Use This Married To Real Estate-Approved Fireplace Material To Add A Touch Of Elegance To Your Home

Your fireplace is the focal point of your living room, so it pays to choose the material carefully. However, if there are strict budgets involved, you often feel limited by what you can do. If you're currently in that predicament, you'll be happy to know there might be a workaround. According to "Married to Real Estate," you can easily replicate the look of natural stone fireplaces at a fraction of the cost with cast stone. It will give you the same elegant look as a natural stone hearth but without the hefty price tag. In Season 2, Episode 2, Egypt Sherrod helped a couple relocate from Kansas to Roswell, Georgia, and she wanted to make their living room into something special. Prior to the makeover, the space had an old-fashioned checkered tile fireplace, with the tiles alternating between yellow and brown. It needed a facelift, and Sherrod decided cast stone would be the perfect way to redo it while staying within budget, choosing the Bolero model from DreamCast.

"That's cast stone, so it adds that elegance," she told the couple on the episode. But what is cast stone? It's basically concrete manufactured to look like real stone. The concrete is poured into a mold, and it comes out looking like a faux-marble mantle. It's much lighter than its authentic counterpart, which not only makes it more budget-friendly but easier to install. Here's what you need to know about it, and how to use it in your own home.

If you want to recreate the elegant look of the Roswell fireplace from "Married to Real Estate," you have several different options. You can buy a precast mantel from places like Home Depot or Amazon, but the designs are limited when ordering from giant marketplaces like those sites. If you want something a little more unique — or even custom-made — you need to shop at a specialty site, such as Old World Stone Works or The Mantel Shoppe. Or, if you don't see a design that you like or you have a particular look in mind, you can also create a custom one with vendors like Oregon Castings & Design. There are a ton of different specialty websites, so do a quick Google search to find ones with your aesthetic or that are in your city.

The prices can vary depending on how simple or elaborate the design is, but expect a range between $1,700 to $5,000. It is also best to get it professionally installed rather than trying to DIY it yourself. That's because, while it's lighter than natural marble or a similar stone, it's still quite heavy and will take several people to move it into place. It's made from concrete, after all. That means it's best to choose a vendor that will include installation in the overall package, since buying it from a place like Home Depot won't get you that service. But whichever route you take, you will be able to have a beautiful faux-stone fireplace that will add a touch of timelessness to your living room.