My fireplace is on a full wall of brown bricks and was very dark. I finally had the courage to paint the bricks white, and loved it. But against the white bricks the fireplace opening was a big black hole. What to do? I decided to make a fireplace cover using tiles and a mosaic design. I had 3/4" plywood sheets cut to the size I wanted, then glued and screwed the two layers together to make it strong and flat. I found metal shelf braces to hold it upright. I used wood door trim to make a decorative trim along the bottom.
It took a long time to come up with all the pieces for the front design. I had some white tiles and glass gems, stained glass pieces too. I found other things on ebay, Etsy, at Goodwill and yard sales. I attached an 8" x 12" stained glass piece with mirror braces so it can be removed and something else inserted. Here are a couple of the designs I tried.
