apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think you should use the technique talked about here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/how-to/how-to-make-your-brick-walls-like-bddws-004202

It will soften the edges of the stones without looking too much like an obvious cover-up. Then maybe paint the surrounding walls something other than white.

I assume this is a rental, but maybe the landlord agrees that it's hideous and would let you paint the stone white. You won't know if you don't ask.

But the first thing is to get rid of the tchotchkes on the floor. They are not hiding any of the hideousness. If they are an attempt at camp (which would be understandable given the circumstances), they need to be BIGGER. Think of the reindeer statue at the now-defunct Sno-Drift lounge.

I would start by removing anything that draws attention to it, including the mantel and all the chotzkes on the hearth.

Then, I'd start accepting it for what it is, which is a weird fieldstone fireplace. It's specific to a certain style, and trying to shoehorn it into any other style just makes it stick out more.

Am I the only person who thinks this fireplace is kind of fun?? I’m having hot toddy visions.

My recommendations would be as follows:

1 | Please please please get rid of all that kitschy stuff on the floor, not to mention those paintings on the mantel.

2 | I agree with Caitlin about changing the shared wall color.

3 | I can’t see the layout of the room, so this may not work, but I like the idea of adding some seating. Like oblong and square ottomans to create a little “nook,” then people can sit facing or turned away from the fire. And they’re movable.

4 | Perhaps change out that black chain-link enclosure (those things drive me nuts!) to something more modern or clean.

5 | As for the mantel, I would love to see it lower (not sure if that’s possible) with a very large piece of colorful, modern art. Seems from the soot that it gets fairly hot the few feet above the fireplace, however.

6 | Repainting the mantel is also an option. My old roommate and I did this with our brick mantel and it worked out really well. But we had a really open space and and light carpet, so we painted the mantel white. But I’m not entirely convinced that it would work with the camel colored carpet in your friend’s place.

Good luck! And don’t abandon your friend in her hour of re-decorating need :-)

- K

i'd paint it white and install a wider mantel, adding a huge ceiling to mantle mirror.

what's on the floor?

holly

After the first shock wore off, I found myself agreeing with Kari. The fireplace is a statement. It's a much more powerful statement than the rest of the apartment's efforts at low-budget 1980s chic (miniblinds, the semi-Colonial fixtures, the semi-Colonial front door).

If I owned that place, I'd be upgrading the window treatments and light fixtures to something with some oomph, painting the walls one of the beiges in the fieldstone, and furnishing either country-with-an-edge or very 1960s Danish modern. That fireplace would look good with sleek furniture and maybe one other BIG rustic thing on the other side of the room. (It does need BIG accessories.)

None of this is what you want to hear, of course.

my apologies... i meant 'lower' mantel, not wider. duh.

also, that chain link has to go.

if you can't paint the fireplace, it's fine the way it is the more i look at it. i'd like to see photos of the entire room before posting solid opinions... it's not fair to the homeowner. or renter. that is also something that would help us - is the person able to change things or is this a rental?

holly

I'd remove everything off of it, including the mantel. And the bottom stuff has got to go.

And stick one large graphic black or white image/shape on it.

If I had to keep the mantel, I may just stick to black and white images.

Just keep gold away from it and you should be fine.

there was an episode of "my parent's house" where the hosts stained the brick wall/fireplace with a toned down, almost sheer glaze to make it a touch more monochromatic, but still retaining some of the tones. (click on my name for the episode link) i really love stone and would love to feature it in the space some how. from there, i would also remove the mantel and accessories altogether and treat the rock wall as an architectural element, rather than something that needs to be "decorated." if anything, i might have some sort of tall, sculptural plant on the ground, but that's it.

I'd find a new friend.....or suggest a Flintstones motif....

Decorate to whole room to complement the fireplace, then it won't seem so bad!

Hi Michael, The simplest, cheapest thing to do is to paint over the whole icky mess (though don't paint the inside; that's a fire hazard). Or your friend can cover it with stucco:

1. drill lathing channels into the cement joints between the stones.
2. on top of that apply metal lathe with wires or clips
3. then apply cement stucco 1/2" to 3/4" thick
4. trowel on sand for a textured finish, or leave smooth

Tell your friend to look into the local building code before doing anything.

It could be improved upon greatly if she'd remove all the clutter, take down the shelf, use nothing in way of accessories -- it's so massive, it needs to stand alone -- do not add anything to it, treat it as art in and of itself, i.e., it as a natural element, and let it be.

If you really hate the thought of it, and you rent, then you could always buy a huge floor mirror and stand that in front of it.

If the mantel is shallow enough.

