Please help (fireplace re-design)!

last year

Hi all. I had my existing fireplace taken apart because it was too traditional and I wanted a lighter stone and dark, floating mantle. Stone is switched out, dark mantle is up, and I had new wood trim installed yesterday, I was looking for a clean, modern line with no additional bevels, ridges, details etc.

**The dark blue wall is going to be painted agreeable gray, and the wood trim is to be painted white.

** something looks off or missing with the wood trim. Any tips on how to fix it so it looks more complete/proportional without adding ornate detail or an old fashioned look? I’d prefer to add something instead of redoing the entire thing. Thank you so much.

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Comments (11)

Jennifer Karatz
Original Author
last year
Old fireplace, and current fireplace
PRO
Norwood Architects
last year
No offense intended but the design almost looks cartoonish. It might help if the upper piece of surround didn't overhang the side pieces. The unstained/unpainted wood trim doesn't quite go with the stone surround either. Am going to suggest you consider a stain or paint for the trim. White is my first inclination but it would really take some experimenting to select the right color stain or paint. The mantel has a slight rustic quality in the photo, at least. Perhaps you should go for a sleeker look - maybe stone. Good luck!
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I watched an HGTV episode recently where they placed several layers of compound right over the brick; sanding and smoothing in between coats until they achieved the desired surface. They then built a surround with mulitple layers of MDF and built up a molding. Inside the surround they laid out a light colored stone... something like a flagstone. On either side they built white open shelving to house home theater equipment. Sounds a little like what you want. Now... I'm a HUGE fan of glass tile but once you do it... you're kind of married to it due to expense. The beauty of this "spackle" treatment... is you can change out the color, making it an accent wall or blend it in with the existing cabinetry giving it a real built in look. The episode was pretty cool because the chiseled out the stone to create a thick deep enough groove into which they laid tubing through which they ran the all the wires for the home theater equipment. So many ideas out there.....
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How are you planning to use your fireplace? Do you have your insert chosen yet? Do you have any safety concerns? I really like the hearth that continues into the bench seat in one of your inspiration photos. I can offer my sympathy because we waited and waited on fireplace drawings from the architect. Our fireplace is outdoors so we just continued the board and batten look -- the stone we were using elsewhere would not have looked right given the size of our fireplace insert and we didn't want to go smaller on that (plus it already had been purchased). This porch room has similar dimensions to your wall -- 10' ceiling, the fireplace area is 64" wide and each side is 6'+. The insert is 42". Sorry for the poor camera phone quality and angle (taken from over a table) and it's not done -- still waiting on doors. We did a cantilevered bluestone hearth to tie in with our steps. You can see that your inspiration photos have a much wider fireplace area in relation to the size of the firebox itself. Just something to think about as you are selecting your unit and working on the design. Good luck! This post was edited by Oaktown on Tue, Nov 4, 14 at 0:31
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mjlb - I love that too! Although I didn't do that on mine, I think it would be an easy update. I also like the sconces on the columns. jakabedy - Oh good, I did something right? Thank you for that. I never really thought of the mini brick as contemporary (maybe the glass, but not the other) ... probably becuase it still has that traditional subway pattern. My main conern is using the same size (whether 1x2, 2x4, or 3x6) for both bs and fp. I also thought that using the smaller tile would provide more variation in the color of the stones, and give a bit of a casual, slightly rustic look????
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chispa, Thanks for your comments. This is not the main TV area. There will be a man cave downstairs with a larger TV. We will put the TV in this great room on some sort of swivel arm so it can be angled towards the viewer. Not sure about speaker location as that is DH's job (and need) in our home too. He is talking about some ceiling speakers as well as some resting in the built-ins. Do you know what the correct spots are for speakers? Yes the depth of the deeper part of the built-ins is 16 inches. I will get DH to recheck that measurement and remind him about the space for plugs, etc. I appreciate the heads-up. bpahhome, Thanks for your help and kind words. The TV will go on a swivel/pullout arm of some sort. It would be great if the remote can work from most seats -- but that may not be possible. Too funny that you have those Danish plates too. I inherited a large collection of those blue plates plus hummel plates and figurines from my Mom. I am trying to find an attactive way to show them off in this new build. Your picture is lovely and a Tom Thomson to boot. Ours is an oil original, but not by such a famous painter. It was made by a Quebec painter some years ago and was also inherited from Mom. Carol Note the colour of the built-ins will be SW Alabaster and they will match the colour of the perimeter cabs in our kitchen. For those who are not familiar with SW Alabaster it is very, very close to BM White Dove (warm off white).
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Jennifer Karatz
Original Author
last year
Thanks. I mentioned in my post that the all of the wood trim is going to be painted white. The dark blue wall will be matched w/surrounding walls. I’m not re-doing it all, but I appreciate your suggestion to remove the overhang on the horizontal wood piece.
apple_pie_order
last year
Remove the overhang on the wood trim. Replace the rustic mantel with a smooth white painted wood mantel.
Sammie J
last year
Get the painting finished, and then repost, showing additional pictures of the room. Very hard to give advice in a vacuum.
Jennifer Karatz
Original Author
last year
It’s a bit better now… I had the extra few inches from the top horizontal piece of the wood trim cut off. I think it looks much better. Now it’s time for painting the wood trim white and the wall, our neutral wall color. I will post a photo when it’s completed.
Jennifer Karatz
Original Author
last year
This is my inspiration pic.. I may or may not be adding those extra window pane/frame type of pieces on the face of the wood trim. Thoughts?
Moore4
last year
Why would you be considering adding the “window pane“ when you just removed it from original?
Jennifer Karatz
Original Author
last year
Good question! I guess I’m just not sure how well the look will come together without it, and it looks nice in one of my inspiration pics. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m not talented or trained w/design, which is why I’m asking for input.
Jennifer Karatz
Original Author
last year
And I also think the panes look better w/just a couple of sections, as opposed to 4….but I’ll wait and see how I like it before adding any extra trim
Rawketgrl
last year
The scale of the tile, the wood and the mantle is off....I wonder if the mantel were bigger if the scale would go together better... also consider painting the light wood the color of the wall to get the floating mantel look...verses white... but what do I know ...I have my head stuck in this ball..

Please help (fireplace re-design)!

Comments (11)

Jennifer Karatz
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Norwood Architects

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Please help (fireplace re-design)!

Comments (11)

Jennifer KaratzOriginal Author

Norwood Architects

Related Discussions

Jennifer KaratzOriginal Author

apple_pie_order

Sammie J

Jennifer KaratzOriginal Author

Jennifer KaratzOriginal Author

Moore4

Jennifer KaratzOriginal Author

Jennifer KaratzOriginal Author

Rawketgrl

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GET HELP

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Jennifer Karatz
Original Author

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Jennifer Karatz
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