With winter approaching, it’s time to begin to think about your winter home décor. It is also time to consider that your home will need to feel warmer now that the hot summer days and nights are over. One great way to warm up during a cold winter night is to sit by the fireplace. But what if you don’t have a fireplace to sit by? Don’t fret, using a few simple methods, you can create the look of a fireplace without actually purchasing and installing the real thing.

Choose the wall where your fireplace will go. The first thing you need to do is to paint an area for the fireplace. You will do this by marking off the size that you want, and painting it the color that you want your fireplace to be. Next you will paint your firebox inside the fireplace in a dark black. Take a household sponge, and use it to dab paint on the outside of the fireplace. This will give the illusion of stone. Now that your fireplace is finished, you will need a mantle. Using a wooden shelf in the color that you want your mantle to be is the perfect and simplest choice. Simply attach it to the wall above your fireplace and you have a mantle. You can place candles in front of the “firebox” to give the illusion of a fire in your new fireplace.

While this is not, by any means, a real fireplace, and it won’t really keep you warm on those cold winter nights, just knowing that you have your own fireplace will help to warm you up. You can sit by it and read or sip hot cocoa, and during the holidays, you can hang your stockings off your makeshift mantle. It’s a wonderful idea for a weekend project, and the outcome is a beautiful focal point in the room that is sure to draw attention and appreciation from anyone who sees it.