Exposed Brick Design Help!

4 years ago

Hi guys! We just moved into a house originally built in 1946. It has some great character from the original structure, like the exposed brick in the kitchen.

That said, my gut feeling was it was a little odd that the left edge wasn’t fully straight and had that stair step design.

We’re thinking of extending the brick upwards to create an even edge on the left side. We would also take out the floating shelves and replace with regular cabinets (not enough storage space in the kitchen currently).

Does that take away from the character? Is it a unique little quirk we should leave? Would love to hear your thoughts! I’ve heard mixed reviews.

Thanks so much!

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Comments (8)

Sherry Brighton
4 years ago
I love exposed brick and did it in my remodel. I would contract a mason and have it evened out. Make sure the mason can match the brick or you may have to paint it
herbflavor
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
no ....leave the stagger. there may some history with this unique feature. I'd seriously contact the local architects group and pursue the background. Why on earth would you alter that?
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olychick
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I would look at a way to use the floating shelves (or new ones) so that they sit atop the brick steps. Long shelves wouldn't look right for each of them, but maybe a long one on the bottom - continuing what's there all the way across the top of the brick, leave the current top one, then put a shorter one on the middle brick ledge. Longer than the ledge but maybe only 1/3 as long as the other two.

Or maybe just extend the bottom one, leave the top one and just cap the middle one with wood and put one special decorative piece on it. Add what you will to the other shelves.
Or maybe you don't even need a wood cap on the middle one. The only thing that looks really odd to me is where they ended the bottom shelf...it looks like it should extend all the way over the brick to the vertical edge.
privateprivateprivate
4 years ago
Great quirk! We have some off bits of stone poking from a massive fireplace - they were deliberate, the mason is very well known. We use them to display interesting objects, and have become the focal point for guests to check out
palimpsest
4 years ago
I think I would make the crown moulding wrap the chimney instead of stopping short on each side and then having a different molding between it and the ceiling.

I might also tile the whole wall. Right now there is an awful lot going on in that one spot and it actually detracts from the brick, imo.
NagyMama
4 years ago
I vote for keeping the stair step detailing. It’s interesting and I don’t know how closely you could match bricks. However, I’m a sucker for older homes so keep that in mind. Even if you build it up it’ll still be a lovely feature .
OC Kitchen
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago

Coud you do something iike this and build cabinet right up to the brick?
spainte2
4 years ago
The exposed brick is very cool. Do you know what is inside the stair step part? Is it all chimney? Instead of extending the narrower part to the left, I would want to remove that stair step part and just keep the chimney width brick showing.