Front Room Shelving around fireplace in home with picture rail
I'm trying to turn my front room into a snug. Have the teal chesterfield sofa, and Fired Earth Hummingbird blue back wall colour in blue to set it off. And next step is built-in shelving - but the visuals i have had done just look too heavy or too light. So I am stuck. Like a ship in the middle of the sea with no wind. Additionally, our house is 100 years old and some X$£!* ripped out the beautiful deco fireplace and put in a B&Q victorian monstrosity. I found the old oak fire surround in loft and refurbished it and put that back with a chelsea arch as only thing that fitted. Now I am wondering if I put in a wood burner - not a fan of the coal lumps and fire now been in place 18 years. Any thoughts suggestions specialist offers of help entertained and welcomed.
Comments (14)
AMB
3 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (22)Hello everyone, Sorry that I didn't reply before. Believe or not, it's been almost 2 months without internet. I moved to the new flat and it is just amazing. I had a problem with the curtains, blinds, etc. I couldn't fit any of it because the rail would be where the door opens (ceiling), so I would loose over 40cm throughout the whole window. So I've choose something a bit unusual but very, very beautiful: duette blinds. About the furniture, we've decided to do a bar/shelve unit behind the sofa and the sofa will be looking toward the window (if you know what a mean). In front of the sofa, I will do a small tv unit. Therefore, I will not loose all the beautiful view that I've got. What do you think? Now I need to plan a bar/shelve unit behind the sofa. The designer gave me some ideas, but I found it very square-ish.... I really appreciate all the comments and the help. You all are good at it and have helped me a lot. Thank you, Talita Ps: I will take some pictures and I'll post to you if you want.......See MoreFront room in need of a design lift please
Comments (11)Hi Anne, I speak as both a householder/lover of home decor and a professional textile designer. I would say, honestly - you have the basics of a very good scheme here without spending a lot of money. What I see, in my humble opinion (and I made the same mistake once before art school training) is a very monochromatic scheme - that is the extremes of dark and light, but no tones in the middle, which usually integrate and give life to a scheme. Also, what way the room face? This is a hugely important aspect that many people overlook, but it has MASSIVE implications for any room scheme success. If north or east facing, add warmer tones, if south or west, you can get away with cooler ones. You could still have the same colour - pink or green for instance, but coral is warm, olive and teal are warm, fuchsia is cool, aqua or mint is cool. I'm a great believer in using what you already have and as you've already invested in curtains, I would keep those. A scheme like yours is relatively easy to put right, you just need more colourful accessories. Start by thinking about the feel you're after - retro, vintage, classic grown up, fun and quirky, scandi etc. Look at mags and online to see what you like, what are your own interests and hobbies/obsessions, these generally give a clue. I don't see your personality here as yet, a room or house should reflect who you are and your own likes and loves. The first step- find some cushions which give the feel you're after BUT make sure they contain some of that dark purple colour in the mix - enough to notice but not all purple. This will link them into the scheme, if there are other colours you like in there, brilliant! I would suggest about four on the sofa and then a colourful throw on one arm of the sofa - do the colour and feel link in to the cushions and wallpaper as before - doesn't have to be a similar pattern to the paper though, can be abstract, pictorial or plain, whatever reflects your likes and that FEELING you're seeking. Move that chair out of the corner, it looks too cramped in, bring it out more into room and again add a couple of cushions. Add a nice colourful rug infront of the fire - you won't believe the difference this makes, likewise with a couple of lamps, BIG and strong lines and not in the purple or light tones. Add some colourful artwork, the mirror is a bit 90s, so maybe you could lose in favour of some colourful artwork? Likewise the ceiling light, and add lots of Tlights/candles in front of the fire or on it. None of these things are expensive, you can find them at TK Maax or Dunelm Mill, online or shops in the sale, I would never pay full price for anything - also try Achica online. Have fun with it, and make it your space as well as cosy for the winter. I think the built in shelves are a great idea, but while you're waiting for those, how about some a few big patterned boxes stacked up one on the other (three in total is a good number), again you can find these at Dunelm Mill and so on. Have fun!...See MoreFront room stagnation
