The Touchstone Forte Electric Fireplace Shines in This One Room Challenge Reveal

Home renovation DIY and blogger Marissa Cal Home recently tackled a living room makeover featuring the Touchstone Sideline® Steel Forte Electric Fireplace as the center focal point. 

With a strong passion for interior design and home remodeling, Marissa shares home design tips and step-by-step tutorials of her renovation projects on her blog. Marissa recently participated in the Spring 2024 One Room Challenge®, where she documents her living room makeover. The main star of this updated space is a new fireplace wall, complete with natural wood built-ins, waterfall mantel, and a recessed Touchstone Forte Steel Electric Fireplace, surrounded by marble porcelain tile.

The One Room Challenge® is an online event where DIYers and interior designers tackle home renovation projects. This biannual event fosters a community of creative minds seeking design ideas, support, and motivation. Participants cheer each other on while documenting their projects on the internet.

The Living Room Transformation

Marissa’s goal: transform a large blank wall into a captivating focal point with an electric fireplace. To start, she built out a fireplace frame with 2x4s. She then added drywall and mudded the fireplace bump-out. Marissa inserted the Touchstone Sideline® Steel Forte Electric Fireplace with ease, thanks to Touchstone’s simple installation process. All she had to do was plug the fireplace in, and secure it with screws. Next, she finished the fireplace surround design.

“I was going for traditional-yet-minimalist look for this surround,” Marissa shares. “The painted white wood plus marble leans traditional. The layered straight lines of the waterfall mantel are pretty minimalist. The marble surround is actually large-format porcelain floor tile that I had to cut down with my tiny wet saw.” To maximize space and improve functionality, Marissa added floating shelves and built-in benches with cabinets.

The Best Fit with the Sideline® Steel Forte

The Touchstone Sideline Steel Forte Electric Fireplace's classic shape and non-reflective screen are a great fit for this DIY project. Marissa explains, "I am so pleased with my choice of fireplace insert from Touchstone Home Products. They have some of the best options for electric fireplaces that I’ve seen.”

Marissa praised Touchstone Home Products for fantastic customer service, easy installation, and variety of product options. “Touchstone has a lot of sizes and contemporary designs to choose from, and even some more traditional shapes,” Marissa shares.

More About the Touchstone Sideline Steel Forte

The Forte Steel is truly the best of both worlds: combining the modern tech of an electric fireplace with the aesthetic of a classic fireplace. This model has a traditional 40-inch size, ideal for retrofitting a wood-burning fireplace. The black steel mesh front screen also provides a reflection-free, classic fireplace look. “I chose this model for the more traditional shape, and I love the mesh screen because it reminds me of real wood fireplaces of bygone days,” Marissa notes.

As for the technological benefits, Touchstone electric fireplaces can easily be plugged into a standard outlet or hard-wired. For added convenience, flame colors and heat settings can be modified with just the click of a remote. The 40-inch Forte size is also available with a glass front and smart home features SKU 80006 and with Sideline Elite Smart features SKU 80052.

Project Plan and More From Marissa Cal Home

Interested in learning more about Marissa’s living room makeover? Check out her blog marissacalhome.com and social media @marissacalhome for more home design inspiration. Photo credits: @marissacalhome

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DIY Living Room Makeover: One Room Challenge Reveal

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