carefully cut them and fold them inward. To connect the parts, only wide tape will be enough. Cover the fireplace with beautiful wrapping paper or leftover wallpaper and decorate it with ready-made polyurethane elements.

False fireplace made of brick

This is the most spectacular and most believable, but also one of the most expensive options. Although, if you have some unnecessary brick left over from a construction site, this is a great reason to put it to use. Basically, you just need to lay out a niche of the shape and size that you like.

There are no tricks here - the masonry is the same as for walls or partitions. All the same solution, neat seams, and if desired, paint on top. You can place a wooden or stone shelf on top, and fill the niche with candles. Brick is not afraid of fire and temperature, so feel free to take the real thing.

The only serious problem with brick is its impressive weight, so check the condition of the floors first. To calculate the required quantity, think about your dimensions and divide them by the size of one brick. The most important thing when laying is to constantly monitor the straightness of each row with a level.

False fireplace made of wood

If you prefer eco-style and natural materials, then a false fireplace can even be made from wood. Sheets of plywood with a thickness of 8 mm or more are best suited for this - they are easy to cut and join. For the frame, use beams measuring approximately 4x4 cm, and for fastening - self-tapping screws and liquid nails.

Keep in mind that the wooden structure on a frame made of beams is quite heavy, so you will need a podium for stability. Sew the base with plywood, cover the seams with corners and putty all the joints. You can leave additional niches, shelves or other elements, and only the decor will remain.

False fireplace from old furniture

Any old cabinet or cabinet made of chipboard can be reassembled into a false fireplace, just like a cardboard box. Only it will be incomparably neater and stronger, and unlike drywall, it will also be more mobile. Old shelves are suitable for the base, an unnecessary drawer is suitable for the podium, and small doors are suitable for the side walls.

Chipboard is an unpretentious material, but you need to work with it carefully. To prevent the slabs from crumbling, cut all the lines to the end and do not screw the fasteners into the same place twice. Be sure to cover the edges with a special decorative tape - this way they will not swell or become deformed.

Features of material selection

The choice of building material for making an artificial fireplace is very large, the variety of options is amazing, but you need to find the right one for you. To make the right choice, focus on a number of factors: your work skills, budget, room interior, desired result. What construction stores can offer:

Brick - used for the construction of a bulky full-fledged analogue. To build a structure you will need a clear drawing, a large budget and excellent construction skills. An excellent addition to such a decorative brick building can be a real fire, which can be easily obtained by installing a bio-fireplace into the system.
Wood - wood means plywood, chipboard, chipboard, timber. Building a wooden fireplace is not difficult. The frame is fastened together from timber and sheathed with plywood, or a structure is immediately created from ready-made chipboard sheets. The resulting structure will have sufficient strength, which will allow you to place additional decorative accessories in it and on it. You can see how to make a false fireplace out of wood on many websites, including ours.

Original wooden building in the form of a portal

Drywall - this material is used for covering the metal or wooden frame of a decorative product. Anyone can make a fireplace from plasterboard; it is the most pliable and easiest to install building material. There are plenty of manuals on the Internet for constructing gypsum plaster casts.
Polyurethane - most often stores sell ready-made portals made of this material. All you have to do is bring the decorative polyurethane fireplace to your home, unpack it and install it in the right place. Polyurethane is a modern, higher quality and durable analogue of gypsum, which is gradually fading into the background.
Gypsum - gypsum portals are becoming less and less popular. This is explained by their fragility, heavy weight, tendency to darken from moisture and the appearance of yellowness over time. At the same time, a plaster decorative fireplace will look great in a classic interior, and its main feature can be stucco molding made by you personally.
Foam plastic - this material perfectly imitates volume and at the same time has practically no weight. You can build yourself an excellent fireplace out of foam plastic, which you will take out for the holidays and put away in the pantry on weekdays. There are no difficulties in working with such material.

Foam version of the fireplace portal

Cardboard - building a fireplace from cardboard is considered a very simple and natural task. This pliable packaging material easily takes on the desired shape, which just needs to be fixed. Decorating with the help of improvised materials will hide the unsightly appearance of cardboard, resulting in an exclusive and beautiful thing.
Old furniture - many craftsmen can assemble a fireplace from an old cabinet, but for the production of a beautiful decorative structure this approach is hardly justified. All such old wardrobes, chests of drawers, bedside tables have already outlived their usefulness and are not suitable for making a new product. However, this is the opinion of our editors exclusively; you may have completely different thoughts on this matter.

