Make Your Fireplace Stand Out With A Genius Tip From The Stars Of Married To Real Estate

Open floor plans are really popular, but they leave your home with large, cavernous spaces that often don't have a focal point. From a design perspective, this is a detriment because it leaves your space feeling aimless. Luckily, if you have a fireplace, the stars of "Married to Real Estate," Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson, have a great way to create a stylish mantelpiece surround. Sherrod notes that using colorful tile draws the eye in and ties your entire room together.

A focal point is an essential part of design because it creates emphasis and directs the attention of the people in the room. To create a focal point, you need to have a certain amount of contrast in your décor. You can achieve this through color, pattern, scale, isolation, framing, and directional placement. With a colored, patterned tile around your fireplace, you can use several of these elements at once to make a big impact in your room.

If your fireplace mantel is unadorned, or if you don't have a mantel at all, you can create a surrounding design with a colorful patterned tile. A pattern is more likely to attract the eye against a solid, empty wall. Moreover, a directional pattern — say, one that points on the diagonal toward your fireplace — is going to have more of an impact than one that is scattered, like a floral or an abstract pattern. You can use many types of tiles on fireplaces, including ceramic, porcelain, and natural stone, so there are many options and price points available.

In addition to a patterned tile, you want to make sure you're choosing colors that complement your décor and style aesthetic. This doesn't mean the colors need to be exact matches, but they should enhance and play off the other colors in your room. For example, if your walls and furniture are mostly warm neutrals, a tile that features rich coppers or earthy greens might be an exceptional accent that can then be further emphasized with small design touches like throw pillows or vases. You'll then frame your fireplace with this tile design to create a statement focal point in your room.

Before you start mixing your mortar or cutting your tile, lay newspapers out on the floor in front of your fireplace to mark the size of the surround you're going to create. Remember that scale can be a determining factor with regard to making a focal point, so you should consider the proportions of your surround relative to the size of your fireplace and the remaining wall. Pick an upper corner to be your starting tile placement and then lay out the rest, marking wherever they go over the line of the newspaper as a place where you'll need to cut.

Mix the mortar as directed on the package — use a heat-resistant cement-based product to tile over fireplace masonry — then spread it with a mortar comb. Place your tile, again starting with that upper corner and using a wet saw to make cuts where necessary. Use ⅛ inch spacers in between tiles, then let it dry. Remove the spacers before grouting, then use a grout that is unsanded and non-acidic, mixing and applying it as directed. Once this has dried, your project is done and your room has an eye-catching fireplace surround that ties together your design aesthetic.