Ask Apartment Apothecary – what to do with an unused fireplace

Problem

A pretty tricky AAA today from the lovely Florence, who blogs over at Flossie Teacakes (you must read her blog and follow her on Instagram – she writes so beautifully and with such extraordinary detail – her words are almost mesmerising, I find). She sent me a picture of one of the rooms in her home, where her family spend the majority of their time. It is a really well proportioned room with high ceilings, lovely pieces like a Lloyd Loom chair, one of Florence’s amazing wallhangings, chapel chairs and a vintage sewing machine. The problem is that they have never been able to figure out what to do with the unused, blocked up fireplace in this room.

Up to this point, Florence has tried painting it, placing photograph albums in it, a beautiful bowl and then a terrarium but none of these solutions looked or felt quite right. Normally, it isn’t too difficult to fill this sort of space; a lovely plant, candles or a large ornament can be really rather beautifully framed by the gap where the fireplace once was.

Inspiration

What to do with an empty fireplace | Ask Apartment Apothecary

Building shelves into an unused fireplace creates great storage and fills an unwelcome gap. Image: decor8

What to do with an empty fireplace | Ask Apartment Apothecary

Filling the fireplace with logs adds natural warmth to a room. Image: decor8

What to do with an empty fireplace | Ask Apartment Apothecary

I think this tiled fireplace is absolutely beautiful – that yellow is amazing. Image: A Perspective of Design

Solution

The problem Florence has is that the two alcoves surrounding the fireplace are filled with books from the bottom up. Therefore, adding something to the fireplace can make that lower half of the room look too heavy and confused – basically, there’s too much going on. Also, the fireplace has no surround, which means it isn’t a natural feature. Have a look for yourselves…

What to do with an empty fireplace | Ask Apartment Apothecary

Florence’s room.

I think the main problem is the books, not the hole in the wall – controversial, I know. The shelves need to be higher, starting above the level of the fireplace as their current position is making everything seem out of balance and bottom heavy. Ideally, in-built cupboards on either side of the fireplace in each alcove would make the bottom half of the wall much plainer and more able to cope with a feature being made of the unused fireplace.  Personally, I would tile the hole and add a beautiful grate, like the picture above. Obviously, you couldn’t use this, but it would make the whole wall look more like a traditional, period home. You could also choose really beautiful tiles that would give a focal point to the room and add some colour. Failing that, and I understand it may feel weird for some to construct a faux fireplace for no other reason than aesthetics (and relatively expensive), I would fill it with logs (I’ve always loved the way that looks even if there’s no working fireplace in sight) or a beautiful plant or large vase of flowers but I think changing the height of the shelves is key. The picture below, is kind of how I envisage the changes (as close as I could find without going to Florence’s house and DIYing it myself!). So, the alcoves here now look more balanced with the cupboards below, shelves above and the hole can be filled without it looking messy or over the top because it is no longer competing with books either side of it. Does that make sense?

What to do with an empty fireplace | Ask Apartment Apothecary

Image: Decoracion

What do you think? What would you fill the hole with taking into consideration the rest of the room?

I really hope this has helped you, Florence!

Katy x

P.S. If you would like to Ask Apartment Apothecary, please do post a question on my Facebook page or email me.

Colour

Happy weekend everyone! I hope you have been inspired by the glorious sun we have had this week and hint of Spring in the air – hurrah! What else has been inspiring you? I was asked this week what colour inspires me most as we come into Spring and so I decided to share with you a few images of my favourite colour/s being used in the home in different ways. I’m not entirely sure what to call my favourite colour – it’s kind of bluey/greeny/duck eggy/ verdi-gris/grey/Chartwelly/minty…do you get the idea?

Here is my favourite colour, and its different tones, in action on the walls, floor, cabinets, woodwork. I love it’s depth and yet how neutral it can be; it never steals the show and allows everything else to shine. What do you think?

Colour inspiration | Apartment Apothecary

Image: Nicety

Colour inspiration | Apartment Apothecary

Image: Stylizimo

What colour inspires you most as we go into Spring?