Good to know: How to make a fireplace from plasterboard with your own hands, step-by-step instructions

As you can see, there are plenty of options for making a false fireplace in an apartment yourself; choose the appropriate material and start construction. It is worth noting that regardless of the material chosen, the principle is approximately the same. Whatever you decide to make your dummy from, there is only one tactic. We will look at how to build a decorative fireplace step by step with your own hands below.

False fireplace made of plasterboard

Assemble a small frame of a false fireplace from profiles, but it is better to attach a large and heavy one directly to the wall. If you still have rack profiles after construction or renovation, this is their time.

The sheets are cut into the required fragments of any shape, size and configuration - a regular construction knife is suitable for this. Be sure to take into account ends and overlaps in your calculations. All corners are closed with special corner profiles, and the top is rubbed with putty.

The surface is primed, and then you can paint and decorate it with anything you like. For example, cover it with imitation stone, and hang a mirror in a niche for volume. In the future, you can easily change the finish - this is another advantage of drywall.

Dummy made of wood and plywood

A dummy fireplace made of wood or plywood sheets will look more solid.
What you will need:

for the frame and lintels - wooden beams, size 4*2;
for the tabletop - wooden cloth;
for cladding - plywood;
for cladding - molding, tiles, artificial stone, stone chips, etc.;
tools - a hacksaw, self-tapping screws, steel angles, drill, measuring tape or tape measure.

It is best to paint with acrylic paint.

In the photo: A portal made of wood and plywood for a false fireplace.
Stages of assembling the portal:

Based on the finished fireplace imitation layout and drawing, measure the bars of the required length and cut them to make the frame.
Assemble the frame, maintain the angle of fastening of the screws at 90 degrees, the beams are attached directly to the tabletop from above, and to the base from below.
Attach the beam horizontally on top, forming the arch of the fireplace.
After the frame of the false fireplace is ready, cover it with plywood.
Provide a place for an imitation fireplace; if you want to install an electric fireplace in the fireplace, then be guided by its size, providing for the possibility of a cord for connecting the fireplace to the electrical network.
To make the fireplace look good, cover the gaps between the plywood sheets with putty, sand everything down and paint it. If the tabletop is made of solid wood, it should be sanded and varnished before installation. The fireplace can be covered with artificial stone or covered with stone chips.
At the last stage, you need to attach decorative elements to the portal - stucco molding, if this is provided for in the design layout.

False fireplace made of polyurethane

It is impossible to make a real fireplace from polyurethane, but a good decorative imitation is quite possible. This is a modern material that bends easily and takes on absolutely any shape. It is used to make ready-made portals with imitation of wood or stone carvings - you just need to glue them to the wall.

In stores you sometimes find ready-made kits for false fireplaces. Essentially, this is a kind of 3D puzzle that you just need to unpack and assemble according to the instructions. All that remains is to color it to match your interior.

Decorative fireplace design

The modern market is replete with fireplaces of various types, styles, designs. For example, fireplaces in the Empire or Baroque style look beautiful in a classic interior, and an electric fireplace is suitable for rooms in the Art Nouveau style. Fireplaces made of plasterboard are divided into symbolic (resembling a hearth), reliable and conditional.

Reliable fireplaces repeat the original in size and shape and have fireboxes installed in them that imitate fire. By location they can be corner, island or wall. To install a conventional fireplace made of plasterboard, a portal is required. This is essentially the facade of the structure, which will bear the main aesthetic load. For a false fireplace, light decor or pasting is suitable. Another important element is the foot and step. The finishing touch is a decorative wrought iron grate for the fireplace and logs on the steps.

See photos of decorative fireplaces in the interior:

False fireplace made of foam plastic

Basically, it's a simple box that you cut and fold yourself. Take several sheets 10 cm thick, cut them into parts and glue them together, and use self-tapping screws for a more reliable fixation. By the way, packaging foam from household appliances is usually denser than finishing foam - and therefore stronger.

To cut sheets, you will need a small hacksaw for metal - this way the foam will not crumble. Take your time and cut the lines completely so as not to break anything. For connection there are special adhesive solutions for foam plastic - other glue will not work on impermeable material.

First, mark the floor for the future foundation, and begin to gradually put together the parts. Immediately check all surfaces with a level until the adhesive solution sets. Puttying smooth foam is problematic, so place a painting mesh on top. Ready-made elements are suitable for the design of the portal - columns and half-columns, stucco molding, shelves, moldings.

Corner false fireplace

You can make a neat corner false fireplace with your own hands from a large cardboard box - for example, from a TV or heater. You need to completely cut off one wall and fold the remaining three into a triangle. Trim the edges so that it fits perfectly into your corner in size.

Then all that remains is to cut through the portal - and you can move on to finishing and decorations. For example, cover a mini-fireplace with wallpaper that resembles brickwork, and lay a wooden corner shelf on top - and you will get a neat cabinet-tabletop.

