What do do with this fireplace?
I'm in a bit of a bind what to do with this fireplace and surround as we feel like we want to hold on to some of it if possible as it has a lot of character. What's counteracting that is a few snags:
1. the hearth is cracked and in bad shape so is probably going to need replacing
2. the hearth is completely flush with the floor boards which is going to make putting underlay and laminate down difficult as it's going to sit above the hearth and generally be an eyesore in my opinion. In an ideal world the entire fireplace / hearth would look like it'd sit above whatever flooring we put down. It also seems like the entire fireplace is one giant unit so I'm not even sure if it can be lifted at all? I've never seen / came across a fireplace like this before.
3. we're not fond of the mirror section that sits on top
Am I being silly trying holding on to this? Any advice / ideas would be appreciated :)
Comments (37)
minnie101
5 years agoI personally like the mirror, if you were to paint it you could add beading at the top to look like panels although I think they were designed with panelling either or below the mantel not both? How bad is the hearth? there are places which will either make tiles in the same style or you could look at reclaimed? Different period but my dining room hearth is cracked badly, a little bit of imperfection isn't always bad! Could you not just keep the existing floor boards and varnish them etc? I personally would probably keep the fireplace in wood thoug and paint the cabinet so it blends into the walls. Definitely don't get rid anyway :)
Damian Nicholson thanked minnie101Related Discussions
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5 years ago
Mary Brady-Maguire
5 years agoJob I did recently- fireplace not quite as imposing as yours!! Classic White, which is also on built-in unit, gives whole new life to the room!!
Def keep it..it's a a lovely piece.
Mary Brady-Maguire
5 years ago
PRODecor Books
5 years ago
PROHand Built Designs
5 years agodomm madden
5 years ago
Emma
5 years agoHU-361232410
5 years agoJaxx
5 years ago
PROSuedeStone Ltd
5 years agoWhat a beautiful old fireplace, you don't see them like this too often anymore. I would definitely keep it, not sure I would paint it either, I fear that painting over wood is a bit of a fad at the moment and you could possibly regret it in years to come, that said it could probably be stripped back to bare wood again if necessary.
As for the hearth, if it was my fireplace I would install a 40mm thick stone hearth cut out to fit around the profile of the fireplace, I would also make it much wider and deeper than the current hearth as I think it would give it more balance. I have attached two suggested stones, the first is a Walnut Travertine, the second is Triest Limestone.
Triest Limestone
Pam Dee
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agocoughlan_sharon
5 years agoMary Brady-Maguire
5 years agocoughlan_sharon, Colourtend paint Classic White, I had it done by professional painter. I'm an Interior Designer, so I didn't have the brush in my hand!! I'm very much about upcycling where possible. I acknowledge comments above about "painting everything"! however, in this case it really worked - very calm and cosy room with a little glam!! See pic from opposite angle.
Rebecca Wilson
5 years agominipie
5 years agoMary Brady-Maguire
5 years agocoughlan_sharon
5 years agobouncebob
5 years ago
PROHampstead Design Hub
5 years ago
Lois Addy
5 years agoLooking at it, I think it's a mishmash of periods.
the mantelpiece and overmantle is characteristic of a late victorian/edwardian style. We are more used to seeing these with vertical side panels of decorative ceramic tiles and a cast iron firebasket raised off the floorlevel.
the actual ceramic glazed fire you have in there appears possibly to be anywhere between 20s & 50s, probably a replacement because the original burned out (assuming it's in the main living room it will have been a main source of heat for the house).
So the question is, what do you love and what do you hate about it? Because it's not working for you right now.Usually edwardian fireplaces with an overmantel (and edwardian/victorian furniture in general) comes apart into sections. the tricky bit is finding which sections! But I'd imagine the entire overmantel with the mirror could be taken off leaving the mantelpiece intact, albeit with peg holes that would need filling on the top of the mantel at the back. Usually there were wooden pegs and holes for placement.
If you are on a very tight budget, and assuming you don't want to keep the rather lurid carpet, simply keeping what is there, and adding a fender would work (as someone suggested above). You can get low level ones in brass that are extendable to fit relatively cheaply, or there's vintage ones that range from low level right up to having padded seats.
If you intend to actually USE the fire, then it may be possible to pull up the 20th century ceramic tiles (if that's what they are) lay a screed underneath and then relay the tiles a bit higher so they are proud of the floor level. If any are broken it might be possible to relay them at the edges where they are less in the way - but at the end of the day, open fires are messy and what you really need is a slab of clean smooth hearthstone to make it easy to keep clean.
Alternatively if you don't like early 20th century mashups, then you could (carefully) take out the fireplace, sell it on (someone would love it - personally I don't like the murkiness of that sort of fireplace ceramic colourwise, but I do recognise it's a nice and unusual example of the genre) and buy a replica more suited to the surround. You can get some rather nice ceramic edwardian style tiles for the sides.
Have you tried to light the fire? it may be the hood is necessary if the chimney doesn't draw well. Or it could just be an aesthetic choice a previous owner made without considereing how the fire actually performs.
As people have said above, you can paint it. Whatever paint you use, make sure you aren't totally knackering the wood underneath in case you want to have it stripped back to wood in future.
The suggestion of hanging a picture over the oval mirror is a good one. Though I suspect with a different less instituttional carpet and the fitted cupboard gone, a judicious choice of plants or ornaments might make the whole thing recede into the room as a whole and be less 'in your face' at the end of the day, it's actually a time and labour intensive decorative heat source, so if you aren't going to have an open fire, and it's not a listed building, consider selling it and getting rid completely. It's a mishmash anyway that doesn't work so well aesthetically, though individually the separate parts of edwardian/ mid 20th century do have charm. but together? ouch you are living with some dearly departed's poor design choices! Which I suspect are not going to be so easy to marry together. Though as people have said above, painting it white is going to help a lot!
My final thought is that you've got off lightly with that overmantel with a plain oval glass! When I was a kid we had an edwardian house near manchester, in what was the day nursery, behind a baize door, on teh first floor, had an overmantle with a plaster of paris insert that weighs 25kg with rather terrifying fairies playing in the moonlight as it's subject. The house was due to be demolished so we took the plaster behemoth with us. It's currently hanging in my hall and scaring all small children that pass by!!! 40 years on I still can't decide if it is actually totally hideous or so ugly that it's beautiful. Mostly though I just don't want it to fall off the wall and kill one of the cats! Here it is in all it's fugliness. Framed in the 1980s in somewhat ungracious proportions to just top off the general weirdness of it!
Lois Addy
5 years agoLois Addy
5 years agoEmily
5 years agoLooking forward to seeing how this turns out. I’m in the keep the whole fire surround camp. Agree that oval mirror is dated but still like it and in a newly decorated room think it will be a lovely quirk. However the tiles wouldn’t be a loss imo. Like the stove paint suggestion or if budget allows like the replacing with a stove suggestion. Depending on the style of the finished room I could imagine a pared back scheme with an unexpected coloured stove inset into this fireplace if the surround was maybe painted F+B Railings. Just a thought.
ngcox1
5 years agoMary Brady-Maguire
5 years ago
Samantha Haine
5 years agoSamantha Haine
5 years ago
stephfallon
5 years agoI’m late to this post but just thought I’d add to it because I have one of these fireplaces. Bought it second hand as an old, dark wood piece like yours and then painted it white. Our style might not be your cup of tea (ok we’re “eclectic”!) but just thought I’d post a photo so that you can see they can actually look quite modern when combined with accessories.
kathleen1926
5 years ago
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