wainscoting around an antique soapstone fireplace?
I’d like to add color to my entryway without painting the whole room. Could I add blue or green wainscoting above the fireplace and the surrounding walls? Would love your ideas on how to beautify to this old farmhouse entryway fireplace. PS please ignore the wood door frame that was recently stripped. It will be painted white.
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acm
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party_music50
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Comments (129)Jterrilyn, that floor is actual antique tile I saw on The Antique Floor Company's site (see link below). They're a French company based in Burgundy. This particular floor sold a good while ago (understandably). It was, quote, "recovered from a town house in the Champagne region of France." I'm sure it wasn't cheap, and shipping it from Burgundy to the US would also not be cheap. There are several close-ups at the website that you could use to recreate this tile, if you had infinite money. :-) Here is a link that might be useful: French antique floor tile at the Antique Floor Company...See MoreSoapstone?
Comments (24)Just FYI...I have come to the conclusion that you must deal with someone that uses soapstone EXCLUSIVELY...anyone else and they tend to be obnoxiously against anything soapstone. ALL of our granite yards try to steer you away toward black honed granite--which DOES stain, according to my poor brother-in-law, who is probably at home right now trying to get two big grease spots out of his counters he's been complaining about. Our soapstone is Green Mountin Original PA--VERY black when oiled, kind of charcoal grayish when not. The oil does NOT soak in--merely stays on the surface and slowly "evaporates" (just guessing that's what it does). We used fabricators in Cambridge, NY (not that that will help you out in California!). I just gave up even trying to talk to any granite fabricators about soapstone after the third or fourth place. Really reseach soapstone ONLY fabricators and talk to them. Great qualities of it? you can put a pan or pot right on it from the oven/stove, it's buttery smooth, feels "warmer" than granite, defrosts stuff in a jiffy (no joke!), and looks great in our old farmhouse. Ours is NOT soft and we are not easy on our counters--I have no chips or scratches after two years...and even if it does scratch, you can just buff it out with sandpaper--not that I would, because I kind of like the "worn-in" look. Downsides--you see EVERY crumb or speck of anything on it (good for me...may annoy some people), some soapstone (like mine) doesn't stay jet black--most pictures you see are from people who just oiled it, and usually it's pretty pricey. Good luck! Stick to your guns if you really want it. And no, serpentine and honed absolute black granite are NOT the same...no matter how many times the granite yards tried to convince me of that!! :) Sarah from Albany, NY...See MoreBacksplash Suggestions To Go With Soapstone Counters
Comments (29)I’m currently remodeling my kitchen, going with Black Venata soapstone with a 4” matching backsplash. The walls are just painted in a semi gloss - which worked fine with the old Formica counters too. . My house is older (1918) but really lacking in architectural detail, so I’m trying to keep it very simple. But my vote in your case would be to go for the bead board. It sounds like it would be both beautiful and historically appropriate. I guess my advice would be to bear in mind that you may decide to oil your soapstone - or you may not. If you elect to go with tile it should look good with the untreated gray, the color of the veins, and the oiled soapstone as well....See Moresoapstone counters, tile or soapstone backsplash?
Comments (55)Here are the countertop and backsplash. I’m so relieved… when i saw the soapstone slab, it was in the rain, and hard to get a good idea of the finished product. I love it! Can’t wait for the hood to go up....See More
PROPatricia Colwell Consulting
last yearlast modified: last yearUser
last yearThanks for the comments so far.
Re: door frame- yes it was a lot of work to stop the paint but we’d have to do that 20x more to have flow throughout the house. We stripped the paint because the paint on these frames were caked on.
Re: design of the rest of the house - everything is under construction but the design will be a clean, traditional, and modern.
Re: wainscoting - attached is an example of wainscoting above a fireplace. I would want the surrounding walls as well at about the height shown in the picture, but you all may be right that it’s not the right look for this room. I’ll add more pictures shortly.
I do plan to add a nice painting or mirror above the fireplace, so appreciate the notes on that. The garland is temporary. It’s my one fall decoration so far 😄
kandrewspa
last yearTraditional and modern are two very different styles. Usually the combination of the two is referred to as transitional. This must be an old house so maybe that's what has setup the conflict. If you really like modern but you're living in an old house you have a bit of a dilemma, but the Brits especially do a good job of having modern interiors in old houses. If I were you I would pause a bit on making changes and try to refine your style more. I don't think the paneling you show is the right thing. Truthfully, I would paint the room something other than white, such as green. It might just be the wrong shade of white. It doesn't look complementary to the floors or the fireplace. But maybe that's just the lighting in the picture. How does it look IRL? The natural wood trim with the white door doesn't look right. I know it's daunting to strip all the woodwork, but you could just do this space. You don't have to commit to doing the whole house.
If you haven't already, compile an Ideabook and look for pictures of older homes that have a modern touch. That should give you some ideas. Your fireplace probably once had a large mantelpiece similar to what is in the first picture.
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last yearYes, transitional signs like the right description. I want to bring an old farmhouse into the 21st century but want to make choices that appear timeless and honor the old characteristics.
Attached are more photos in the AM light. The first picture was taken at night.
Yvonne Martin
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T Jarmuth
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