There is a very important room in my house that has me completely stumped. I look around and I have NO CLUE how to begin decorating it. When I walk into our long, large living room, the focal point at the end of the room is the fireplace. Then my eye is drawn up to the blank white pentagon above it, and feel the strong urge to begin praying, or look around for a bride and groom about to get hitched.
OK, it's not that bad. When we first looked at the house, this was one of the very few things in the negative column and I HATED this feature. I have now grown to accept it. I don't love it, but I no longer hate it. This area has me completely uninspired as to how I can work with what I have. I don't like painted brick, so that's not an option (makes me want to fleck off the paint to see what it used to look like even though in this situation, I would know).
Here is my challenging mantle/fireplace area (the brick is tones of red and not orange even though you might think there could be orange tones in this picture):
Please ignore the white-trash antennae and cords. You get the general idea. Until I have a plan for this area, my hubby can do whatever he wants to make the TV work.
I believe I should paint the middle area some kind of color. The walls in the entire room are the same almost-white with a tiny bit of a tan tint to it. I don't dislike the color, but it does nothing for me. And the pentagon area in the middle needs to have some color so that it detracts from the bricks going up the sides into a point that reminds me of a church alter. There will be no sacrificial services happening here, and no sermons.
I do love the fireplace itself. Our gold fireplace tools have to go, as they are the only gold-anything in the house. But in looking at the area, how would you decorate it? What colors would you use? Would you look for a portrait-print or picture or go with a mirror and if so what color of frame? I put the curtains up, but am not in love with how they look here. Sheer red, mustard yellow, olive green and white vertical stripes, but you mostly see the red. I don't care for the curtain finials. I look at this area and think... meh.
What would you do with this area? Help me! I need your ideas for inspiration. I want to AT LEAST like this area. I want to feel like I'm at home, and not at church.
6 comments:
How about some color of grey? Would match the grout and the metal in the ceiling fan. Or is the grout more tan like the carpet. Hhmm. I will see what I can come up with. I'm far from a decorator. Are you keeping that celing fan or going to swap out? Are you going for traditional, modern, contemporary?
The grout is a light grey. The brick does have some darker grey/black areas which ties in black furniture. The whole house has a lot of oak, so tan always matches too. Fans will stay, there are two in the living room, and all of the fans in the house match. I don't know what I'm going for, but we have large black and grey sleek cabinets on the other end of the living room. Couch/chair is TBD on what we eventually buy. What we have is not staying.
What? Did Jesus have a pointy head?
I think painting the walls inside it and around it in a warm color so the brick isn't so stark would do wonders to tone it down and warm it up. Would you ever go bold and do a red or burnt orange? LOVE the dog lying on the floor. That's what makes a space a home, IMO.
Yea, as long as I have my hubby & the pups, that's "home" to me. I'd like to be able to look at the main wall and not feel "temporary" though. I am very tempted to do a red--something to try to match the brick. But then I fear that I will be so off that it will clash with the bricks. Not sure how to match this color--could be scary! But it's only paint. And it's a very small area. Maybe...
Don't paint it red, that will be too much. Paint it something that will accent the brick, if you don't want to paint it. I'd also look into another mantle. Perhaps something white to pop. You can find a lot of vintage and antique mantles for not a lot of money. It needs a little bit of a soft edge.
Also, there's always etsy, for something in the middle:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83574144/golden-retriever-dog-metal-wall-art?ref=sr_gallery_13&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=golden+retriever&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83714924/golden-retriever-brewing-company-craft?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=golden+retriever&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade
To name a couple.
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