Focus on the fire

Photo: Napoleon fireplaces

Photo: Houzz. Parkwoods Home.

What to do with a living room that is "ordinary", without anything really exciting going for it? 

One well-tried option to get it to sparkle in every sense is to add a fireplace. With the vast selection of fireplace options out there today, it has never been easier.

And since you're putting it in, don't be afraid of enhancing its importance in the room. I'm working on a project right now, where we've installed it in a nine-foot wide surround which is clad with a gorgeous travertine tile. The photos you see served as inspiration shots.

Initially, we had planned to make the surround part of a wall-to-wall combined storage/display unit, but we later decided to make it a stand alone piece.

The TV will go above the fireplace. In  order to make the TV almost disappear, we decided to paint the centre area of the surround a very dark grey instead of tiling it.

Here are some photos of the process. Stay tuned to see the end result!