apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You might also try some more color in the room. I think that's part of the problem.

The composition of the forms and voids in the room is very "bottom heavy" - the large rectilinear shape with stone of the fireplace banked by the leaded glass bookcases create a very heavy form on the bottom half of the room. Contrasting this are the two natural light sources from the stained glass, which flank an open expanse of boring beige creating a visual void.

The result is that the fireplace looms even larger. You might add a bold color to the walls to replace the existing beige - maybe something that both complements the natural stone and slate while picking up one a color that in the stained glass. It will also make the white trim of the windows pop out better and give them some visual heft. I'd also make use of the void above the fireplace mantle with a single large mirror or a large painting. You might even try bringing the new color down to the back of the bookshelves (but not the shelving itself) to create the visual illusion of the wall coming down.

By achieving some compositional balance, you might find the fireplace doesn't fight the rest of the room so much. Because your house has some very nice period detailing - the leaded glass doors, the stained glass, the built-in casework - that you should try to bring out.

I also like the stones, and agree with the color recommendations for the walls. Of course, if your hand is simply itching to smash the rocks, you could always remove the windows before picking up the sledge hammer. I'm just sayin..

Your room looks very Arts and Crafts...I love your built-ins and stained glass windows!

Most fireplaces that I've seen in Craftsman style homes have used glazed tiles...usually in rich greens and autumn colors. I've included a link (if I did it right)..that has multiple fireplace examples. I've also seen bronze tiles used.

You could also build a wood facade, paint it white so that it blends in with your existing woodwork and leave a small border of riverrock exposed around the fireplace opening. You could use some removable caulking at the edges to fill in the gaps around the rocks and give it a built-in look.

But the river rock really isnt out of place in a Craftsman style house. It might be less overbearing for you once you add color to the room. Right now, it looks as if that small corner of furniture I see...your couch, perhaps?...is a very close color to the stone.

http://www.alchemiestudio.com/projects.html

I love the rocks but I don't have to live with them! How about this, paint the lower cabinets a darker color, something in the warm grey family that would match up with the rock color. You could then pain the back of the cabinets an even darker color, this could simplify the look of everything you see on the shelves.

Another approach would be to strip the paint off the cabinets and mantle and stain them a rich color. I would add sconces, it looks like you have outlets already that are capped off. Something remarkable for the art, either a great mirror or one piece of art. I would get rid of the yellow on the walls and use a rich red? or something very earthy. Great room.

I agree with the comments above-- the yellow is a little too "cool" and the room could be warmed up with a darker color. If adding a lot of color is scary, you might think about just painting the insides of the cabinets to add something.

Also, that big blank space above the fireplace is just screaming for some awesome artwork.

The river rocks were painted before? What color?

You could get rid of the leaded glass doors, but they add a lot of character to the room.

You could put minimal stuff on the bookcases and make it all white, as to simplify the look of the bottom half of the wall.

You could put a tension rod on the bookcases behind the glass doors and put a white curtain there to give a solid white background to the bookcase doors, which would also lighten up the lower half of the room.

You could put something above the fireplace for balance, but not something too heavy or ornate. Maybe sconces and a simple framed piece of artwork.

You could paint the white trim a different color, especially around the stained glass windows, to balance the heavy solid rock and the light, bright windows floating above it.

just some thoughts.
Me? I like the rock.
jenney

I too love the rocks and the stained glass. Maybe to take emphasis off the fireplace you can hang an interesting art piece on the wall above it. Also the black fireplace screen can be replaced to make it less bottom heavy.

I personally love the rock and would be tempted to take out the stained glass (keep it and use it for something else, just not in that room), but IÂ’m sort of anti-country/crafty and the room looks country as-is.

That aside though, you obviously like the windows so you should keep them because it's your house and your taste that matters. I agree that it is a busy room and would like to address those slate tiles. Have you considered taking the sledge to them and replacing them with a slab? I think that would give the fireplace a cleaner look without destroying its river-rocky charm. Failing a slab, perhaps LARGE tiles in white (pending white reduction elsewhere) or a bright and/or rich colour?

I think another part of your problem is all the thick white trim; it makes everything look too framey-framey.

I go with the consensus on the rest of the stuff slap a good, darker/richer/brighter colour on those walls and tone down the huge, blocky window frames, add those sconces everyone is talking about plus the over-fp-art, throw in some complimentary furniture, accessories and a rug and you'll have one great room.

Best of luck on your decorating endeavors.

Assuming your woodwork is oak -- if it were stripped and refinished, and the walls were painted a medium-depth warm gray, the room would settle right down. Suddenly, the major note of color would be the pattern in the leaded glass.

This doesn't help if you truly hate the rock, of course.

what about just covering the rock area with copper flashing/surround?

I think a hammer and chisel could remove the rocks without causing a lot of extra damage.

Some nice art in the space above the mantle would attract the eye away from the clutter along the sides.