There are 3 competing elements here. staring at the fireplace, the eye sees the front door, then fireplace, then window. very tiring.
Remove the items in front of the fireplace and remove the shelf and the black rolling screen. If you can paint paint the entire back wall and front door with a matching warm neutral. Get wooden blinds and paint in the same color. I can see how you are trying to instinctably creat a focal point with the floor items, not working yet though.
If you can not remove the shelf, remove the 2 small pictures which only emphasize the door to window imbalance. add about a 2x3 foot long colorful painting to the shelf and do not center on the shelf but place to the right, off kilter, to balance the hole left by the fireplace opening. The off center longish image will bring the eye back into the room and will possibly help create a more balanced focal point. For little money, go to the lumber store and buy a piece of masonite with a rought side. Paint holds well on the rough side and it is cheap, you can usually find a scrap piece in a longish size or cut it down. Get some Acrylic paint and paint a big red shiny painting with friends. something that is modern in feel and not too busy.
And maybe even better. with the painting off center, bringing the eye back into the room, add blinds or a curtain to the window that picks up the painting color, once you have a painting that you like to create a sense of a separate space. the fireplace opening is a challenge for furniture. Angling will be key. Someone suggested putting seating close to the fireplace creating a little mini seating area-sounds like a good idea.
The fireplace is fun and with the correct treatment will give the room a great focal point.

my first thought:
sledge hammer.

my second thought(s):
remove all the small cluttery things on the floor.
remove the mantle.
paint the room one of the lighter colors found in the stone.
replace the fire place screen with something sleeker that stands in front of the opening...and black or bronze in color.
ditch (or cover) the mini blinds with some darker neutral color found in the stone.
big, black, rustic accessories.

We are, um, "blessed" with a similar fireplace in our living room, only it's not asymmetrical. I could kill whomever decided to rip out/build over the original 1926 fireplace, but that's a discussion for another time.

Anyway, we're dealing with our stone elephant in stages. The first one: remove all kluttery krap -- no mantel, nothing on the hearth -- and just admit that the fireplace is a strong visual element in the room.

The next thing we did was replace the crapass fire curtain thingy with a decent, streamlined cast-iron fireplace screen. The black is a nice neutral and "grounds" the fireplace a little. Although mine owed more to the Mission style, you could always use a nice, streamlined modern one (some examples in the link on my name).

Our last step will DEFINITELY be to plaster that sucker over, if not pull it down and restore. Although there's a place for 1970s/1980s-style stone statements fireplaces, it's not in my place

Wow! I agree with the suggestions to take everything off of the floor and on the fireplace. There's something to be said about letting a crazy fireplace be a crazy fireplace one hundred percent. Sometimes trying to dress up, restyle or camoflauge (sp?) backfires. But if you want to do camp, antlers mounted on the stone would work well. ;)!

There's this great store on Solano ave. in North Berkeley, the Bone Room, that has allll sorts of antlers and other cool animal artifacts for sale. URL for the store is linked to my name.

Paint it. Use some sort of texturing technique (sponge worked well for me), use colors that are earth-toned that you can also incorporate into the rest of the room's decor. Just don't paint the inside, that could get ugly. And get rid of the clutter!

Get rid of the little stuff and replace with bigger stuff. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, and everything except the plant and pot came from IKEA in the picture I made you.

I added three unframed posters, I have no idea what the fireplace measurements are, but you can look them up online and see what the measurements are of the individual items and then measure out the friend's fireplace. I think the width of the firebox might be wider the the horizontal oriented picture, so I had to put two below.

That sort of layered "I have a lot of art" look. You'll notice there are a few pillows, I would have preferred plants, but didn't have any to paste in other than what I did. There's a statue, also from IKEA, right in front of the "tracks in the sand" poster, it's tall presence is similar to the herders in the heat-mirage picture on top of the mantel.

I changed the color of the walls and blinds ever so slightly. No, you don't have to buy new blinds or even paint the walls. Change out the overhead light bulb that spotlights the fireplace to a yellow/golden tone. The warmest white you can find. Maybe even a yellow bug light. hahahaha, just to add that golden color, without painting (hey, I'm being thrifty here).

Anyway, you'll see that the fireplace is no longer an issue. It's just background for art. And I tried to pick out warm colors in earthy tones, that would help the fireplace "accent" the art, without being the overwhelming behemoth it is in the before picture above.

Check out the fireplace here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96179754@N00/164289632/

Hey, what would probably work are the Phillips peach colored bulbs, they used to carry them at Home Depot. They may only have the pink these days (they used to make pink, peach, blue, and green).

Or maybe an orange clear "party bulb" Just go look at light bulbs at Target abnd Home Depot.

if they own the place & are into really modern then there are people who will cover it w/ cement. if sealed & done very minimal that can look chic.

I'm still not happy with that first picture, so I tried another, this time using a rustic bench and covered it with flowers in pots. It still doesn't look the way I have in my mind, but I don't have a clear picture in my mind. It's kind of "I know something should be there" but when I turn to look at whatever it should be, it disappears.

I want to do rustic with rustic. Or the sleek with coarse. It would help to know what kinds of things the person who lives there likes and might have around the house that we could use!

I have a similar firplace in my home and I plan to attach wonderboard with concrete/stone screws and then tile it with a nice travertine or granite tile. I think painting it will only worsen the problem. Unless you are into rustic decor I can't imagine this fitting in with any other design. Good Luck and please let me know if you find another solution.

I have a home that was built in 1977 and we just moved in last April and found out just last month that when we start a fire half of the smoke rolls out in the family room? Note.. the butterfly damper on the top is open.The metal damper had fell apart awhile ago that is why there is a damper on top. Also, we had a fire box cleaner come out last week and said we need to extend the cap on top another 4 feet do to a draft problem. Why is there a problem now when nothing has been changed on top for 30 years?