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Cardinal Rule in remodeling – Give a girl options she didn’t know she had and indecision and stress will certainly ensue.
Case in point:
Welcome to our Living Room Circa 1 week ago.
Here’s what we have today:
The drywall is in full swing and our Chimney Guy, in preparation for our new wood pellet stove (which will look just like this … color is changeable, if we choose)
has removed the huge Cast Iron surround, blasted out three layers of brick, and removed the plaster facing and mantle. That cockeyed black hole, you ask? I’ve propped the large wire screen around the opening of the fire box to simulate the new stove, which will stick out about 11 inches from the opening. Also, I think we’ve decided to prop the stove up (since it’s only 33” from top to bottom), which means we’ll need to elevate it off the ground on a raised hearth (like the photo above) to get it at a normal height.
SO.
I was faced with design decisions on the spot when I wasn’t prepared at all to make them. Our handy chimney guy whipped out his portfolio, which was filled with fetching fireplaces like this:
Err… Not quite our style or the style of the house.
He suggested checking out Cultured Stone, which indeed we are researching. But I’m a visual move-the-furniture-around kinda gal when it comes to design. I have to see it to decide on it. And it’s tough looking at 1”x1” shots in a catalog (and small 4-stone samples in a store) to see what it’ll look like when it’s actually up on your walls.
SO. Here’s where I need some help. What should we do? Full stone chimney? Half stone chimney? No stone at all? Plaster trimmed out in Wood?
Here are some things I’m leaning towards (And, only look at the sections pointed out – not the overall photo :
- Using an Antique barn beam (we got lotsa) as a mantle:
- Having a raised hearth (to get a bit more height out of our stove.
- Having a woodstove (which always sits out slightly from the firebox). Many of the gorgeous fireplaces we see are just that… fireplaces (but oh, if I had a fireplace, it’d look like this beauty …)
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