Am I the only one that thinks the stove is beautiful? I would love to take that stove off your hands. The tile? Well, that's ugly. They make this cool spray that goes over anything and it looks similar to concrete. Ask for it at your local hardware store. It would be a shame though for something like tiles and a stove to ruin your V Day. I would try to focus more on frying the other fish with my husband. There is nothing that man wouldn't do for you if he felt genuine respect from you. All the best!

laurabona, one of these days he's going to come in with some tile and say that platfrom is horrible and with a confident smile on this face say that HE had the brilliant idea to re-tile it. He'll also say HE heard there's some stuff to paint the stove with. The smirk on his face will make you laugh til you cry and he'll be clueless. Been there.... done that..... :D

The stove, as far as clearances go, is indeed properly installed. The thimble thing, idk. All parts to this stove are original to the stove and was new when installed (eons ago). I searched in vain all night for a manual for this thing online after being told it was a house fire waiting to happen.....unfortunately, the company that makes them (PREWAY) is no longer in operation. Then yhis morning after coffee i decided to have a look see at the back of the unit for any info.....and lo and behold, there are the clearances...

laura, your fireplace stove is very charming, as is the rest of your room. We all need to be grateful that we have a source of heat and warm place to call home. I am not calling you out- just saying that it is not really a problem as I see it.
The other night I volunteered to help serve dinner for 5 homeless people at local church. They will sleep on little cots with sheets for walls, and during the day have to leave. They get to come back at 5PM. After 2 weeks the "shelter" tears down and moves to another church for another 2 weeks, and so on.
I came home very grateful for my house and the fact that the heat works. My VERY ugly fireplace didn't look so bad anymore.

Now that I see the stove from afar, it does not look that bad. It is that $2 tile job that is drawing my eye. Maybe you can convince husband into show his love for valentines day and bust it up and replace it with rough slate tile (in black). It is pretty cheap around $2 a sqft. Or you can just burn one item of his a day ,in said stove, until he gives in. Start with the remote that should do it. Ha!

agree sunnydrew, my ugly (as i see it) wood stove does indeed keep us warm when we need it.
I'm not trying to be all uppity about it, just want to somehow make it a bit less unattractive lol. but yeah, i get what your saying :)

apparently preway made another fireplace that is currently highly sought after these days (fashions do indeed return). I guess these type of woodstoves are "old modern"?

I know you are not uppity at all- Just trying to make it better. I would simply re-tile up to the bottom perimeter. I had a fireplace like the one above in an apt. about 35 years ago (OMG) I think it may have been gas but disconnected when I lived there. I burned logs in it after a few drinks and almost set the place on fire as the logs were too big and sticking out while on fire!

sunnydrew, thanks:) Too bad you dont still have that thing, you could cash in! totally sounds like something i would do, with the logs sticking out after too much wine...."EHHH...IT'S FINE!! THE LOGS ARE ASUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY....hiccup"......

i think Im just gonna paint the tile. I have this problem with the husband.....whenever i make what i consider a "temporary renovation", he thinks it's great and no longer sees a need to replace..... So painting the tile, i think will slightly improve its appearance at the moment, while not eliminating the need to replace it lol.

now i need ideas for the paint job! All black? All dark gray? Different shades on different tiles????? So many possible ugly configurations, what do i go with?

When I first saw the original picture you posted, I agreed with you, the tile is ugly... But then you posted the one that shows the whole room and the wood burning stove didn't look soo bad...if you can take off the tiles on the sides of the base (the ones framing the structure it sits on, not the tiles the stove sits on) and replace that with three pieces of wood stained to match the rest of your wood in the room, it won't look so bad. You would only see a few tiles on the left and right of the stove. We have a wood burning stove in our country house and it had ugly blue red and green slate tile, but the hubby agreed it was horrific and after ten years he disconnected the stove and replaced with a tumbled stone for base and a stacked stone for the back. We have the wood along the bottom edges.

This is what I mean. And that's the ugly slate we replaced.

Maybe add an antique kettle so eyes look up rather than at the tile?

Roni- I am curious is that a coyote that your cat cornered in your house?

im curious about the coyote mount too! show us!

Lol!!! Yes it is a coyote. This is the weekend house...I only have to look at him on weekends and most of the time he's cornered by the bear that's been mounted!!! He gets the platform in the spring and summer when the stove isn't in use...hoping to make the basement into the man cave soon...get the things downstairs..

