Design help; fireplace edition

STM317 said:

I think you're headed in the right direction here. However, the shelves look a little wonky to me. Since you're dealing with a small space, I'd imagine that efficient storage is a priority. If that's true, what about full "built-ins" on either side? That would give you more storage, and would keep the space above the mantle from being starkly empty and completely dominated by the chase/TV. More traditional cabinets with doors below to store things out of the way, and open shelves above where more visually interesting things can be stored?

Or drawers.  I need at least one shelf per side as a design feature; displaying minimalist knick knacks and for my receiver, but the rest could be drawers.  The theater got a huge donation of about 100 really nice ball-bearing drawer slides that I could pilfer since the theater will never use them all.

Unless.... I find an alternative to amplifiy my home theater that isn't a bulky receiver....  Off to start a new thread.

Did someone say Sketchup??

Here's my idea..  I'm not sure it's exactly keeping your idea.  It's maybe more "furniture" then what you were wanting.  That said with a smaller house I would not want to waste unnecessary space on just architectural elements.  Think anything you could store inside this fireplace "cabinet" would not have to go somewhere else in the house.  Back material can be whatever you feel like, I modeled it as just rough finished copper sheet.  Gray looked good for the frame color, but it's just painted wood so you can use MDF shelves (I built a similar cabinet in our entryway with Popular/MDF and it took paint really well).  Color could be anything.  Dimensions are approximate based on what you've said.  Above the coat hooks would be doors and a small shelf for a basket/wood bin.  above the fireplace would just be open. 

In reply to nocones :

I just drooled a little on my laptop.

That is a lovely idea.  Also, makes me have to breathe into a paper bag a little.  I LOVE the idea of the cabinet to the left.  I could store wood under the bench.  The cabinet could hold hats and scarves.  Your idea also gave me an idea for the cabinets.  I was measuring my walnut to make sure I had enough to build all the cabinetry, but something like that could use prefab hutches or build with ply and veneer, and I could just build walnut doors/drawers.

Would you be willing to share that .skp with me?  curtong at g mail.  If not, totally cool.  You're just a better skp master than I am.

Most asymmetrical fireplaces don't rly work but Nocone's design just does. Fits that room perfectly. However, my only qualification for having an opinion on this is cuz I read a book called "rustic fireplaces" once,  before building this one..

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

Lose the window next to the front door for a projection space. Projection TV with the projector recessed into the ceiling. Swap the front door for a full lite door (full height glass)

I think I'm going to take your idea, but modify it.  I think I'll put a retractable projection screen above the fireplace.  That way, you get the full effect of the fireplace when it's retracted.  When you pull it down to watch TV, you're looking at the TV anyway, not the chase.  When you're not watching TV, it disappears.

Curtis,

Sent you an email with the SKP file.  Hopefully it comes through with the textures.  If any of the dimensions are way off and you need help adjusting the model let me know. 

A few years ago I converted a small part of our garage to an entryway.  I just took a few pictures of the cabinet I built (You'll see where the inspiration for the coat area by your door came from).  We bought these kinda cool webbed baskets that look really nice and are great for gloves/hats and stuff.  Just for a dimensional reference the top cabinet is 14" deep, the bench is 16" deep.   I'm not sure how much space you actually have with the door swing (You said 18") but obviously the trim reduces that somewhat.  If you legit have 18" when the door is 90 degrees open I think you can definately make a bench work.  Even if it only had to be 14-15" deep it would still function as a spot to sit and put on shoes.

In reply to Jay_W :

That is a great looking fireplace.  I really like the way the stone above the arch gets taller in the middle

I just saw your post about the projector.  I couldn't resist adjusting the design a little with no TV.  This may be the first fireplace that looks slightly better with a TV (In the asymetrical version).

Here it is with doors on the upper, asymetrical flue.

And here with Symetrical Flue (which then I think it makes sense to either do no doors or doors that open up.

For the rock I simply used Microsoft Snip to take a block of the stone that Lotusseven7 posted that you said you liked.  I saved that as a JPG then used File->Import in sketchup.  Tell it you want it to be a texture then it just gets pasted ontop of whatever you are doing.

Dang, I should start proposing my ideas on GRM instead of Reddit. The feedback for Curtis has been great. 

I agree, the whole built-ins along the wall idea really works, and hides the smaller flue well. 

In reply to pheller :

I know, right?  I feel like I should be writing big checks here.

I like where this is going!  

One issue, that may have been addressed and I skipped over it: Where do the speakers go?

Apologies if I missed this and this post is a waste of bandwidth. But most of mine are anyways. Also, nocones is awesome.

I've made some amazing decisions thanks to ALL of you.