Design

Once the installation location for the false fireplace has been determined, you can think about its design. It can be classic, with pseudo-columns in an antique style, or in the Hi-Tech style, in which everything is as simple and concise as possible - only straight, simple lines and shapes. When thinking about the design of the portal, you need to pay attention to the interior of the room or room in which the fireplace will be located. High-tech is not suitable for an office style, and for a room in the Moroccan style you should not make a portal in the fusion style. The good thing about making a fake fireplace with your own hands is that you are not limited by what sellers offer and can make a fireplace to suit your unique interior.

In the photo: Options for placing a false fireplace

How to make a fire for a false fireplace?

There is no question of any open fire in a false fireplace, and even using real candles is quite dangerous. Therefore, let’s figure out how and with what you can effectively simulate a hearth.

A bright orange-red LED strip runs along the contour of the niche from below. Place a transparent aquarium bowl with water or glass balls inside - and the fire will come to life with the refraction of light.

There are safe bio-fireplaces on sale that can be built into home imitations. This is an advanced alcohol burner with virtually no odor, smoke or risk of fire. In enclosed spaces without chimneys, this is the only option for a live open fire.

Lamps that imitate fire or special electronic photo frames look interesting. They display an image of a flame with characteristic sounds and crackling sounds. But keep in mind that such frames are quite expensive, because they are simplified miniature plasmas.

Do-it-yourself false fireplace - photo

In fact, you can make a false fireplace in any way and from anything - everything is to your taste. And to show this in practice, we have put together a large selection of photo ideas for you!

General points

As we have already said, you cannot install a real stove or fireplace in a city apartment. Permission to build such structures should be requested from regulatory organizations, and they will definitely refuse, citing the absence of the necessary chimneys in the house and weak ceilings. Therefore, city residents should take a closer look at fake fireplaces, decorative accessories that perform a purely aesthetic function.

A high-quality imitation of a fireplace with your own hands will take its rightful central place in the apartment. It will become the main accent in the room, its main attraction. At the same time, there is no particular difficulty in building such a miracle; you can easily make a false fireplace with your own hands, even if you do not have construction skills.

If you want some kind of functionality, and not just the contemplation of an artificially made fire, then it is permissible to build an electric fireplace or bio-fireplace into the portal of our simulation. These two modern devices are good in their own ways:

an electric fireplace recreates the heating function;
a bio-fireplace gives you the opportunity to admire a real fire.

Elementary wooden portal with candles

Building a false fireplace with an imitation flame is a very exciting and interesting activity, starting with developing a sketch of the future building and ending with decorating the finished product. If you approach the issue of creating such a decorative element thoughtfully, then it is easy to see that such a building has a lot of advantages, for example:

Of course, a budget for building a false fireplace with your own hands is expected, but even if you use the most expensive finishing materials, it will be affordable and small. If you want to build a false fireplace from cardboard, then the cost of such a structure will be minimal. In any case, it will be inexpensive to place a false analogue of a fireplace in the apartment.
To make a false fireplace with your own hands, you will need building materials. All of them can be easily found at any hardware store, and many of them are already in your home. The cost of materials is also quite affordable.
The construction of such structures requires a creative approach, especially at the decoration stage, and here you have complete freedom. If you don’t like the end result, you can always change the appearance of the structure. This approach makes your building universal, suitable for different interiors.
To decorate a fake fireplace, expensive and exclusive materials are often not required; most often, improvised means are enough. Some options do not involve decoration at all in the simple sense of the word.
The resulting design meets all fire safety standards, especially if you use exclusively imitation fire, artificial firewood.

Large plaster portal for fireplace

Having set out to build a false fireplace with your own hands, it is advisable to clearly imagine how it will look in the end, how it will fit into the interior. Such structures can be roughly divided into three groups:

Another type of decorative fireplaces involves creating or purchasing a bulky portal. A fake fireplace of this type imitates the appearance of its real counterpart, but is often decorated to the taste of the owners. Decorative firewood, candles, beautiful accessories, and, in rare cases, imitation fire are placed in a firebox of this design.
The last view vaguely resembles a real fireplace, but according to the general idea it implies exactly this structure. This is an alternative way to bring the hearth home, perhaps by painting it on a canvas and hanging it on the wall, or placing a box of candles in the corner.

A dummy fireplace fits harmoniously into the interior of the room

Depending on which option from the above you chose, construction may differ slightly. For example, to make a decorative fireplace in natural size with your own hands from brick, you will have to master masonry, but to create a cardboard model you just need to have imagination and a sharp knife.

Good to know: Imitation of a fireplace in the interior of a living room, original design