Fireplace needs update, I need advice

11 years ago

This is the living room at a beach house we are slowly remodeling. We are doing room by room renovation. I'm looking for ideas for updating the fireplace/living room, which will be one of the next rooms to do . We are replacing the windows, sheetrock and wiring , and adding insulation and flooring, we haven't done anything in the living room yet, except fix a gaping hole in the floor. We also installed a pellet stove for heat that vents directly out the back of the chimney box.

I am thinkingof painting the brick fireplace . We can either fill in , remove , or paint the brass vent above the pellet stove.

I was thinking about adding built in cabinets on both sides of the firepalce under the windows . What about the mirror? stay or go?

Any thoughts?

thanks!

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Shannon Ggem Design

11 years ago

I love your built ins idea, perhaps they can be little seat nooks? It may be nice extra seating with a book shelf under to accommodate visitors. I would eliminate the mirror and bring the brick up to the ceiling then paint all white; I feel like it shortens the room to have the texture stop before the ceiling.

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Comments (6)

potchiemagoodleberry
11 years ago
I'd definitely add some built-ins on either side of the FP. one side can be made to house a tv and components, the other side some storage. you can never have too much storage. if you plan to fill in the vent in the FP, I'd definitely tile over the brick so you won't see a patch job. you options here are limitless. but slate could be pretty here, is easy to work with and is affordable.
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We Make It Our Home
11 years ago
I love the idea of adding bulit-ins. Try to have some closed cabinets below with open shelves on top. Open shelves are great to showcase decoration pieces but are not very practical for storage. Take a look at these photos:
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Also I don't recommend painting the bricks. It will look cheap and unattractive. We had a similar fireplace in our previous house and we tiled over it with .99 cents a tile. It only takes a few tiles but it tremendously transforms the look:
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SimpleDecoratingTips.com
11 years ago
Yes, paint brick and do built ins. It could look amazing! Here is a post I wrote about my son and daughter in law's house which is a classic old bungalow. They painted the brick, and you can see the original built ins it has. Maybe it will inspire you with it's classic styling.
Classic Styling Built ins and Painted Brick Fireplace
crowinghen
Original Author
10 years ago
Do you think it would be possible to find this size brick? I was thinking of going to the ceiling with the brick, and painting it... it's an odd size though 1 1/2 inch thick x 11 1/2 inch long
John Willingham
10 years ago
You can paint the fireplace wall in white of gray color. You can also cover your fireplace with the help of painting or fireplace fence in summers.