Fireplace Mini Makeover

Who else loves the movie "The Holiday"? It is one of my all time favorites and I can watch it all year long....no I DO watch it all year long. LOL. 

My favorite part of the movie of course is the yummy cottage. It just draws you right in. I could sit in front of this fireplace all day long! 

This is our fireplace. Pretty standard and looks like every other fireplace in our section. Nothing wrong with it but we have plans of ripping the mantel and tile off so we can create a cottage rustic feel like the movie. I have several ideas swirling around in my head but first I must complete the brick project. If you missed out on what that is click here. Even though a major fireplace makeover is not in the near future I still longed to make it over somehow with little time and little expense.

In comes this Peel & Stick wallpaper which honestly is just glorified contact paper. I have had this blue and white tile wallpaper in my shopping cart for over a year. I have wanted to use it in a project but the whole contact paper thing made me hesitant. I used a brick peel and stick for the faux fireplace in our master bedroom as a temporary solution. To be honest I am not a fan of it. It looks ok from a distance but when you get closer you can totally tell it is not real. That made me hesitant to ordering the tile wallpaper. I am glad I gave in and ordered the tile peel and stick! It was perfect for this mini temporary makeover.

So here is what I was working with. White subway tile that yes, I had picked out when we built but we knew at the time it would be eventually replaced. I have some blue and white porcelain tile that I almost put up over the subway tile. Did you know you can tile over tile!? Mind blowing! I read up on it but decided that I would just save the actual tile for when we actually redo the fireplace design. Anyways, so I wiped down the subway tile and dried it off so I would be working with a clean surface. 

Next I opened up the peel and stick. I have to say I was shocked at how realistic this tile paper is y'all! Yes, if you touch it it does indeed have that plastic contact paper feel but who really goes up to a fireplace and feels tile? Well me if it is really pretty but that is besides the point. For install I ended up having to cut the paper into several sections which for any other design would be a nightmare come time to matching up design and seams. With this particular design it was perfect! The design is not perfect so if your lines do not match up perfectly you have no idea. I mean seriously this is the best! The paper went up super easy since I did it in sections and has stayed up. I was worried about it coming down once we turned on the fireplace but nope, it hasn't gone anywhere.

Here is the end result! I did this mini project while Mr. Front Porch was overseas for work. He came back and was impressed. He says he can not believe it is Peel & Stick wallpaper! So I say this mini project was a win win. I can not wait to share more pics of it with the holiday mantel! I am almost done with it and will share soon so be sure to stop back by.

My final thoughts on Peel & Stick Wallpaper are this, it is great for small projects and was super easy to install. I will say the brick peel and stick was not as easy to install because you HAD to match seems up perfectly and the brick. It left a lot of wasted paper! Is it something I will use again? Most certainly but probably not on a large scale project but who knows. Now if I was renting and not able to permanently change a space up then yes. If you are wanting to change things up just for the fun of it and not wanting to commit then yes the Peel & Stick is the way to go! Now if you are completing a large space with it and say are using the brick, or stone, or shiplap version and know you want it to be a permanent look then I say just save up your pennies till you can afford to do it permanently. Peel & Stick is not cheap especially if you have to purchase multiple rolls. This roll cost me $34 and even though I have some left over if I had wanted to do an entire wall with it I would be looking at over $100. With that type of cost I would just rather purchase actual wallpaper which would cost you less depending on the design. You get way more wallpaper on a roll than with a roll of Peel & Stick.

So have you used Peel & Stick in your home? How do you like it?