Comments (21)Rapscalli, what style of interiors do you prefer, traditional, contemporary or eclectic? At the moment, your sofas are more contemporary but the arches are traditional. From the photo, it appears that you have a relatively modern house (low ceilings) so tap the walls above the niches to see if they're hollow. If they are, you could remove the arches and have cupboards and shelves built in, up to the ceiling. If you don't need a large desk, you could build one into the recess right of the chimney breast that drops down, or slides out when needed. An easy chair could then be positioned in front of the window, facing a sofa opposite. Regarding your sofas, you might want to consider selling the larger one and replacing it with another 2 seater that matches the easy chair. As your sofas are white (or cream) leather, if you retain one or both, that would be your starting point for a colour scheme. With a north facing room that receives little light due to window cover for privacy, you need to choose between a rich but deep colour for your walls that create a cozy haven or a light pastel scheme to try and lighten the space. Plantation shutters are a good choice for the bay window. I recommend 2 tiers so that you can open the top row if you wish and get to the ventilation window. White would give you the most light reflection, but you can have shutters painted or stained in any number of colours. Keep in mind that they are not easy to recolour, so stick with something neutral if you plan to live in the house a long time. Traditional library colours to create cozy spaces are hunter green, raspberry and deep gold, all of which will cocoon you while reading and lounging around. The fire surround can be primed and painted a contrast colour to the walls. If you keep your large upholstered pieces neutral, add colour with a colourful area rug that is large enough to fit under the front legs of the sofa(s) and easy chair and cushions. Finally artwork that you love arranged around the room....See MoreWhere to cut the picture rail after opening up a wall.
Comments (10)Hello Rachel, I would leave the arch plain as is. One fantastic way of dealing with dado and picture rails and even skirting is simply to paint it! By that I mean leave the beading off altogether and paint the separations. This was common in the servants quarters where details were left to a minimum but actually I love this look !! It not only suggests a period aesthetic but has a really modern and contemporary feel. The same can be done with skirting. With the floor have a simple bead around the edge of the floor to finish. Mask the height and paint a line. Same again to picture rail height etc etc... I would add architrave to doors only and then try my suggestions. If you really want to add detail to the skirting you can decide how high, then add beading along the top and several sections (depending on height overall of room) or base only if height minimal and skirting minimal. Then paint the lot the colour of your choosing. :))...See MoreJules James
3 years agoJules James
3 years ago
Sonia
3 years agoI think classic shelving like the ones below would look great. I think painting the shelving white or blue would be good. As to woodburners, they can be very polluting both inside and outside the home and not great for children or people with breathing problems. I don’t know where you are based, but London has very strict rules about what you can and cannot burn and which woodburners you can install. Here’s part of an article about this.
Jules James thanked SoniaJules James
3 years agoSonia
3 years ago
Sarah U-S
3 years agoSeveral years ago, we wanted floating shelves but after googling around for “alcove shelves” we found this image - it was from a carpenter in Brighton who had made shelves out of mdf and then painted them - and they look like flowering shelves. I found a local carpenter and he basically copied the idea for us - and years later we still love our shelves, and several of our friends have copied them! We even copied the two lower angled shelves for our tv! The cost was also much better than buying ready made floating shelves or even Ikea offers. My top tip - find a local carpenter!
Jules James thanked Sarah U-SHU-840414730
3 years agoSarah U-S
3 years agoOoh - Milly Moo - nice shelves!!! Ours have been in a few years now and we painted them white to match the skirting. We’re currently planning on redecorating and I’ve been debating whether to paint them white again or to match the wall colour - I think yours have swayed me towards wall colour!!! (Talking of which, what colour are your walls?!)
Back to the original post... like Milly Moo, I think we paid around £200 for the carpenter to make the shelves. It was so much cheaper than even Ikea...
here’s ours - excuse mess and clutter!!!
Milly Moo
3 years ago
Milly Moo