Right now, I'm making decisions on specific dimensions of the Mantle (actually, I just checked... it's Mantel.  A Mantle is a loose frockish garment).  I'm going to try and do a sketchup of it

Ok.... Depth of the box =17  Depth of shelves =14.  Mantel has a 4.5" overhang over the fireplace, all other sides have a 2" overhang.  So the mantel is technically 21.5" deep in the middle, and 16" deep on the sides.

Then (couldn't make it happen in skp) I think the doors on the cabinet will be a perimeter frame with a fillagree panel insert backed by a sharkstooth fabric.  This will let air in/out to keep the receiver cool and also (hopefully) allows the IR from the remote to get through.  It shouldn't be an issue since the receiver is ARC/CEC and turns on automatically with the TV.

The mantel will have radiused corners as you can see, then I need to find some way of putting a big, fat ogee on the bottom of it and a roundover on the top.

From this point, I could easily add nocones idea of cabinets above and to the left if I wish.  The really slick part about this is that the dimensions work perfectly on that wall as it leaves exactly 36" to the wall beside the door.

I just wanted to get a better detail of the mantel and corbels to make sure it would be something I like.  And I do.

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

One issue, that may have been addressed and I skipped over it: Where do the speakers go?

 

Apologies if I missed this and this post is a waste of bandwidth. But most of mine are anyways. Also, nocones is awesome.

You didn't miss it.  Speakers are small bookshelf units and don't really invade the space, so they'll flank the TV/screen by sitting on the mantel on either side.  I may get a wild idea and change them from their current black by putting some walnut veneer on them.

and some cleanup and another angle:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

daeman said:

I'm hesitant to suggest this given all the work you've already gotten yourself into, but in the interest of symmetry and not walking in the front door and having shelves and the edge of a fireplace straight ahead.... Would you entertain totally redoing that front wall/verandah area? Move the door more or less central to the front gable and drop a couple of large-ish sidelights in.

Unhelpful suggestions aside, I really admire your ability to document your various projects and ideas. I fall down terribly in that regard and am a little envious of you. 

Not unhelpful at all.  Several people in this thread have suggested moving the door which makes me think one of several things; A) gee, I should move the door, B) I must have posted really disproportionate photos that make them think the doors are in the way, or C) y'all are nuts.  I know C is true, but not in the advice arena.  You all have always given good advice.

Long story short, the door is staying put for now.  The door jamb is about 24" away from the wall, the shelves will be 13" away, and the fireplace 17" away from the wall.  The net result is that the door can fully swing open without hitting the shelves, and they are still a foot to the left of the traffic flow.  The previous entertainment center was 22" away from the wall and (aside from being a little ugly) wasn't in the way of traffic.

I was a photographer in a former life, and I really hate it when I do a project and then three years later forget how I did something.  I was looking at photos from my kitchen project 2 years ago so I could remember what product I used to set the tile.  Sure enough, I took a randomly awkward photo of myself half naked holding a bucket of mastic.

Like I said, I was kinda hesitant to suggest completely redoing that front wall after the fiasco that was leveling up your floor, but glad you don't think I'm completely mad.

Yeah, it seemed like the front door was kind of squished into the corner of the room, at least from my perspective. That said, if it's going to work for you where it is, then go for it. No sense in making work for the sake of it.

Your photography skills show, you take decent pictures and plenty of them. I tend to do something and think.... berkeley, should have got some photos of that. Thankfully the lady in my life takes a few if she's around when I'm doing things otherwise I'd have zero record of anything.

I tend to dislike how inserts look like cabinets and go for a rock-berkeleying-everywhere approach, Imagine the old ginormous stone hearths put in houses when they were using the stones to hold onto the heat.

So saying that.....have you considered the rock-berkeleying-everywhere approach? You don't like symmetrical sorts of things, do the whole wall in stone? And add in the shelves you need surrounded by the stone?

That's not a bad suggestion.  I do really like the mix of stone and wood.  I'm afraid all stone would be kinda like all wood... just too much of a good thing.

nocones said:

I just saw your post about the projector.  I couldn't resist adjusting the design a little with no TV.  This may be the first fireplace that looks slightly better with a TV (In the asymetrical version).

Here it is with doors on the upper, asymetrical flue.

And here with Symetrical Flue (which then I think it makes sense to either do no doors or doors that open up.

 

For the rock I simply used Microsoft Snip to take a block of the stone that Lotusseven7 posted that you said you liked.  I saved that as a JPG then used File->Import in sketchup.  Tell it you want it to be a texture then it just gets pasted ontop of whatever you are doing.

I really like that asymmetrical flue. That was a bold idea.