LOL

LOL THIS IS FUNNY

Lol I wanna see the coyote! Pics please! My stupid boxer would be barking at that thing all day! I'm repainting all the walls white right now because the new white curtains made the previous white look yellow and there are no curtains up on one of the windows....so last night he spent roughly 2 hours barking at his reflection in the bare window.....idiot.

Roni, that's a great idea to put wood (stained to match Laura's other wood trim) around the outside of the tiled platform. Excellent solution, better than painting the tile.

Sorry to say it but you need more than paint. Can't hubby compromise - he keeps the stove and you get new tile?

Shuler, cannot move stove to re tile. too heavy. i am too small. seems like my options are paint tile, remove front tiles and trim with wood, tile over tile up to stove, or lie down in fetal position and cry.

There is a black heat resistant spray paint for grills that should work for the metal and the tile. I think it is a more Matt finish. The white makes this jump out more and most wood stoves have brick walls behind them so why not add slate tile on the corner walls. Then put slate or whatever tile or stone you like around the base. Leave the tile under the stove painted black like the metal.
Now to help hubby see this as a money saving choice first show him some lovely delftware or hand paint Italian tiles and a pretty blue paint. Then when show a more manly color scheme of terra cotta or slate and some spray paint from home despot it will seem like bargain. But a couple hand paint Mexican tiles would look good with terra cotta. I could sculpted a couple coyote tiles if you want:-)

Ugh, I'm sorry. Can you pop the tile off the front of the base and re-tile with a neutral color (black is what I have in mind). I think I would then pop the tile on the right side off and edge with a bullnose tile. Do the same on the left but you'll need to saw through these tiles. Have a little fun with the design on the vertical face.

After this, I'm out of bullets.

kathleen, let me see these coyote tiles you speak of.

how far up would you put the tile on the walls behind stove? just to the wainscoting height?

i like your idea, and it is doable for me. i don't think the wood trim idea would look good for me because it would seem like the floor was growing up around the thing. the pic above looks good with the wood trim i think because there is carpet.....does that make sense?

Please forgive me if I'm repeating anything anyone has said. I started reading the comments and gave up because there are so many. This is my take on the situation. 1: Your sense of humor is very refreshing and keep on smiling. 2: I do not think the stove is that bad. I do, however think the tile is horrible. 3: I would paint the tile black. They do make heat resistant paint because I've painted a couple of my fire boxes. 4: The color of the stove itself, once the tile is black, is just kind of blah, so I would make the stove a contrasting color, like white or a brighter red. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I know everyone says paint tiles.... But, there's a lot of mess and abuse that comes with wood burning stoves. Wood, ashes, you drop things on it....will the black paint hold up to the abuse? Or will it chip and look like more of an eyesore than it started out???? Just saying, cause I would hate for this very lovely lady to have a scratched up painted black tile. I still think the wood trim is the way to go...

roni, but what about my worry that the wood trim and the wood floor meeting will look bizarre? if i trim it out in wood to match the flooring, it will look like my floor is raised there, which i think would be weird. if i trim it out in a different wood stain than the floor, it will prob just look mismatched? i agree that the tiles do take some abuse with the wood....my only recourse i suppose would be to keep a sample of paint on hand to touch up. remember, this is a temp fix.....i dont want to, nor can i really fix this just yet, just wanna help it a little.....A new stove and platform is def in order, just cant right now....

ps. dont keep wood in the house. while removing the curtains to paint near the stove, i found hundreds of baby spiders on the curtains! Freaked me out! wood is DEF going back outside....too bad for lazy hubby, now he has to go outside for the wood.....lol.

You put a little toe kick molding where the floor meets the new wood. And you stain the wood to match your floors, I would put a couple coats of poly to make it easier to keep clean too. It won't look weird. As far as wood is concerned, never saw spiders in he house, but we only keep maybe 7-10 logs in the house at a time, enough to burn for the day. They have to dry inside before we put them in the stove. Luckily, I have an 11 and 8 year old who are willing to help bring wood in. We'd be freezing if I had to depend on dh... Or just paying for that electric heat, but nothing heats up a house like a wood burning stove. Ours is the shiny red one by Vermont Castings...love it. Don't like the red, but love the stove's function.

roni, so you don't like the red, lets trade stoves :) But seriously, the wood trim around the front won't help hide the tiles on the base/top. id still paint those either way.....

