House to Home: Balance ‘moodiness’ of stone fireplace wall with lighter accents
March 14th, 2010 by Debbie Travis
Q. The fireplace wall in our 1970s home is stone. The flat-faced natural stones are various shades of gray. My husband loves the stone, but I find it very dark. Is there any way to paint the stone so it doesn’t look like we just covered it with latex?
A. Your stone wall is part of the architecture of the room. I can understand that you feel it is dark or heavy, but there are better options than paint. Painted stone will look like just that, and I would not recommend it. You would not be happy with the results.
In the farmhouse dining room shown here, the stone wall was given added interest with the addition of items that relate to life in the countryside. The stone wall is lovely as it stands, but I sense that you need a bigger transformation.
I would brighten up the area around the fireplace to complement its moodiness. Build in some character that relates to you and your husband on a personal level.
Start with a shiny white mantel above the fireplace. This will give you a place to show off colorful pottery, candlesticks, pictures or artwork. Play with your arrangement to get the proper proportions. Display pieces should be large enough or grouped to balance the large stone.
Prop up or hang a large mirror over the shelf; this will reflect light and brighten your room. Add some white velvet or chenille cushions to the room’s decor, and the space will feel much lighter.
Q. We are remodeling our house. We are taking down walls in the living room to make it into a great room that will flow out into the kitchen, which has a vaulted ceiling. I would like to paint the vaulted ceiling and the far triangular wall. There are exposed crossbeams that I would leave bright white. Will this look OK?
A. Thank you for attaching a photograph; it’s always helpful. I love the idea of painting the crossbeams white — it will look far less heavy than wood tone. To make the white beams stand out as a feature, I would paint the vaulted ceiling and far triangular wall in a delicate shade such as a soft peppermint or buttery yellow. These shades won’t look as harsh as all white, but not as “chopped up” as a darker color would seem. I hope it works. Send me a picture when you are done.
Q. I have a cabinet painted in a low-luster black melamine. Is there a glaze or something that I could paint over to make it look more like espresso rather than pure black?
A. Melamine is essentially a hard plastic surface. While there are paints that are manufactured to adhere to a slippery surface, I recommend you prepare your cabinet before you add paint to get a more durable, professional finish.
Sand the cabinet first and wash with a heavy-duty detergent such as TSP. This will give the surface grip. Apply a high-adhesion primer. Since you are going to cover with a dark shade of paint, it is helpful to tint the primer with a little of the paint. Now apply two base coats of color to ensure solid coverage.
Debbie Travis’ House to Home column is produced by Debbie Travis and Barbara Dingle. Please e-mail your questions to house2home@debbietravis.com. You can follow Debbie on Twitter at www.twitter.com/debbie_travis.
More from columnist Debbie Travis
