You have a lovely room. I would remove all the trim on the fireplace including the baseboard and mantel and then paint it a shade darker, assuming you plan to keep the color as shown. I can't tell what is at the top of the built ins but I would remove the top section continue the existing blue color in that space and add some glass shelves with lighting. The bottom cabinets look from the picture to be a different color than the baseboards. I would paint them to match the baseboards. Also a new light fixture should replace the existing

chandalier.

From what I can see in your picture, that is a strangely placed and, perhaps, not really useful fireplace. Do you actually intend to use it? How would you place furniture around it with all those openings and doors to the left and right? If it were me, I'd remove it and redo the whole wall with built-in cabinets. This may not be what you wanted to hear, and I don't mean to insult what looks to be an otherwise nice home, but it is definitely an odd and distracting feature.

Remove the mantle and turn the upper part of the shelving cubbies into actual shelves all painted the same color. You could do a cool wall paper on the back wall but they should all be the same. Place a round dining table in front of the fireplace with 4 chairs. Fresh flowers on table. Lovely.

I would also ask in the Home Decorating Forum. This forum is more for building a new house

The mantel is weird so I’d remove that. Repaint the whole room, and new chandelier. Is this a sitting room? It’s strange that the stairs drop right into the middle. I’d get a rug and some cozy chairs for around the fire.

Regarding furnishings....

Maybe a tete-a-tete? They're usually found in 2-seater options, but I like 3, myself (especially for a circular space).

Or a round sofa thingy?

An unusual room sometimes lets you get away with an unusual piece. :-)

"...Ideally i would like to make the whole wall as a feature wall, something transitional or Rustic/Modern and update the built-ins..."

First of all, do you know if the fireplace actually works? Or is it simply decorative. The small picture isn't clear.

Well...I don't know what "transitional" or "Rustic/Modern" means to you, but as others have said, short of simply repainting, you're going to have to remove all of the existing cabinets and substantially redo the fireplace. Raised heart fireplaces are often problematic, and that "mantle" is beyond ridiculous--it has to go. You will need to decide if you want the raised hearth or not.

My advice is to find a good designer and work with her/him to help resolve what "transitional or Rustic/Modern" means.

Good luck with your project.

Is this room to be a sitting room? Or a foyer? Or something else?

Pretty room. Congratulations on your new house.

It's a pizza oven, not a fireplace.

Absolutely NOTHING "Rustic Modern" about this room. You need a reality check here.

I seem to remember a fireplace like that but was in adobe (building material), which is about the only place a fireplace with that shape opening should be. Do you like adobe style homes?

If the fireplace can be changed, that would be a good thing to do, followed but the trim.

It would be helpful if you could post photos of the other end of the room so we can get a full visual of the room.

Where do the two doors go that are shown in the photo. Where is the entry and how does this room relate to the kitchen, living and/or dining room?

What do you want to do in this room?

If you don't want the fireplace where it is located, have a fireplace expert look at it to see what is below the existing fireplace and whether the firebox can be lowered.

Following. There is something so whimsical about this room to me. I find myself loving it for no definable reason.

Thank You for all the amazing suggestions. Here are the rest of the pics. So that area was used for a small kitchen dining table and opens up to the backyard. And I agree, its strangely placed but I think removing it would be more work. I have a strict HOA and any changes made have to be approved. Thanks again!

I say put in some comfy chairs, side tables and use it for a "lounge" where you have cocktails before dinner.

Hi there -

It might help to know that you have an OLD Heat & Glo Bravo direct vent fireplace, which was a very limited run designed to capitalize on the popularity of Southwestern decor (and you know that was WAY back). I really am not sure why it was chosen for that particular application.

Among other issues, that fireplace used a direct spark ignition system that didn't work very well, and you should not feel the least bit bad about tearing it out and replacing it with something better.

There are some really cool off-the-shelf options for "rustic modern" fireplaces. Riveted steel shelves, barn beams, wrought iron fireplace surrounds, etc.

This one's a bit of a mish-mosh of different effects, with a concrete facing and cantilevered hearth, beam shelf and wrought iron brackets, but you get the idea.

I'd suggest finding your local National Fireplace Institute certified fireplace expert to fill you in on some of your options. You can find one here: NFI Certified

P.S. We replace old fireplaces all the time. It's generally a bit of surgery, but it's much better to make an informed decision before spending a lot of money on refacing an old one.

"I really am not sure why it was chosen for that particular application"

Obviously this is just a guess, but I would imagine it had something to do with echoing the arches all over the rest of the house.

glaagg-

I still think removal is best, but agree it would be a bit of work. You may want to see what you think after you've live with it a while. But I am curious: You have an HOA that tells you what you can remodel inside your own house?

@Lindsey, that's a good guess, but the same company made this one at the same time, which probably would have been a better "echo" for those arches.

I don't hate the old fireplace, it's just very different and challenging to work with and likely at the end of it's useful life. Fireplaces, like other appliances, have a limited lifespan. Sometime you replace them because it's too costly to repair them, sometimes you just get tired of looking at Harvest Gold.

I HAD to paint...

Nooo... I looooved the blue...

Really. Lol

gray is the new blue.

groveraxle, I love the square fireplace. I'm going to try and see if we can do that without breaking the bank. And thank you, COASTROAD for all the info on the fireplace. But this house is 2009 built. Do you think it could be just the shape?

