How One Guy Made A Cool Fireplace For The Office On The Cheap

Some office decorations are “nice,” and some are straight-up weird. This one guy, though, decided the drab workplace deserved a glowing fireplace, and he built it out of stuff you would normally throw away or forget in a storage closet.

It started with a few sport utility boxes from U-Haul, then turned into a three-box, brick-pattern, 3D-looking fireplace that somehow looks real when the orange lights kick on. The mantle got a slab of white pine and Liquid Nails, the grates were hot-glued cardboard, and the “logs” were rolled, slitted, and sprayed matte black.

By the time he added the cheap decorations, including that holiday banana for scale, the whole office felt like it had been upgraded overnight.

"It all started with a few sport utility boxes from U-Haul."

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"And just by sponging on different colors of paint, he was able to create a convincing brick-and-mortar pattern."

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"By opening up the box, he was able to create a realistic 3D fireplace."

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"What you see is actually three cardboard boxes, painted like a pro."

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"For the mantle, he used a slab of white pine and connected it to the fireplace with Liquid Nails."

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"For the grates, he just cut out some pieces of cardboard and hot-glued them together."

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"For the logs, he rolled up two pieces of cardboard, unrolled them, then cut slits on the outside."

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This is similar to the worker debating whether to stop sharing food with a sticky-fingered lunch thief.

"He spray-painted it with black matte paint and connected the two tubes with electrical tape."

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"Next, he inserted a string of orange lights into the tubes, with the plug coming out the back."

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"And surprisingly, it looks like a real, glowing log!"

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"With a few cheap decorations…"

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"He turned it into a workplace winter wonderland!"

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"(With a holiday banana for scale.)"

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He didn’t buy a single fireplace kit, he started with those U-Haul sport utility boxes and went to work painting a convincing brick pattern.

When he opened the boxes and turned three cardboard layers into a realistic 3D fireplace, the office went from “hmm” to “wait, is that real?”

The magic really hit when the orange string lights slid into the tubes, and suddenly those black-matte “logs” started glowing like they belonged there.

Then he topped it off with cheap holiday extras, because nothing says “winter wonderland” like a glowing fake fireplace and a holiday banana for scale.

In the end, our hero's creation served as more than just a whimsical decoration; it was a testament to the power of creativity and resourcefulness. With a minimal investment of time and money, he succeeded in brightening the spirits of all who passed by, proving that a little ingenuity can go a long way in spreading holiday cheer.

So the next time you find yourself faced with the drab confines of office decor, remember the tale of the DIY holiday fireplace. With a touch of creativity and a few spare boxes, you too can transform your workspace into a winter wonderland, all for less than the cost of a festive latte.

He proved that with a few U-Haul boxes and some cardboard wizardry, an office can glow brighter than your seasonal expectations.

After building a fake brick fireplace, don’t miss the office lunch theft showdown with the coworker stealing homemade meals.