YOU CANNOT PAINT THE STOVE! It will burn off and really stink up the house. You can paint the tiles easily. Clean them well and them prime them with Zinsser Bulls eye 123 latex primer. I painted tile in my shower of all places years ago and the paint has never come off.
Painting the wall behind the stove a darker color will also keep it from standing out so much. There is a huge contrast now and makes the stove the center of attention.

use stove paint. paint it flat black. it is a stove

You can use stove paint as long as you rough up the shiny surfaces with sandpaper. :)

I've already decided not to paint the stove. Just the ugly tile. Maybe a wood border at front or different tiles at front ( seriously would like to see those coyote tiles). And debating on painting wall behind stove......anyone with suggestions on how high up they would paint?

I would put a toe kick on, like earlier stated and satin it to match the floor. Or you could paint the inside of the trimmed out rectangles like a slate grey and paint the toe kick to match. Since the stove is a full base you could also tile up to it. But adding a toekick and painting those spots wit darken up the room bringing out the red in the stove as well as taking away the paleness of the tile and hiding the ugly tile job on the side

I really think the stove & color of the stove are attractive. I would go with a slate or darker stone tile to help it blend in.

Laurabona,

You're aren't the only one here who has a dog that barks at stupid things. My dachshund barks at reflections in the windows in the kitchen door. I really need to put some blinds up.

I will seriously work on some coyote designs and post pictures in a few days. Right now I see the coyote howling at the moon after dealing with hormonal students during a full moon on Valentine's day.
As for how high to set the slate or tile, wainscot or all the way up the wall would depend on the rest of the room. Do you want a more vertical element or to make the room look wider? What other colors are in the room? Probably keeping the tile at wainscot height would not over power the room while helping the stove to blend in better.

i suppose the wood stove could be worse lol. at least it's in good shape, it was well taken care of.....

i realized that i cant tile behind the stove, there's just not any room to work back there. so its either paint the walls there, or leave em white....Im still painting the room, it's taking forever (anyone ever have to paint a miles worth of wainscoting trim???). But i will be done next week and then i will paint the tile on the stove base as plan A. I'll post some pics when done, hopefully you'll all come back to give an opinion :)

and kathhleen, no howling at the moon, too southwestern, one that's skulking is more my style lol. I doubt i'd put them on this ugly base if i loved them, prob would hold on to them till i build a new base, so no rush:)

Carolkelley, lol, I love my dogs but god they are dumb. And nevermind the ugly kitchen (tile look familiar lol?) One room at a time.

I finally had to buy a metal dustpan after he went through about 4 of the plastic ones. Ever try to sweep into a dog mangled plastic dust pan? It's an exercise in futility .

Put an aerosol can in there. light the fire then let it it blow up and collect insurance proceeds? Just kidding. Take a photo and sell it on Craigslist....

LOL pkleis!

He/she might be dumb but damn cute, look at that face...

lol pkleis, we already addressed sabotage.....and i sure aint gonna get enough $ on the sale of this one to buy a new one......at least i can blow the stove up in my dreams tonight lol.

Indeed it is:)

If you are going to paint the tile, why not continue with the same colour behind the stove and go all the way up to the ceiling. Check and make sure the stove is the legal distance away from the wall. If not, there is supposed to be no combustible material behind the stove. Good luck.

Toats, how did it all end? It will look great when your granite company templates it and installs your old kitchen granite there!

Dunno if this is a weird idea… but I will throw it out there. Get 3 pieces of wood painted black and affix them to the face of the podium (construction adhesive) with the upper edge about 3/4 or so of an inch higher than the current surface. Then fill the whole surface of the platform with loose polished black river stone like this stuff http://www.stonecontact.com/products-147696/black-river-stone
I don't think it would be too tough to lightly vacuum once in a while to keep clean.. and would be an easy transformation with a surface that is not going to suffer in any way.

we just went through a similar project and it was a hard, long, and expensive journey. I feel for you though- when you are hot an idea, it's hard to let it go. I just posted about my stove renovation on my homepage which is viewable by clicking my photo. Check it out if you want an idea for the future when you might be able to reno.

Cool stove, Dawn, you should post it under 'Before and After' and add your wall color question.

my 1st thought was when something that is unmovable & annoying is to change my perspective & make it stand out...like painting the hood & pipe the same YELLOW that i see in the picture on the wall next to the Monster Stove. then maybe paint the tiles yellow. (at one point as i was reading all the comments, i started thing "spray paint it gold."...yeah, that's it--make it worse! ) now, the more i think about it, YELLOW could work with all the neutral colors of the room.