Reader Lisa is having some trouble figuring out how to make her off-center retro roman brick fireplace work for within her living room design. She initially wanted to paint the bricks white to match the built in bookshelf next to it, but her husband is a purist and prefers his brick au natural. How can Lisa make the room more aesthetically pleasing to her and still keep the natural brick for her husband? I’m thinking she was on the right track — but needs to reverse her thinking.
Lisa writes:
Hi Pam and Kate-
I love reading your blog – it’s definitely made me appreciate my 1954 rancher so much more.
I have a retro design dilemma though, and need your help! We have a Roman brick (as I understand) fireplace that sits asymmetrically at the end of our living room with a built-in shelf next to it. Previously, there was a 1980’s fireplace insert covering the fireplace, which we just removed (yay!), but now I’m not sure where to go. All the neighborhood houses have had the brick painted white or tan over the years – I initially lobbied for that option, but my husband is very anti-paint on original brick. I also read the blog on your site about staining brick, but I’m not sure if that’s the right solution for me either (is my brick too dark for that?) We recently painted the grey on the walls, which helps ‘tone down’ the red, so I’m starting to wonder if maybe I should just live with the brick the way it is – you know, ‘love the house I’m in.’ And beyond the bricks, I’m not sure what to do to the structure of the fireplace – does the asymmetrical thing work? We could cut the bricks off the side to make it centered in the space and with the hearth, add a traditional mantle and drywall above, remove the built-in in the corner – I’ve reached the point where I’m totally stuck. Help!
Our style is definitely artsy/eclectic with a little splash of collected random collected furniture thrown in (and a couple things left over from college that need to be thrown out!) Hubby is an arts and crafts furniture builder on the side, so there’s a lot of that influence in our home (I’m still waiting on a few key pieces for this room, clearly). We also have a family/extended family of artists, so we do our best to incorporate their work into our home – which is wonderful, but challenging at the same time.
I’m so hoping that you pick my room to help with – I’d love – no wait, I NEED a fresh perspective! And I’d love to do my rancher justice – I didn’t even realize how great it is until I started reading your blog (which I stumbled across while researching shingle colors last summer). Thank you!
Lisa
My key tip: Paint the built-in bookshelves to blend with the brick wall
Lisa — I think your fireplace is related to my house. I have probably the exact same roman brick covering 3/4 of the exterior of my retro ranch. That being said, I agree with your husband — I wouldn’t paint this brick — it is really beautiful just the way it is. Instead of painting the brick to match the bookshelf, why not paint the bookshelf to blend with the brick. By painting the bookshelf a medium brown that coordinates with your fireplace — it makes the whole wall on seem like one piece — thus reducing the off-center look. To further “center” the fireplace opening, try getting a tall plant (real or fake if you have a black thumb) to put on the other side of the room. The plant will occupy some of the “extra space” on that side of the fireplace and make the opening feel more centered.
I asked Lisa — even though she just painted the walls grey — if she would be game for Pam and me to each suggest a wall color for her living room for fun. Lisa says she is always open to suggestions, so Pam and I both set out to pick a color and also a rug for the space, keeping in mind Lisa and her husband’s love for Arts and Crafts style furniture and wanting to tone down the brick. I chose a warm creamy color for their walls (similar to Sherwin Williams Inviting Ivory) to tie in the color of the brick without bringing out the red tones. The rug I chose — found on Overstock.com — coordinates with what is already in the room and also has an Arts and Crafts feel to it.
Pam noticed that Lisa had green curtains and suggested a green from a story she wrote about Arts and Crafts paint colors — from California Paints called Jukebox. I found the green rug to coordinate with this color scheme from Shaw.
Even if Lisa didn’t want to change the grey walls, adding a rug to the room would help pull it together and make it feel more finished. This hand tufted grey wool rug from Overstock.com would be a good option.
UPDATE– After several suggestions from readers wondering how the wall color would look wrapped around onto the bookshelf, some further “digital painting” was done and the following shows how each wall color would look if it were carried onto the bookshelf.
Lisa, I hope I’ve given you a few ideas on how to make your space feel more symmetrical — without painting your brick fireplace.
Jim says
I agree with Diane in CO. There is nothing wrong with the fireplace or the bookshelf. The problem is the furniture placement. To begin with, the love seat is too close to the fireplace (WAY too close), and there seems to be an attempt to create a long sofa from the love seat and recliner. If at all possible, get a long sofa and center it in front of the window. Place the love seat to the right of the sofa at a right angle facing the fire place and put the recliner in the corner in front of the bookshelf. I realize that the current arrangement might be the most comfortable for watching TV but it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing and it’s crowding the fireplace.
nina462 says
I am having the same dilemma, with an off center fireplace. Someday I’ll send it in. My living room/dining room is one big room, with an off center red brick fireplace in the living room. There is a bookcase to one side (it’s only up to waist level, no top shelving). I used to put my tv on the other side to make some symetry out of it.
I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one with a off center fireplace.