Katy x

 

Lust list

Just briefly dropping in today to really annoy you by tempting you with these beautiful homewares, some of which may inspire you or give you ideas for updates to your own home (or just run out and buy them!)…

Lust list | Apartment Apothecary

1. Natural baskets, Bodie and Fou 2. Rosa stool, Tea and Kate 3. Mistral sofa, Heals 4. Pentland jug, Sparrow and Co. 5 Handmade wild cherry spoon, The Future Kept 6. Handmade House of Rym tiles, Tea and Kate 7. Ferm Living Kelim rug, Smug 8. Lenneke Wispelway ceramics, Smug

First and foremost, I am DESPERATE for a new sofa as my beautiful ticking stripe sofa has been completely ruined by our dog – I want a new sofa and a new ‘no dog on the sofa’ rule. I spotted this particular sofa in Lisa Levis’s home when we shot there a couple of years ago (see the full home tour here) and I would love this grey version.

I’m feeling quite obsessed with handmade ceramics at the moment, which can add lovely touches of character to any surface in your home. Look at those Lenneke Wispelway cups – oh, to have myself a collection of those! I love the matching colour of the Rosa stool and stools are so useful to have around the home for reaching high shelves, cupboards or taking photographs, in a blogger’s case. Other handmade items that I’m lusting after are spoons – I want all the spoons! These gorgeous wooden spoons will basically last forever and they feel amazing (my sister bought our friend a couple for her birthday).

I’ve also included the baskets that I have in our home office and hallway (so useful!) as I always want more of them for every room in the house and every time I post a pic of them on Instagram I always get asked where they are from, so here you go.

Lastly, that Kilim rug – I love the colour combination, the price and the designs. I’m thinking it may look rather good in my home office

Got any favourites?

Katy x

 

Plasterboard with a difference

I’m sure we all have a story about a time a shelf fell down in the middle of the night or the multiple holes in the wall trying to find the perfect spot for a picture or noisy neighbours or kids – right? Well, last week I went to a really fun event in the Shangri-La hotel in The Shard to find solutions to all of these problems. The event was held by British Gypsum (been making plasterboard for years and years) for their new Rooms Made For You range. Along with a group of lovely blogger pals, we had a great time trying out the products, whilst enjoying the amazing views from The Shard, which I hadn’t been inside yet even though I live within walking distance. I was very pleased to see there was a ticket for the viewing platform in my goody bag so I will take some proper photos when I go back and share them with you here. Anyhoo, back to the products in hand…

Magnetic plaster

What would you say holds you back most from personalising your home and decorating it in the way you want to (apart from money, obvs)? If your answer is not feeling confident about hanging things on the walls then magnetic plaster is the answer to all your problems. Forget magnetic paint (I’m sorry, but it really doesn’t work very well), magnetic plaster looks no different, is no more difficult to apply and is only slightly more expensive. Yet, depending on the strength of your magnet, you can hang even a huge TV on this plaster. No holes, no drilling, no putting up pictures in the wrong position and having to do it all over again. You can buy self adhesive magnetic strips that you can apply to picture frames, mirrors, hooks – anything that you would normally have to hang using a nail or screw and the best bit is you can move them around as your needs change.

Magnetic plaster for gallery wall | Apartment Apothecary

Imagine how easy it would be to create a gallery wall like this if all these picture frames were magnetic and you could try out as many formations as you wanted with no need for holes in the wall. Image: My Scandinavian Home

Magnetic plaster for home office noticeboard | Apartment Apothecary

Your home office noticeboard could be as large as you needed it to be with magnetic plaster. All that paper work that normally piles up on your desk could be attached to the wall if needs be. Image: My Scandinavian Home

Magnetic plaster for clipboards in home office  | Apartment Apothecary

Attach magnets to clipboards and move these around as and when needed with magnetic plaster. Image: Decor8

Magnetic plaster for children's chalkboard | Apartment Apothecary

Magnetic plaster is perfect for children’s rooms and you could use chalkboard paint to create a writing wall that could also have their pictures stuck to it with magnets, pots with magnets for chalk that could be attached to the board. Elsewhere in the room you could have lots of hooks with magnets on the back so that they could be moved around the room and used for hanging clothes, toys, fancy-dress costumes, bags – the possibilities are endless. Image: Petit and Small

Magnetic plaster for wall mounted storage boxes | Apartment Apothecary

Hang storage boxes on the wall just using strong magnets. They can be moved around the room according to different needs and change the height of the boxes as children get taller. Image: Ferm Living

