Our "funky" fireplace... render it?

[cornflower]

So the fireplace dominates the room and has at least 5 different finishes/colours I can see in the photo alone. (Negotiating access to the property pre-settlement as I type.. I think it has more in person.)

I'm all for features.. but the slate has.to.go.

Here she is:

And I want it to look like this (yes.. I'm dreaming.. LOL):

Would it be easier to put plasterboard up? Would I need to use formwork for that? (Don't want to bulk it up more though... ) I could probably pull the slate off, but wanted to go for something a bit quick and dirty as this is the living room and I didn't want to do something that was going to block the room off for a while. (I also have no idea what is under there.)

Does anyone have any other words of wisdom on how I could approach this? I originally thought to render it but there may be simpler options I'm not aware of.

thanks!!

 

[wylie]

I'm thinking you could simply paint the slate (preparation?) off white. It looks like the bottom half is some sort of stone, and if you paint the top off white (or cover it with plaster?) it will look much more classic.

I'd also think about ditching the wiggly bit at the bottom. Is that wiggly timber or brick?

Simplify the whole thing, remove as much of the busy finishes and see how it looks.

If you ditch the green walls, the wallpaper border, the green curtains and the dark timber shelving on the wall, and paint everything off white, it will look so much cleaner.

Do you reckon the vendors could have stuffed any more furniture and "stuff" into the room?

 

[lizzie]

I'm with Wylie ... paint the slate and the walls the same white/off white and it will look 1000% better. If you don't like it - then it was only a tin of paint and an afternoon.

We rendered ours - but it was a brick monolith (that must be my word of the day) that totally dominated, and really dated, a huge living room. Even tho we then painted it charcoal, it looks so much more suitable.

Before and after photos:

 

[wylie]

That transformation is amazing Lizzie . What a difference!

 

[lizzie]

Huge difference ... it was one of those jobs I argued with hubby over for weeks before "just doing it" ... and getting his post-seal-of-approval.

 

[Jamie M]

Huge difference ... it was one of those jobs I argued with hubby over for weeks before "just doing it" ... and getting his post-seal-of-approval.

I gave up on the reno arguing thing a long time ago. My wife now has full creative control over all renos. I'm just the "finance" guy who has to keep track of costs....and then I get into trouble when those creative renos, which I have no say in, run over budget.

I'm actually a tad nervous about the next project. It's going to be our PPOR and there's quite a bit of "we're not doing cheap renos" type work to be done.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[lizzie]

I gave up on the reno arguing thing a long time ago. My wife now has full creative control over all renos.

Please - come for a beer and talk to my hubby.

We seem to argue over nearly everything - and then I just go and "do it" and afterwards hubby mavels at how great (insert fireplace/benchtops/bathroom tiles/pool/garden/etc here) looks ... until the next argument ...

 

[Jane - Hotspace]

Hi cornflower,

Lots of renovation ideas to consider! If there are similar materials to the fireplace stone around other parts of the house, then it might work well to leave the stone feature in place. This will also save you some costs.

If this were my property, I would render the slate and paint it the same colour as the walls either side - off-white (so there is a variation in texture but not colour above the fireplace). Paint the mantelpiece white. I would leave the stone surround/sides/under the hearth as is, so you leave some of the original character of the house.

Its hard to see what the hearth is made from - when you find out perhaps let us know.

I'm a big fan of juxtaposing modern finishes with the original character of a building. I think it takes much more creativity to do it this way and when you pull it off, you get a much more appealing result.

The thing that will give this fireplace real wow factor is the mirror or artwork that gets selected to hang above the mantelpiece. If you paint the mantelpiece white, then I'd go for a something with a big, white frame.

Good luck - looks like you have a pretty exciting job ahead of you!

 

[Jamie M]

Please - come for a beer and talk to my hubby.

Done. As long as we (the guys) can choose the beer

Cheers

Jamie

 

[lizzie]

Of course ... the only thing I have to do with beer is buy upon instruction

 

[cornflower]

Thanks for the feedback folks - I'll paint it and see what it looks like once the rest of the room is done.

I noticed that our local Bunnings runs workshops on rendering, so I can pick up some skills there if it comes to it. I've also read around the net that you can plasterboard them up too - if I can work out how, I might put some MDF VJ board over it when I reline to room.

 

[im sparticus]

I have been sticking my plasterboard to masonary with cornice cement lots of little blobs like a meatball at about 30cm centres (a bit cheaper than the masonary adhesive and when your done you can use it for the base coats and cornice just push the sheets in evenly with a long straight edge) not sure how it would go on the slate do a test blob first and compare it to a brick test blob but might have to rip them off or aim for the corner of the grout.