Nancy EC says
I love grey walls, but not in this room. For me, the grey seems a little cold with that lovely brick. I am a fan of the green walls. But if nothing else, at least get rid of the white on the bookcase. Too harsh and jarring. Either paint to match the walls or the fireplace. Is it original? If not, consider having hubby build a beautiful and ‘arts and crafts -ish’ bookcase in quartersawn oak or go mid-century and have him do something in ’50’s appropriate wood.
Scott says
I had the same dilemma in my 1954 ranch… a not too large living room overwhelmed by a massive fireplace that dictated an extremely limited furniture arrangement.
I probably took the most extreme measure possible, having a false wall installed over it! This may seem like madness but the proportions of the room magically fell into place and now I have a big showcase wall for my Zenith console stereo as well as some of my favorite paintings and lamps. The room feels infinitely more clean and modern now (modern in a 1950s/1960s kind of way) and it literally changed the entire vibe of the house.
PS And before anyone panics, the fireplace is sitll there, perfectly intact, hidden by some simple framing, drywall, and moldings, waiting for some future owner to rediscover it.
pam kueber says
how ingenious! Yup: Sometimes you just have to “fix the architecture.”
Kelly M says
I don’t think the bookshelves are original. If it were me, I’d rip them out. Without them, I think asymmetry of the fireplace would make more sense.
Dash says
The bookcase and trim were probably unpainted at first. Have you considered stripping them?
chase says
My vote would be to paint the bookshelf either the color of your mortar on the fireplace, or even a deep deep brown or black. Embrace the asymmetrical style.
If you want an idea of what these colors would look like, I did some mock-ups in Photoshop:
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/chaseabryant/Retro%20Renovation/
Seeing as your taste in furniture is a little more traditional, I’d probably also suggest a small piece of moulding between the bookcase and the ceiling. Something VERY simple, however (like the end table you have next to the bookcase and what your lamp is sitting on next to the window.
Chase says
Also, I forgot to add, I would also keep the bricks un-painted. The mottled color adds a lot of depth to the room.
pam kueber says
Wow, so many great ideas today — and photoshop, too! Thanks, Chase!!!
Larry says
I hope I’m not repeating a suggestion already posted, I’m throwing this in on my lunch hour and didn’t have the chance to read them all. How about building a matching bookcase on the left of the fireplace? It would of course be a bit skinnier than the one on the right but maybe it would visually ‘scoot’ the brick section toward the center just a bit. You could even leave the brick there but just sort of cover it with the new bookcase. That way if you decide you don’t like it, you could take the bookcase down and the original brick would still be there.
Diane in CO says
I had that very same thought when considering this design problem a few days ago. I wish Kate could “photoshop” that second bookcase into the room so we could see how it looks!
Also, I would play with facing the sofa toward the fireplace with a sofa table behind it. (NOT touching any wall) That could separate the room from the main entry, assuming the front door is just off to the left in the picture.
Also, the color of gray on the walls just misses the mark – it’s too BLUE-gray. Look at the mortar; it is a WARM gray. Just painting the walls the warm gray (paler, lighter tone) of the mortar would help! Look better with green drapes as well. The blue gray against the drapes is not attractive, to my eye. Other wall color options are good as well, but the blue-gray doesn’t seem to go with other elements in the room, which seem to be “taupe-ier.”
Lisa, hope you aren’t sorry you asked all of us for advice!! 🙂
pam kueber says
Except… I don’t think the fireplace is centered….
Larry says
Yep, you’re right, the fireplace isn’t really centered but I’m thinking that the second bookcase might sort of trick the eye, and it might ‘appear’ more centered that it does now. But then again it might even draw more attention to the dilemma. I think a photoshop session might indeed give us an idea, but I have no clue how to do that. 🙂
Sandra says
It’s probably too difficult to do with Photoshop, but I wonder what happens if the back and interior of the bookcase is painted gray, and the face of the bookshelf left white or painted to match the bricks.
I think a gray interior would add depth.
Kate H says
If it were me, I’d rearrange the furniture, and here’s why:
This room is full of separate little units – three chair/lamp/tables for reading; sofa and lazy boy for TV watching; fireplace. There’s no focal point. Think of this instead as one unit and don’t arrange the furniture as if it is a great room, which may need separate little areas. Put all the chair/lamp/tables somewhere else where people may want to read. On either wall, center the sofa, with the lazy boy at a right angle facing the fireplace, and a table and light in the L. Maybe get a coffee table, maybe not. Center the TV on the opposite wall. Next time you buy furniture, get it all at one time and all in one color (which is not black or brown) and make sure you can see the feet. That way it doesn’t look like it’s designed for asthmatic giants.
If you center everything else, the off-center fireplace will look right. If the fireplace were centered, you’d want to make everything else off-centered (which is what you’ve got now).
Alternatively: Hire a house stager for a half-day and let her tell you what to do with what you have. And get two teen-aged boys to help move it, it looks heavy. You can pay them in pizza. This is so much easier and cheaper than hacking at your fireplace or buying rugs or repainting.