I wanted to create a faux marble finish for the fireplaces and it's a little trickier to do than it seems.
I searched online for a faux marble finishing tutorial but the one I found did not give me the results I wanted so I decided to change some of the steps so it works.
I assembled the fireplaces first but left the backs off for now. Use spackle to fill in any gaps they may have.
I then painted the fireplaces gray. Using a fine tip paint brush I created veining with white paint all over the gray paint. I suggest you do this in sections rather than all at once.
I then smeared the veining using a foam brush so that some of the lines were erased or smudged and some remained visible. This gives the appearance of marble.
It's a little difficult for the camera to capture the detail but I think you can make out the overall effect below.
After you have "marbled" the fireplaces, you can go ahead and glue the backs in. I used a brick paper printie to wallpaper the backs with but you can finish them anyway you want.
You can then add a coat of gloss varnish for a shiny marble look.
At first, I wasn't going to make a dark gray marble. My idea was to create a light/white marble look but I didn't have the right colors on hand to make it. In the end, I really love the dark gray.
If you want a light gray marble, then just paint your fireplaces white, use dark gray paint to create the veins and smear it with a foam brush so you get the smudged marble look. You can do the same technique with any color paint or a combination of paints for all shades of marble.
Keep In Mind
You can glue the fireplaces permanently to the dollhouse or you can just place them, like furniture, wherever you want. That way you can redecorate in the future.
