I am a girl that loves symmetry and there is one space in my home that is off balance in my mind. I knew the day we found out that our fireplace would be off set that I would have a challenge in my future.
We purchased this home from looking at blue prints, there was no model to be seen, however we did get to go into another home that had this floor plan, but that was after we had already chosen the home, lot and signed on the dotted line.
The blue prints were not very clear so they actually had to confirm that YES in fact the fireplace was off center.
Since we have moved in it has not been a problem, in fact just the opposite. I enjoy watching TV and having a fire in the fireplace at the same time.
I wrote in another blog post about how the TV actually balanced the wall for me, which was another surprise.
Well, that was our older, smaller TV. So what once felt like a problem that we would need to address immediately got put on the back burner.
UNTIL.....
In comes a newer, bigger version!!
My husband has waited for years to get the BIG screen TV and we are now the proud owners of a 55" TV. When he installed the larger TV, my mind started spinning all over again. You see with the larger TV, the wall became unbalanced again.
WHY?.......
This TV is not only larger but it is not as black, the other TV had a shiny black frame, and it grounded the room. This one has a thin line of black and the screen is actually a charcoal.
Throughout the day I always have music on and with that there is a beautiful slide show of scenery playing so it is hardly ever off to show the dark charcoal looking screen.
The other TV looked prettier to me, this just looks, ordinary and plain.
STAYING POSITIVE!!
"There are no mistakes in design, just another opportunity to become creative!"
I heard this once and I have never forgotten it, so with that being said I needed to get more creative.
PLANS.....
We have plans on making this fireplace wall a feature, but felt we could wait so it fell lower on the To-Do list.
However we are adjusting that list with the addition of the new BIG TV!!
One thing that was blaring to me was now the mirror that I once loved above the fireplace looked like a postage stamp.
I knew I needed to give the area above the actual fireplace more presence. The console table that I love now is too small in scale to balance the larger TV.
Luckily I have saved copious amounts of inspiration pictures. What I originally thought I wanted needed to be simplified. I realized that after living here and having shutters installed, simple is better for that room.
Keep In Mind The Completed Look Desired.....
Even though we are not going to do the entire wall right now, we still need to have somewhat of an idea of what we are going to do in the TV niche.
All possible moldings will need to at least be chosen to make sure they will marry well together in a cohesive design.
It is not a good idea to choose one piece of molding and apply it to the wall without considering the other moldings that will be going in the room in the future.
Because our home is open concept I need to think about the rest of the home as well so that means I also have to think and plan clear to the entry hall.
Oh my! That does seem a bit daunting, but trust me it is important to take the time to do it in the beginning and it will save heartache, or any major mistakes down the road.
So with that in mind and keeping in mind the overall feel I want our home to have, I think I have come up with a good plan.
I want our great room to have a traditional Nantucket/Hamptons vibe so that means more of a traditional type molding treatment.
Before we moved in I thought I would go much more casual, however once we started living here the house basically told me what it needed and that was a little more of an elegant but comfortable look.
Throughout this post you have seen pictures of fireplaces with molding treatments that were in my pinterest file. Here is what we plan for above the fireplace to balance the new BIG TV!!
As soon as the TV went up even my husband could tell it was in need of some balance so what was once a project that was on the back burner was moved forward a bit.
In my last post I talked about placing sconces above the mantel. The sconces arrived on Saturday and they are perfect. Simple, classic design with a soft, not harsh bronze finish, more blackish than flat black. I am beyond pleased.
Thomas O'Brien's Bryant sconce can be found HERE!
I made a simple mock up of the design I would like to apply above the fireplace and as soon as it went up I knew this was the right direction...
The mirror is not the actual mirror I will use, I still have to play with that a bit, however a round mirror seems to be the right shape for this area.
In this mock-up I have added the TV console that is larger in size which will also help balance the TV. As you can see it all seems to flow nicely.
There will be molding added to the niche as well, but for right now we just want to balance the TV with the treatment above the mantel.
By giving the fireplace more presence and weight it will balance the larger size of the TV.
I feel very fortunate that my hubby is a very handy guy and can do beautiful molding, his want-to is declining so we need to move quickly, if you know what I mean?
I will keep you posted on our progress, wish me luck!!
