We are mid-construction on our main floor. A minor renovation has had major scope-creep and now we're looking at redoing our fireplace but we need to make a decision fast. If we don't do it now, it won't be done for a long time because we are putting in new flooring. Currently it is a wood burning fireplace, but we'll be converting it to electric. We're thinking we'll keep the existing firebox, but demo all the brick. From there, I'm not exactly sure what I'd like to do and would love to see some pictures for inspiration. So, please share pictures and tell me why you love it.
Here is a picture of my fireplace now, sorry for the crappy picture, like I said, we're mid-construction.
I would just white wash the brick. I would not bother with removing it. Too much work for little return.
The problem is, that as it is now, it takes up so much real estate. My living room is very difficult for furniture arrangement, and getting back the few square feet that the hearth currently takes up would actually make a big difference. Plus, it's just massive. What do you mean by little return? We really don't care about resale value if that is what you mean, we're more about having a house that works for our current needs.
Following. I'd love people to include what they have on their mantle as I really need to decorate my mantle. I'll add a pic of my fireplace in a few minutes...
Ok here’s a picture. Ignore the baby gate and pdq the picture. It's wood burning. It's not great for small children (as evidenced by the gate), but we do love it. I think ours is kind of timeless. I've thought about white washing, but you can't go back so I'd be too nervous. Gas would be better probably, but not sure it's worth the expense of converting.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Oct 22, 2020 7:53:48 GMT -5
We did a fireplace demo and re-build 2 years ago! Our old fireplace was too heavy for the house and, though the foundation has been reinforced underneath it, it was still pulling away from the wall.
So, we picked out new stone, which is a veneer, and it’s about the quarter of the weight it once was, and much prettier! The after picture was taken the day the hearthstones were laid - the grout is still wet. It’s much lighter dry, but I was very excited and needed to get that after picture 😂
I agree with others that I'd leave yours as is. Maybe whitewash, but like I said, I am nervous to do that to mine. I might be biased because it's so similar to mine, but I wouldn't bother with the expense. Brick is timeless (or so I say to myself to make me feel better lol).
A friend of mine just did exactly what you are looking for. I'm not comfortable sharing her photos publicly since they aren't mine, but I will see if I can pm them to you.
Following. I'd love people to include what they have on their mantle as I really need to decorate my mantle. I'll add a pic of my fireplace in a few minutes...
The first one I posted is our fall stuff. This is most of the year (minus the wooden box, that was Stellabear's ashes up there for awhile):
And this is usually what it looks like for the month of December:
I would just white wash the brick. I would not bother with removing it. Too much work for little return.
The problem is, that as it is now, it takes up so much real estate. My living room is very difficult for furniture arrangement, and getting back the few square feet that the hearth currently takes up would actually make a big difference. Plus, it's just massive. What do you mean by little return? We really don't care about resale value if that is what you mean, we're more about having a house that works for our current needs.
The cost and time to remove the brick and then rebuild will be more than you would make back, both in your own personal life and if you re-sell.
Brick demo is a dirty, costly, and heavy task. I would try and work with it before trying to remove and rebuild. In our last house we did cover the brick hearth with tile, if you want something other than paint. But we didn't have a complete brick surround.
I dug up an old picture. We actually expanded a built a new mantel and tiled the drywall.
Following. I'd love people to include what they have on their mantle as I really need to decorate my mantle. I'll add a pic of my fireplace in a few minutes...
The first one I posted is our fall stuff. This is most of the year (minus the wooden box, that was Stellabear's ashes up there for awhile):
And this is usually what it looks like for the month of December:
I love those vases. I think my confusion with what to do comes in because my mantle is so long. I'd also like to incorporate some family pictures because we have none hung in the house. Love this though. Thanks! It's helpful to see real pictures versus a magazine.
Is an electric fireplace a thing where you live? Here I have only seen them as decor items in apartments, never in a house. Lots of gas log, vented or vent free. It isn't huge to begin with for a fireplace, but, you could to take the hearth down to the floor, and reface, and change the mantle, or remove it completely.
Kind of like this, though I don't love the rock choice the picture linked below. This would look nice, even without the mantle. You need a mantle though, if you want to mount a tv over a heat giving fireplace, in my opinion, since it helps keep the heat from going directly to the tv. This tv is mounted too high, but for your fireplace, it would be a bit lower, if I am right on the scale.
The first one I posted is our fall stuff. This is most of the year (minus the wooden box, that was Stellabear's ashes up there for awhile):
And this is usually what it looks like for the month of December:
I love those vases. I think my confusion with what to do comes in because my mantle is so long. I'd also like to incorporate some family pictures because we have none hung in the house. Love this though. Thanks! It's helpful to see real pictures versus a magazine.
I think my biggest advice would be to center a piece of artwork or a mirror, like you have and then make sure you have an odd number of pieces on either end of varying heights and that the two ends aren't too similar. And don't fill the whole thing.
imojoebunny my preference would actually be to do gas, but we don't have gas in my house. It's actually not in my neighborhood at all, so if we ever wanted to add gas, we'd need to get a tank buried in our yard and that would be a big expense that we aren't ready to take on right now. We actually never use the fireplace as is (the wood burning stove) because it makes my house 5 million degrees. I think that the Electric insert would be good for us because it would actually get used, whereas now, our fireplace just sits there collecting dust while taking up real estate.
Here’s our current FP. It’s propane. If it were up to me, I would rip it out and replace this wall with a big sliding door out to our deck and patio. DH LOVES the fireplace though.
I also think it would look nice with the brick painted white and an updated mantle.
Here is our main fireplace in our family room. I’m not sure it’s what I would have chosen but it’s okay. We will probably redo another fireplace as part of a kitchen reno in a few years and I think would like to do glazed ceramic tiles in that space.
I love looking at all of the fireplaces! This is our fall mantel. When we first moved in, all of the baseboards/doors/wood were BLACK, it was so ugly. We only had to paint it white. I'm thinking of redoing the tiles at some point.
I usually think fireplaces without a hearth look funny. Like an afterthought. Yours looks nice and I would just white wash it. Maybe a zoomed out picture would give a better idea of scale.
I love looking at all of the fireplaces! This is our fall mantel. When we first moved in, all of the baseboards/doors/wood were BLACK, it was so ugly. We only had to paint it white.
lol Our house had white baseboards/doors/wood, and we thought that it was ugly. It really didn't fit the house style at all.
It would be a really boring world if everyone had the same taste/style, wouldn't it?