apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Paint the stones white and the fireplace will blend in nicely instead of look out of place.

wait a minute!

that fireplace looks really really good. all you really need to do is maybe put some accessories that'll jazz up the place.

if not - i second painting the rock white and maybe a dark grout...?

Oh wow!!! I love it! Im a libra so this is total balance eye candy for me. Don't touch it, its lovely: all I would do is add some track lighting and a big ass LCD monitor. voilá!

Wow. The fireplace is the only good thing here. Priorities, dude.

I have seen a of of fireplaces like that, river rock etc. But from that pic this one looks better than average. The grout is way back, the rocks nicely monotone.

If it were my house I would keep it, maybe de-sterilise the flanking built-ins with some colour detail or at least put something on the damn mantel :)

Hey, folks, maybe add your comments about the fireplace to the actual Post... the owners are more apt to see the comments there.

I'd leave it to. Especially if there is any other R.R. theme goin' on around your place. Maybe pull off that extra foot and a half or so from each side and replace the rock moving up the chimney line so that it is more defined and higher...would be grand!
I have a painted R.R. fireplace and columns on my front porch and I HATE the fact that they were painted. If anybody has any ideas on how to REMOVE PAINT FROM RIVEROCK toss me a line. Cheers.

I'd take the windows out and put them aside for safe keeping and then take a sledge hammer to the river rocks. The rock is nice, but doesn't complement the windows and moulding.

Leave the boulder fireplace, and strip the white paint off all the wood. There are bungalow/craftsman addicts who would pay through the nose for that living room, but even if bungalow isn't your thing stripping the white paint will pop the fireplace back into place while keeping the value of the house intact for when you want to resell it.

first question, do you use the fire place?
second question, are the rocks real?
third question, are the rocks face/half rocks?

seeing the space and myself personally answering the above questions, design would lend itself to; the rocks are whole, the fire place burns wood and yes you want to use it.

if the distant statement is true; leave the fire place intact and remove the shelves,cabinets, mantel on both sides of the fire place also remove the thick trim around the windows.
retrim the windows,(thin trim for a larger window effect) put tall plants where the cabinets used to live and if you really want to finish the view...let the river rock live by installing a water fall that flows slowly down the face off the rocks(cleans the air of smoke and debris particles with natural hydronic heat)

best wishes.

max:

have an MDF fireplace built to cover the river rock. the river rock will come in handy at resale time (but not painted/otherwise altered river rock...)

call up HGTV and have Trading Spaces do the new fireplace. but make sure you get Vern or the skinny white southern one; not hildy - she may go with the river rock theme and decorate your remaining walls with frozen/thawed rainbow trout fillets.

Do. Not. Paint. Those. Rocks! They're a great feature--so nicely fitted, and they really have character. To make them look less heavy and so domineering of the space, paint the interiors (Shelves, sides, backs) of the bookcases flanking it matte black. Paint the doors of the bookshelves a medium gray, picking up on the color of the rocks. Lose the awful grungy yellow, and paint the walls a soft, light gray. Go with it, don't fight it! The whole room will sing.

And while you're putting the books and objects back onto the shelves, try to balance the visual weight.

The stones suck and are out of whack with the rest of the room. pry off those rocks (perhaps use them for a Shariah-inspired stoning of P2) and replace with drywall and paint, leaving a tasteful fireplcae with the correct-sized aperture for that wall.

Hell-looo...
Hey, folks, maybe add your comments about the fireplace to the *actual* Post on AT San Francisco... the owners are more apt to see the comments there.

And Jonathan, I know I fired the opening volley in your direction on another thread, but could you just PLEASE leave me the fuck alone?

But I find it soooo amusing how much advice you can freely seem to give to others, when you can't ever decide on a friggin' thing for your own gut-reno-manse, like even how to make a bedside lamp DIM.

Just because the stone work is honorable in it's own right and certainly well done, does not mean it is well suited for that space and in this case, it does not suit the space.

The size and color of the stones chosen are far far too large for that room. Stones that size should be climbing up a 30 foot wall framing a fireplace in a lodge.

I believe you are correct to find it dissonant with the rest of the room (and I'm guessing with the rest of the house).

This cute house with charming detail is not in keeping with this fireplace on steroids.

From a budget standpoint, first try painting them white so they blend in with the surround, and then paint the room walls a different color. Accessorize. Decorate.

If it still looks like you painted over a problem, you'll have to get out your chisels and remove the stone. You'll build some arm definition in the process.

I liked the idea of having the windows removed for their safety should you go for demo..

Good luck.

I have never understood why people buy houses and then the first thing they want to do is demolish the details that make the architectural details unique and charming.

The only problem with that room is the white trim and yellow walls. But if you do feel the urge to further kill off the arcitectural charm of the place, then do like juniemoon suggested and simply hide the river rock behind safe bland MDF. Like she said, you will be glad at resale time. Painting the rock is an automatic cut in the value of the house.

If you decide to invest in actual restoration (which really would increase the value of the place) and return the woodwork to the original shellacked oak color, suddenly the river rock will not jump out the way it does now.

Hell-looo... (AGAIN!!!)
Hey, folks, maybe add your comments about the fireplace to the *actual* Post on AT San Francisco... the owners are more apt to see the comments there.

ps: On that actual thread, you'll read that the owners stripped paint OFF the rocks, and other details about what they want to accomplish, not detailed here...

I see, the library porn makes rounds; first saw it 3 days ago and drooled then.

P(2) - Jonathan-Shmonatan, but isn't it what everyone here does: chunking out advice on matters they're not experts in? With few notable exceptions, of course.

I agree, Tat. P2 really is a fricking moron. I'm glad we agree on that.

Jonathan, darling, looking for alliances is a mark of an adolescent. Com'n, you're a father now, an adult, a rock by yourself. You don't need to seek associations for your independent opinion.

Time for clean-up: Labour Day!

Build a slim steel frame surround and face it in lucite. It would be a phenomenal combination of the organic and the industrial.

Stop posting comments about the fireplace here!! Post them where the owners can see your comments, on the original SF AT post!!!