I find that open shelves (even with glass doors) make a room look cluttered. You might consider covering the glass on the doors, perhaps with cute little curtains that are gathered at the top and bottom along small rods.

Also, you could do a lot with color. I'd get rid of the boring neutral color scheme and go for richer colors or even dark stained wood along the trim, if there is nice wood under all that white paint. If you could bring out the wood in the ceiling beams as well, the look would be fabulous.

The problem with the rocks is that they are very busy. One would expect stone to be solid and calming in thier weight. These seem to be just floating on the surface of your firplace in a very uncalming way. ARe you sure they are old? They appear to be a DIY project that was done int he past 10 years or so. I think the lack of heavy mortar seems to give the newness away. Maybe mortar is the answer. Or perhaps if these stones were added recently in a diy project they might "pop" off easily as well. Maybe there is wood, brick or stucco beneath?

I have to agree w/ Wende that the problem is in part that the trim and built-ins have been painting white, which is causing the fireplace to dominate the room and too much motion on the part of the built-ins. Stripping them down the original oak (likely wood choice, considering the arts and crafts style of this room) would decrease the contrast. Don't forget to do the interiors, too, as bringing them back to the original wood w/ lessen the impact of the horizontal shelf lines and contrasting lead, leading to less movement.

Of course, stripping wood isn't a whole lot of fun and there's plenty of work here, so its definitely not the easiest solution.

wow, i think it's really beautiful. i hope you keep it.

Is this a working fire place? Do you use it?

What I find irritating is how the mantle is large natural round organic river stone and the bottom section on the floor of the hearth is square tiles. You could change the floor tiles to be consistant with the rest of the design.

this fireplace is great - and so are the rest of the room's arts & craftsy details (ceiling? stained glass?? built-ins??? i'm so jealous!) i think it's gorgeous & i hope you keep it.

i love the fire place and would love to have it for myself.

Use Colours - Use the colours in your glass window to paint the builtins - one paint for the trim, the other for the builtin doors and another for the inside. and choose yet another colour for the walls between the windows. Paint the windows the same way that you would paint the builtins. This way you would be making the window look like a part of the builtin cabinets. The eye will be drawn from top to the bottom.

choosing darker colours would liven up the same. I can imagine the space with a fire in winter. It would be like a charming cabin with contemporary looks. use candles to liven up when you do not build a fire.

( Infact I am planning to put rocks on a full wall in my house amidst all the colour that I have. My colours are brown curtains, cobalt blue and yellow walls,(the rest of the walls are beige olive green sofa, red computer desk, light wood entertainment center and dinning table ( ikea), asian accents and huge canvas 3 x 5.

paint the rocks white.

I agree with the suggestion of covering the open bookshelves,I think that migh simplify the room. But I wouldn't use curtains -- I think the added texture would make things even busier. What I would do is take some spray adhesive and some really nice plain, colored (not patterned) wrapping paper from a craft paper store (like PaperSource, Hollanders, etc) so that the leading in the glass shows through.

The spray adhesive should dry clear, and you'll have a nice focal point. If you find a color of paper you love, get some matching paint and redo the yellow. I'm thinking of a sage green or a light slate blue.

Good luck!

no one has mentioned this yet...

it looks to me like the wall above the fireplace is too narrow.

i can see that there used to be two sconces there, but i think you'd be better off getting a contractor in there to remove that wiring, and widen the wall above the mantle to almost the full width of the fireplace surround.

also before you remove the stones you might pack some mortar in there and kind of smooth it out like this
http://static.flickr.com/38/125682217_a804d6a70b_m.jpg

make sure you don't like it before you plaster over it

What did you use to get the paint off of the rocks? Best of luck with the project!

Leave the rocks, but frost the glass on the cabinet doors... instant "quieting" of the look of the whole facade.

Still not happy? reduce the contrast of the wall and trim colors.

i know you don't like the rocks, but i think the rocks look great. the room looks cozy and has a lot of squared off structure; the ceiling beams, built in cabinets, and windows. the river rock is an organic counterpoint to all that structure. look at the photos of your room, it might help you take a more objective view of the situation before changing the fireplace.

oh, and painting the room could help integrate the fireplace into the room.. the white trim is too bright.

just wanted to mention that since this was slinked to AT:NY, there are quite a few comments over there -- click on my name for the link

You're not seeing the real style here if your anti-fireplace. Painting rock is just down right tacky. This is actually really special. All the wood should be stripped of paint and stained. Suddenly, the fireplace would make more sense. This could be fabulous.

Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions, everybody.
To answer a couple questions:

- The rocks were painted battleship gray with both pink and white layers beneath.

- We doubt that the fireplace & hearth are original, but the neighbor who has lived there for 40 years doesn't remember there being anything else.

- The previous owner used the fireplace, so it does work. Once we fix the cracked firebox, we might use it too.

- I used Citristrip chemical stripper to strip the rocks, as I thought it was the safest method given the lead paint. It was a time-consuming and messy job.

- We know the trim is fir, not oak. (BTW, all the woodwork in the rest of the room and house is painted white.)