Lifestyle Wall

I used to own a studio flat in Borough, which meant sleeping and living in the same space. It was a new build, which meant stud walls galore and if you’ve ever tried screwing into plasterboard, you will know that it doesn’t take much to rip it out. Anyhow, I called round my Dad, as you do, to put up a shelf for me in my new studio flat. Up it went. I filled it with books, bottles of wine and a radio. A few nights later, I was sound asleep when I awoke to an almighty crash and thought I was dead and the world had ended; never before has my heart beat that fast. The shelf had fallen down, the wine was smashed, it was the most horrendous sight. The lesson learnt from that experience? You can’t just stick normal screws into plasterboard (why didn’t you know that, Dad?!).  Since that moment, I have always used specialist fixings in my walls, which is fine although they do create much larger holes and they can be tricky to use.

Lifestyle Wall is a new type of plasterboard that enables you to fix shelves, TV’s, curtain poles directly into the wall – no need to find the joist, use specialist fixings or even use power tools. We had a little competition on the day to see who could get the most screws, with just a screwdriver, into the plasterboard as they could in 1 minute. I managed four, I think. The point being that I could fix a shelf, that would be strong enough to hold all of my glasses, crockery and cookware (the type of shelf you would NOT want to fall down in the middle of the night) by myself, with no power tools, no specialist fixings. I like the sound of that.

DIY shelves made easier with Lifestyle Wall | Apartment Apothecary

This type of shelf could be fixed directly into the wall with single screws and no need for a drill. Image: Shoot Factory

DIY shelves made easier with Lifestyle Wall | Apartment Apothecary

I would love the flexibility of being able to put up a shelf without needing power tools or having to find the joist wherever I wanted, being safe in the knowledge that it won’t fall down in the middle of the night.  Image: My Scandinavian Home

Silent Floor

The last product that we learnt about is Silent Floor. Lucky for me, new builds have concrete floors and we hear virtually nothing of our neighbours. However, having lived in a period home with my family and as a student, I know only too well how sound travels around a house and between houses and it can be a nightmare. Silent Floor can be fitted to a ceiling or a floor to insulate a room from sound. We were able to listen to how much sound the floor cuts out and it’s quite amazing. So, whether you want to insulate your bedroom from your living room, your bedroom from your kids’ bedrooms or your flat from your neighbour’s flat, this is a great solution.

Which of these products speaks to you the most? I love the magnetic plaster idea and the possibilities for being more creative in the way that we live and decorate our homes.

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Rooms Made For You but the opinions and views are my own.

 

Ask Apartment Apothecary – what colour should I paint my home?

Even though I dream of owning a house and decorating it from scratch, the decisions that come along with that are quite a responsibility and very different from improving your home gradually over time, which doesn’t phase me at all.

Recently, one of my friends bought her first house and her question to me was what colour should she paint the interior. She wants a blank canvas, she wants to unify the ‘look’ of the house as every room is a different colour, each door is a different style, even the light switches and door handles are all mis-matched, and not in a good way.

I really like the look that my friend, Katie, created in her London home (see the full home tour here) because she cleverly used the wood work throughout the house to tie together each room and this also served as a design feature in its own right, so it wasn’t just white wall after white wall. I also did something similar in the first flat I lived in after university. I wanted to bring a bit of interest to the room, but keep the light, bright walls so I painted the window frames dark green and it looked great. I have found other images of homes where the owners have done the same, painted the walls white and highlighted all the woodwork with a subtle colour, and I really love the look.

So, if you want to maintain a blank canvas but bring a sense of cohesion and an element of design to the look of your home this could be the answer…

Katie Shillingford home tour photographed by katharinepeachey.co.uk | Apartment Apothecary

Photographed by Katharine Peachey. See the full home tour here.

Painted woodwork | Apartment Apothecary

Image: Ledansla

Painted woodwork | Apartment Apothecary

Image: Ledansla on Instagram

What do you think? My friend has followed my advice and has chosen Farrow and Ball’s Purbeck Stone for the wood work in her home, including the skirting boards, picture rail, dado rail, doors, window frames. I’m going over there next weekend so I’ll let you know how it looks.

Katy x

P.S. If you have an interiors related question or problem drop me an email (katy@18.200.196.112) or post it on my Facebook page and I will try to answer it here.