Make your fireplace the focal point of your living room.
A fireplace adds an element of warmth and old world charm to a house. An array of different designs and styles of fireplaces are available, including wood burning, gas and artificial. Depending on its location in your home, the fireplace creates a different design aesthetic; a bedroom fireplace brings coziness to the room, for example, while a living room fireplace conveys refined elegance. Of course, it all comes down to personal taste. Think of your living room as a blank canvas as you design the room with a fireplace.
Instructions
1. Make the fireplace the focal point of the living room. Design the room so the fireplace is the center of attention, regardless of its location in the room and regardless of whether it needs remodeled, decorated or built from scratch.
2. Decide what type of fireplace to install, if you don't yet have one. The installation and construction process varies widely depending on the style of fireplace. Wood burning fireplaces cost the most and take the most work to install. Wood burning fireplaces also require regular maintenance. Other options include electric or gas fireplaces, which cost less and offer easier maintenance, but lack the charm of a true wood burning fireplace. Your living room's shape and size may restrict you from choosing certain fireplace types; consult with a professional fireplace installer if you need help choosing.
3. Select the fireplace material. Choose from a variety of materials, including brick, stone or slate. Accent materials could include a wood mantel for a wood burning fireplace, or stone, brick, marble or slate for a gas burning fireplace. Mix and match materials if you desire. Choose the materials based on your home’s decor and what material works best in your home.
4. Draw design inspiration from the fireplace for the rest of the living room. Once you determine the fireplace's style and location in the room, design the rest of the room around the fireplace. For example, include rustic design elements like orange, brown and yellow paint and furnishing accents into the overall living room decor to complement a rustic brick fireplace. For a formal living room, elegant figurines and family pictures on the fireplace mantel are appropriate, with clean and crisp colors like off-whites, grays and beiges. Incorporate your personal design tastes into accessories to highlight the overall design motif.
5. Place furniture in the room. Proper furniture placement gives the room harmony and establishes the fireplace as the focal point, despite any large furniture pieces. Begin by placing the largest piece of furniture first, likely the living room sofa. Set the sofa up to face the focal point in the room: the fireplace. If multiple large pieces of furniture exist in the room, distribute them evenly to ensure balance. Use the furniture pieces to accent the architectural design of the room, such as a round sectional for a bay window. Next, place the remaining pieces of furniture in relation to the sofa to maintain the function and comfort of the room. Follow by placing secondary accent furnishings, such as a reading corner chair. Do not overcrowd the room or interfere with traffic patterns with furniture placement. Most importantly, let your personality shine through in the room’s design.
Tags: living room, focal point, room fireplace, burning fireplace, fireplace focal