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. Accessories...and 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 tink the impact of the fireplace will disapear if you put some framed artwork (in white) not above but on it so that you only see small parts of it.

I also agree with the colour change and maybe you should put some lights at both sides of the wall above the fireplace

hope you make a good choice and waiting to see the result

I was willing to believe the majority votes on fireplace-as-Craftsman if your trim was oak -- but if your trim is fir, the place is one of those Craftsman/Colonial Revival hybrids and the fireplace should be trimmed with wood (painted to match the shelves) and a fairly quiet tile. (The stone would be a plausible rehab as early as the mid-1950s, which would work with your neighbor's recollections.)

Get out a chisel and go for it! When you choose new tile for the area, pull out an "historic color" paint chip card for Colonial Revival/1920s (Sherwin Williams should have one). You don't have to go ultra-authentic, but you're looking for an intensity of color that both looks natural with the architecture and goes nicely with your own taste.

Please don't touch the stone. I think it's by far the best thing in the room. I'm not such a fan of the stained glass, but I think what makes this look odd is the colors and the fact that the stones do not go up to the ceiling. I think you need a large painting over the mantle to bring the eye upwards, and you need to paint the wall a more neutral or cool (like moss green) color. I would also strip the wood and finish it.

I also think the suggestion of widening the wall above the fireplace is a good one. Right now, it's too bottom heavy, and that's what is throwing everything off.

I grew up in a house that had a very similar fireplace setup; however, ours was cream-painted brick. In that house, and in other houses I've been in that have similar fireplaces, the wood on the cabinet sections ALWAYS has a dark stain. I bet this did too, at one point, and the same people who painted the rocks white also painted the bookcases.

So, I agree with suggestions to strip the wood.
I'm not sure that it would look great with the dark stain, because of the grey of the stone. If I weren't putting a facade on the stones, I might even paint them again... carefully, realistically, a different color, probably something in the cream/tan/brown family.

People are complaining about the yellow, but I think it would look fine in the room with darker wood. Just not really sure what to do about those stones. Covering and tiling them also sounds like a good option, as in the Laird Palmleigh link that sjv posted.

Fiona might be right about the odd thing being the lack of continuity up the chimney. I would actually recommend hanging a large mirror to cover the entire chimney bumpout there, ceiling to mantle. It'll tie together the glass of the windows and bookcases with the fireplace, and give the impression of that similar cool gray up the wall, while also adding the extra sense of space that the substantial rocks probably want. (And, if I'm getting very artsily pretentious, I could say something about the river rock and slate, and the glassy representation of water, and, well... yeah.) :)

The fireplace truly is beautiful; it just draws the eye down too much, because it feels so separate from the other parts of the room. I would try the mirror for a couple of months and see if you like it, before proceeding to more involved and possibly destructive fixes. If it works, cheap fix and no time spent stripping more paint or taking a hammer to your home. If, at the end of a few months, you still hate the rock because it's just not your thing, hey, you've got a nice mirror out of the deal. :)

You are CRAZY to touch this fireplace. It looks like a classic Craftsman/Mission fireplace and is most likely original to the house.

If you must do anything, strip the white paint from the bookcases and woodwork to reveal the original oak, and then seal w/shellac or polyurethane. You are NUTS to do anything else!

I've torn out a large rock fireplace before, and it can be more difficult (and destructive) than it appears due to weight of the individual rocks.

An alternative would be to build out the existing mantel and extend it downward, towards the floor. A more substantial mantel would visually shorten the rock and help address the visual imbalance. Also, besides painting the wall as mentioned (perhaps a color to bring out the stained glass), you may want to build out the current chimney brest, and retile the hearth (if not original). Finally, much could be accomplishmed by hearth level accessories such as a wood pile/holder, a slightly larger and non-rounded firescreen, and flanking a vase/plant. Try some of these out before you take down the rocks... believe me, they are much easier to change.

I was looking for before & after fireplace photos because I am looking to paint or reface our ugly fireplace. WOW - your fireplace is definitely not in the ugly category (in my opinion)! I winced at the suggestion of possibly taking a sledge hammer to it. I agree with the suggestion of stripping & staining the wood surround the fireplace. Then again, this may be a lot of work & you may likely be exposing yourself to lead paint fumes in the process. What about painting the white a darker neutral? As another person suggested, check out the Arts & Crafts color chart at Sherwin Williams & maybe choose a palate for the trim, walls, etc. go from there. Also, the idea of hanging a painting or mirror above the mantle sounds like a good one as well. Bringing some of those gray tones into the room somewhere else may balanace out the overwhelming size issues you're feeling when looking at your fireplace right now.

This post might be old...but. anyhoo..I like the potential of that fireplace and room. You could keep the rock and then take away anything dainty in the room and go for rugged wood, rustic, heavy, warm...definately not white. Any colors found in the woods.

Something remniscent of this sort of look...http://www.alantanksley.com/project8_3.html

Hope this inspires you!