Awkward corner fireplace! How to plan around it in an MCM living room

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Hi Houzz friends! Just bought a 1942 house in San Francisco with a fireplace in a strange location -- off to the corner, opposite a window and next to a hall doorway in the living room. The living room faces north and gets no direct sunlight, but the window is quite large. We want to get mid-century modern furniture.

Here are the dimensions.

The peaked ceiling is 8 feet tall at its lowest point. We're going to knock down the wall to the right (below) to create an open plan concept, so the kitchen and dining area will be visible.

Here's how one neighbor with a transitional look did it -- is this really the only open to help the room feel open?

Thanks in advance! Note: We're not putting a TV in this room.

Comments (5)

palimpsest
6 years ago
Offset fireplaces aren't really planned to be main focal points or centers of furniture arrangement for all of the furniture in the room. Particularly if you are going to use midcentury furniture, you can ignore the fireplace to some extent. Not completely but you don't have to center the room on it.
Christina Marcet
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I agree -- no good way to center furniture around it. I'd like to be able to *incorporate* it, rather than just ignore it like an elephant in the room. :) And that's where I'm left with few ideas.
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suzyq53
6 years ago
Can you convert it to a gas insert? Then you wouldn't need the hearth and you could remodel and tile the fireplace.
PRO
Jill J. Wallace, Color Redesign
6 years ago
A medium wall color that will help the ceiling pop, like your neighbors, will help meld in the angle wall of the fireplace. Look into painting the tiles around the fireplace a charcoal or dark bronze.
bpath
6 years ago
I love fireplaces, they are like background music or artwork. People don't gaze into them for interest (well, not for long) but they are a lovely background visual noise for conversation and reading. It doesn't have to be a focal point.