Monday, May 25, 2009

Fireplace Inspiration

We are thrilled to be upgrading and updating our fireplace as a part of this home renovation. Our old fireplace was drafty beyond belief, had gaudy gold trim, and had floor tiles applied to the wall...oh and random chunks of adhesive periodically fell from behind those wall tiles. They were barely holding on!
After the old (13ish year old) fireplace was removed, our contractor discovered there was a 1/4 inch gap in the plywood at the bottom of the fireplace box...no wonder it was breezy in our family room! Our new fireplace is just a bit bigger (taller) than our old one and has a stronger blower, too, so we'll get more heat from it.
I selected travertine to go around the fireplace and the mantel will be white...no pictures of that yet because it isn't built yet! Our contractor will be building it for us. Luckily he's finally understanding how particular I am about things and is doing things to my specifications--including my mantel top that I want to be between nine and ten inches wide on top! No more skinny mantels that are hard to decorate!

I found my inspiration mantel on Flickr. The woodworker did a gorgeous job on this mantel! I want mine to be a bit more simple (not so many insets) especially since my fireplace opening is bigger than this one...but this certainly is beautiful!

(By the way...we're at the coast this week! Beach pictures next week!)

6 comments:

Karri said...

That's going to be really pretty :) Are you going to do the wood that goes down the sides like on that one, as well? I think that makes it look so much more finished.

Darlene said...

It sounds like it is going to be GORGEOUS!! I can't wait to see it finished. Hope you are having a great day.♥

Nathan said...

Thanks for the kind words about the mantel I built. Looks like you have a nice project with yours too. I'm glad that my work inspired you to renovate your fireplace. I always enjoy building them.

Ms. Tee said...

Oh, that mantel on flickr is gorgeous. Can't wait to see your new fireplace! :)

Ventless Fireplace said...

Wow, this is going to be beautiful when complete.. better update the post!

Ventless Fireplace said...

Looks Great!