Should I try to update floor to ceiling 70’s flagstone fireplace?
The focal point of our 70’s era living room/great room is the original floor to ceiling flagstone (working) fireplace & it’s raised hearth built by masons In 1973. The photo below (#1) is taken with my back to the double front doors, so the fireplace is one of the first things you see from the foyer. Although we use gas logs now, the fireplace has been used consistently over it’s almost 50 years. But it looks dingy now compared to the rest of the room after we lightened up original wood paneling and some trim with paint/white trim. The vaulted ceiling is natural wood tongue and groove with solid 4x4 black beams that extend into the screened porch, accessed through the French doors. Over the years, we’ve renovated/updated just about every floor, wall, and room upstairs and downstairs except the fireplace. Our front porch and courtyard are flagstone, too, but recently done (photo below #2), and the front foundation is faceted with flagstone.
What to do, if anything? How (or who) to clean up/renew/brighten up fireplace? We’ve considered having in white washed, or having masonry grout redone (is that a thing?), some old cracks repaired, or something, but we need some advice.
I sure don’t want to do permanent damage. My interior design style is transitional, not formal, but cozy & warm, not overly trendy, and a bit rustic (as I’ve learned from House Beautiful terminology). Is painting or white washing just a trendy thing mostly for brick fireplaces? Here’s a couple photos. Walls are a light sage. Thanks in advance.
Photo #1
Photo #2
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Comments (12)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
Mid 70s brutalist row house
Comments (45)In its own suburban way, that's what the PO did to this house, magnaverde. We've been spending a lot of time taking out white colonial Home Depot molding and putting in small simple molding (painted the same color as the room), taking out 6 panel fake wood hollowcore doors and replacing them with solid core slab doors or fir single-lite pocket doors...one eyesore I haven't been able to fix yet is in the double -height foyer where a massive foyer fixture once hung, the PO put a cr*ppy white HD fan with shiny fake brass trim...UGH UGH UGH. I actually found a rather tasteful 70s Fredrick Ramond fixture in LN condition at a Habitat store, which would be much closer to what should show in that tall window above the door, but it's *difficult* to get up there and change the fixture out. We've given away so much colonial molding and use the doors for work surfaces. This is no masterpiece house, but it felt like it was being suffocated in faux-colonial trim and we've resimplified it so it could be itself again. Which will probably go completely unappreciated in this neighborhood, but it passed the time. palimpsest, if you have a feeling that you shouldn't post, I completely respect that. Don't want to jinx anything. We'll just have to wait until you have found something and then settled on it and then we can celebrate with you! I have faith that you can do anything you want and will make whichever house (and cash IS king right now, so I understand the drive to underspend) into a photogenic and soul-nourishing home....See More70s bathroom remodel
Comments (8)Do you have another tub in the house? If so I would remove the tub in favor of adding a walk in shower unless you use the tub very often. As to barn doors, as a child in the 70s I lived in a house with track doors, not pocket for the track was not between the walls, so although very popular now with the barn hardware the idea is well over forty years old and they are often financially, structurally and functionally the best solution. I had French doors in a sunroom but the took up to much wall and floor space to function well so we bought track hardware for under 200 bucks and used the orginal style doors built a header over the track on the room side and everyone thinks they are orginal pocket doors to our 1920s house not barn doors. My barn doors are pictured here the project cost less than 300 dollars.Sorry tree is still up but barn doors need not be the style we always see in blogs or hgtv... They can be altered to look like pocket doors with out needing to reframe, move electrics or pay thousands for....See More70's Cabin...Help Me! (See Pics of Wood Paneling & Orange Carpet EEK)
Comments (50)My friend painted the interior of her rental cabin that very same green and with the low ceilings it feels very oppressive to me. I've painted paneling that dark green, but ceilings were 10'. Paneling was wood, so prep was to clean with TSP (tri-sodium phosphate,) rinse, let dry, lightly sand, tack off sanding dust, prime with 2 coats of KILZ, Zinzer or other primer, and then paint with 2 coats of your color. As a vacation property manager for the past 16 years, I can tell you the majority of guests will presume that descendants of the original 70's cooties are living in that rug unless you can prove that it is a new installation. Guests might not hate the faux paneling, but cleanliness issues can kill your rental. The ceiling and floor are your biggest dilemmas. If you decide you want to promote the 70's feeling, you'll need to carry through in the furnishings, etc. Potential galore, but not an easy decision....See Morehow to update 70’s wood walls
Comments (26)Your house has a bit of a mish mash of styles and finishes. You may need to pick what style you think works best for your house overall, and chip away at things. I don’t care for your floors, but they are probably ideal for a family with young children who are entering “the age of destruction.” 😆 Even well behaved kids can be hard on a house. But coming up with an overall plan before tackling small projects will save money in the long run....See MoreRelated Professionals
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3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago- 3 years ago
PRO3 years ago- 3 years ago
- 3 years ago
PRO3 years agoA light white wash a new white/ off white grout and bulkier white mantel would look great and tie it in to your trim color.
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