Mantle or hood?
What do you think works best in this space, stainless steel hood or a built in mantle?
My thoughts are:
I want to keep it contemporary
It may need a mantle to make a feature of the back wall
A mantle may reduce light
A mantle may reduce worktop space around the hob
Comments (19)
Wendy White
8 years agoMichelle
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What do do with this fireplace?
Comments (37)Looking 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!...See MoreIntegrated extractor fan for 110cm Range
Comments (12)Hi, just catching up on this. Just got a 73 cm integrated fan - it's an Airforce one. Powerful enough but noisy- but probably no noisier than other chimney hoods I've had. Loving the Rangemaster Nexus though! Thanks for advice!...See MoreAre Mantles easy to clean?
Comments (4)Consider a downdraft extractor (you can still have the mantle for looks). A downdraft extractor is better at capturing rising smells and grease as the fan is closer to the cooking height. They are also quieter. Furthermore the newest Bora is very easy to get to the filter, remove it and put it in the dishwasher and it is compact so could go in regularly if you want...See MoreAdvice for a 1960s fireplace
Comments (19)Just think in 50 years time that surround will be a wonderful period feature!! I ripped our equivalent out took a whole day to do it. It was built onto a heap of building rubble which I dug out. I had to add extra pieces of joist and about 10 lengths of floor board to fill the gap. The boards needed lengths of hardboard packing pieces or similar as the new ones are slightly thinner than the original imperial measurements ones. We put a gas fire and commercial fireplace in now 30 years old and this is starting to look dated itself now!!...See MoreWendy White
8 years ago
PROUser
8 years agoI like Michelle's mock up of the Chimney stack. You could also construct a similar structure to the one over the Island. Then you could place a White or White and glass hood from that. I like the idea of a white / white & glass hood to match the ovens. There are some really funky hoods around so have a good look
Yes it's a cooker hood !!
tamp75
8 years agocookie1963
8 years agoAlison Jones
8 years agoLove the hood. Accessorise round it, I think mock chimney has been done to death now. Try hanging plants, hooks, shelves etc. Here's my slightly cluttered shelf above the aga but we've just moved in and I haven't found homes for everything yet!
dassie4
8 years ago
PROTiletrader.ie
8 years agoI like that you have more storage with a mantle, side presses etc and it's a nice feature just depends on how much space u have.
mldoran
8 years agoStainless steel hood in image keeps things more open & spacious whereas builtin mantle may reduce your worktop space which I would prefer to keep.
May I suggest another option in image below - a very simple canopy (may be called something else in kitchen speak) which extractor is fitted into, this can also be fitted with lights as per image. This is a good compromise between both ideas as it is contemporary, still a feature but less obtrusive perhaps as doesn't interfere with light or worktop space?
Good luck & would love to see image when completed.
Luxurious Loft Conversion · More Info
PROEnsign Accessories
8 years ago
louise Muldoon
8 years agoMichelle
8 years agoJonathan
8 years agoJonathan
8 years agoAsk your kitchen designer about extractors that are not the typical steel and glass square shaped chimney
Michelle
8 years agoWe were only going to bring the pillars out 15cm on the worktop. I have looked at the funky extractors but they are very expensive!
Kate Bibby
7 years ago
Debbie Clark