Will someone please define the contradictory trendy terms of "rustic/modern"? They have no architectural significance whatsoever. It's an HGTV term repeated.

Virgil-

It's like Tudor / Craftsman, or Cape Cod / Art Deco, or Colonial / Mediterranean. What don't you get? ;-)

^^This is how I feel about "farmhouse" style. What even is that? I have been in innumerable farmhouses. The only thing they have in common is dirty floors lol.

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Rustic-Emily-Henson/dp/1849754454

Rustic Modern - apparently it's a thing...

Might be like 'folk metal' is a type of Heavy Metal

*in my best 5th grade teacher's voice*: "People, let's be civil".

No need to be snarky or catty.

There is a challenge here that we must rise to. "Rustic Modern" is a thing, and if you have not observed the all-white, heavily textured "farmhouse" trend of late, you'd better buckle in or look away.

I wish we were enjoying adult beverages around a crackling wood fire instead of communicating electronically. I think more would be accomplished, including solving the problems of all mankind. :-)

Continue . . .

Your hoa dictates interior work...?

Oh, I get Rustic Modern. It's rustic, modernized lol. Grey Ledgerstone instead of brown field stone for fireplaces, white beams instead of heavy dark ones, grey upholstered furniture in place of brown leather.

Come to think of it, maybe Rustic Modern and "farmhouse" are one and the same. (does not make "farmhouse" any less of a misnomer though)

My comment about farmhouses was not snark. I am a farmer. My neighbours, friends, colleagues are farmers. We all say the same thing when any city person walks in our home: "Don't take your shoes off. This is a farmhouse. Your shoes are cleaner than my floors." Of course, gum boots get automatically removed and left outside when visiting.

@lindsey - I made the same comment on someone else's post when they said they were looking for "farmhouse" and everything in their Ideabooks was pristine. I live in a 1927 bungalow and I find the nomenclature for current trends a little misleading, but we have to call it something. I am in rural NC. We have farms. I enjoy your candor - Cheers!

I hope I didn't sound miffed... I was laughing :-D

I expect to see Alice walking through there with the Mad Hatter.

That is a very disturbing blue color (with a disturbing mantel and newel posts).

Coastroad...I like your attitude. Maybe it is time to stop giving folks a hard time about what they call their style. In fact, maybe it's time to stop giving folks a hard time period, although I do appreciate some of the humor that I read on this website from time to time as long as it's a gentle poke.

"...It's like Tudor / Craftsman, or Cape Cod / Art Deco, or Colonial / Mediterranean. What don't you get? ;-)..."

"...There is a challenge here that we must rise to. "Rustic Modern" is a thing,.."

Since all we have here to communicate are words, we need to use words which have an accurate and understood definition...if meaning and useful communications are important. "Rustic/Modern" has no commonly understood meaning whatsoever...

Here's what Bob thinks of the term:

IMO it needs to go unless you love it. It makes no sense where it is and unless you have many lovely things to display I would remove all the shelves lower your art work to the proper height and get a nice new fireplace and a couple of chairs to face it.

One more sidebar, I promise.

I work in an industry where regular folks almost always use the wrong words for things. I can be indignant about it and constantly correct them, which makes me look like a jerk, or I can gently educate them, or I can ignore it and infer what they mean. I assert that THERE IS something that we refer to as Rustic Modern: sliding barn doors, shiplap, Provincial-stained woods, white walls with texture. There is a real vocabulary to the style. We can deride the term or we can get on board.

The most useful question is: "What do you mean by ______?"

(The best other example I can think of is the term "Contemporary", which some take to mean modern, but it really just means the current style. You have to ask.)

So, @giaagg, what do you mean by "Rustic/Modern"? Looking at your ideabooks, you have a bit of a range of elements, but I would say you like grey and white, and textures, in an unfussy composition, which all tends to look more modern, with rustic accents. Does that sound right?

Following...

giaagg, take a few minutes when no one is around and the house is quiet and stand in this space. Look around. Forget about style for just a minute and think about how you want this space to be used? It's useable square footage so don't waste it. Might it be an eating space with a rustic wood table and comfy chairs? A library? A game room? An office space? Start there and the rest will follow...

"I expect to see Alice walking through there with the Mad Hatter."

I wouldn't go quite that far, but that is exactly what I like about it, thanks tatts! It looks like a place where one could meet Alice or Goldilocks or a faun. To me that is a bonus but I can understand that it wouldn't be for everyone

I would buy this house BECAUSE of this fantastic feature....

Why change something so smashing????

Sometimes, when reading this forum, I'm so completely gobsmacked by how normal and generic everybody wants their homes/the homes of posters, to be....

pennydesign-

I agree with your overall sentiment about the fact that there is too much conformity in design today. However, in this specific instance, the fireplace looks as incongrous to me as a giant cuckoo clock would in a Frank Lloyd Wright house.

Interesting...It looks like it fits right in to me. Whoever designed that house had a plan and a good, fun one...See the curved arch between the rooms? The ONE arched door next to the recessed door with no arch? The bulbous newel posts?

These things were not done accidentally...

jmho

I LOVE space! It’s beautiful to me.