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Home Decorating

Please help! Material of fireplace mantle & adjacent cabinet top

13 years ago

Hi, we are having our brick fireplace in our family room redone with wood, granite and base cabinets like this photo --but no bookcases on top. The cabinet maker will have them primed and ready to paint --my initial plan was to have them painted them whatever shade of white that the rest of the trim was, until a painter reminded me how scuffed up it could get and how repainting would be necessary to maintain. So now I need to tell my cabinet guy whether I'm changing my mind, and I haven't easily found photos showing examples to get a visual.... I love the clean look of the painted wood. Will dark wood or dark granite be too much of a contrast for the top or mantle?

Please help me decide whether the mantle and/or cabinet tops should be (1) the same (painted wood), or (2) granite or the same material as the surround, or (3) dark stained cherry (which would match the new kitchen island. Kitchen & fam. rm. adjoin. If you've come across photos, I'd love to see them. Thank you!!

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Comments (5)

rmkitchen
13 years ago
I love your inspiration photo! And I am kinda facing the same dilemma: we are also in the midst of having a mantel and cabs / bookshelves built. I'd wanted to paint them a kind of pale sage (not too dissimilar from your photo) but now am wondering if I should just go with the pale yellow which is our trim color throughout (most of) the house.

Anyway, I don't know if you looked at this thread which has umpteen pics of fireplaces / surrounds -- maybe something there will help?

What I really got from your message is that you like the look of the painted cabs. That was what I took away from your post, and to me that's telling. We have a painted white kitchen (I mean the cabs are painted white) and in our den our cabs are painted the same pale yellow as our trim. Both of those rooms / cabs see *a lot* of use, and neither shows any scuffing or abuse (and I have LOOKED!). So I'm not sure the cabs getting scuffed is really a reasonable, realistic fear. Seriously. My sons are 4 & 6 and they and their friends avail themselves of everything, so we are not a precious family.

What is the natural light like in this room? Do you like a brighter space or are you a darker, cozier kind of person? I think that would carry weight in which way to go. Of course doing the cherry would be beautiful, esp. in marrying your kitchen island, but that could end up being a lot of dark wood. Are you okay with that?

I know I haven't told you in which direction to go, but I think there are other circumstances which will help lead you to the right choice. The lighting in the room, and the fact that it'll be hard to really scuff the cabs to the point of repainting.

That really is a super inspiration photo -- thanks for sharing!
palimpsest
13 years ago
You could paint the tops and get glass cut to fit, or choose a white solid surface or quartz material that went with the white paint. I would definitely do the top of the mantle shelf in white paint regardless if I chose a different cabinet countertop.

But...scuffed how? what are you going to be putting on it, that will get moved around a lot?

My mother's bedroom had a closet with white painted counters and even the bookshelves that got heavy-ish use havent been painted in 20 years and while they are not pristine, don't look bad. How are you planning on using the cabinet surfaces?
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Looking from that direction, I think using the color of the white cabinets would be best. That would keep your island color as a "focal point" and keep that fireplace wall from becoming a "black hole". But can you take a picture looking the other way too (from the fireplace towards the island)?
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Thank you! Perfect timing because we have not completed the project and now that our remodel is almost done it's time to work on the fireplace which is in the adjoining/connected room. We decided not to put the wood above the mantle and we have not finalized our stone choice on the surround and bench yet. I still really like the stacked stone look, but I am not sure what to put on the seat. It will not be Taj Mahal quartzite since I decided I did not want it to look the same as our kitchen countertop, but not sure what to put on the seat if I go with the stacked stone. One reason I like the look of the stack stone because it adds some texture and I do think it looks good when I see it in others photos, but I usually see in photos of fireplaces that do not have a bench so that leaves me unsure what to do. I am still open to any and all suggestions even if it is not stacked stone so please let me know what you all would do. Thank you!!
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Wow, is there really no way to edit a post? I'd like to add these pictures to the original post, but don't see a way to do it. Anyway, here are some more pictures of my basement. Please excuse the mess, I'm clearing it out to get ready to paint, etc. I am also updating the bar--painting and changing the trim on the bottom and adding a new top. Also, here are some picture of other areas of my house that I've been working on, to give you an idea of my decorating style. I'm painting my upstairs with SW Balanced Beige and gradually painting the wood trim with SW Alabaster. I was planning on painting the fireplace the SW Alabaster and the walls SW Balanced Beige or maybe the shade lighter. The TV will go across from the couch on the left. I am considering painting that wall a dark teal. I'm going to paint the bar either the Alabaster or maybe paint those the dark teal instead. I haven't decided on that. I still need to paint the end chairs black and reupolster the seats.
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None of these mantels shown in previous examples will work as depicted because your mantel will be much higher due to the way the fireplace is designed. So I do not see being able to use a mantel as an option. Cover it all with stone floor to ceiling like the example below: This mockup shows your existing stone floor to ceiling, which you probably won't be able to match. So you may need to remove all the stone and start over. But you can cover the black metal box more like you see here. Any mantle would likely need to be about 12" above that top vent to meet code, which is just too high for a mantel. The current mantel is not designed properly and appears to be a stock size shelf someone just hung. It is also likely not up to code. If you could use a mantel, it should wrap around the fireplace. But again, it will be too high.
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User
13 years ago
I like contrast so I would do the mantel white and your cabinets dark stained cherry.
juddgirl2
13 years ago
I love your inspiration photo and would paint the mantle, surround and cabinets exactly the same if it works with the rest of your space.
bellacucina
Original Author
13 years ago
rmkitchen, thanks for the thread - lots of great photos there - I don't think I had come across that one before, and thanks to you and palimpset for making me relook at the painted surface issue: I checked out our 13 y.o. painted bay window sills, and there are some minor marks, but nothing that would make me repaint them! I do love the clean painted look and am going to stick with them. Palimpset, I might put a table lamp or framed photo or book or 2 or knick knack and won't be moving them around much.

roseabby and juddgirl2 thanks for your input too! You all are great.

Thank you GWers for helping me make another decision.... (I've got lots more coming)

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