Reinhardt Quelle asked:




When we moved into our new house there was a long list of work that needed be done in terms of updating and remodeling, but nothing stood out more than that ugly pink fireplace dominating the middle of our living room. It was one of our first projects and our neighbors were amazed at the difference it made in the way our house felt when you walked through the door. Since that time there have been many more fireplace remodels in our neighborhood. You can spend anywhere from $100 to $20,000 updating your fireplace, so it is best to consider both your budget and your goals. Here are some suggestions:

Painting the fireplace — Do you have a tight budget? A fireplace that is made from brick can be painted whether it is in its raw brick form, or even if someone has already painted it another color. If you like the overall look of the fireplace, then painting is a good option. There are many colors available the will tie in nicely to the other colors in your room. Be sure to use paint that can hold up to high temperatures. One vendor that sells products specifically for painting a fireplace is Brick-Anew. Painting was not an option for our fireplace, as the tile hearth was chipped and needed to be replaced or repaired and we were not happy with the overall look of the fireplace. Also, there are a lot of people (including us) who don’t really like the look of painted brick.

Another option that can sometimes work with the right house and the right fireplace is plastering. American Clay sells a natural clay plaster that can be applied to a variety of surfaces, including brick or even well-adhered paint when using their special primer. Unlike traditional plasters, the American Clay product an be reworked for quite a long time after installation, which makes it very forgiving for the amateur.

Refacing the fireplace — If you want to take the project to a whole new level, you can drastically change the look of a fireplace by using different materials on the exterior face of the fireplace. You can create a high-end elegant look with marble slabs, a modern look with concrete slabs, or a Craftsman look with small tiles in different shades and complementary woodwork. You can either add a mantel or remove one. You can change the shape or the size of the mantel to provide different proportions to your fireplace. Another option is to sheetrock or plaster parts of the fireplace. If the mass of the fireplace is too much for the room, you can reduce it by adding sheetrock or paneling to the exterior. There are even veneer stone and brick materials that are fairly easy to apply that can give your fireplace a very traditional look.

The important thing to remember when refacing a fireplace is to understand your local code. Combustible materials such as wood mantels and paneling must be kept a certain distance from the firebox (generally 6 inches or more). The building code also limits how far these materials project from the face of the fireplace, how large the hearth extension must be, and so on. Codes vary around the country – it is important to evaluate your project relative to the codes enforced in your area.

This project can cost you anywhere from a few hundred dollars (to do yourself) up to $10,000 depending upon the materials you use and the extent of the work required.

Complete remodel — Do you need your fireplace to become more completely integrated into your living space? Do you need ways to incorporate shelves, drawers, an LCD or flat panel TV, and audio visual equipment into your living space? You may want to build an entertainment center integrated with your fireplace. This is a high-end custom cabinet project and is your most expensive option, but the results can be stunning.

Regardless of the size of the project that you decide on, be sure to factor in any changes that you are planning to the living space. Are you planning on painting or getting new furniture? What is the style of your house and your existing furniture? Should the mantel be painted or are there other natural woods in the house that you would like to tie in with the fireplace? Tying the look of the fireplace into the style of your home makes it an elegant accent instead of oddity like our pink fireplace was before it was remodeled.

Ian Pennington asked:




When it comes to home remodeling plans most people will have big ideas of what they are going to do, add a room, convert another, and knock through a couple of rooms. It sounds very easy when it is ideas in someone’s head putting them into practice though can be a much more difficult practice.

With home remodeling plans, especially those that involve construction and destruction it is important that time is taken. There is no point in knocking down a wall if your plans are unworkable, it may do a lot more harm than good, especially if the wall turns out to be a load bearing one. It is vital that home remodeling plans are carefully thought through.

In the case of major changes then local governance is likely to need the submission of detailed plans. It is though a good idea to have some drawings done even if there are only minor alterations being made. It may not be needed by a local council but will give some direction to the work involved. By putting down ideas on to paper, or computer, it may instantly visible whether the home remodeling plans are actually workable. To aid in this there are some computer programs available that can provide a good idea of whether dramatic plans are workable.

With drawings in place it is then a good idea to look at the budget will stretch to the home remodeling plans envisaged. Some people will overstretch themselves financially when it comes to making alterations, believing that whatever they do will add value to their home. Be aware though that this isn’t always the case. It may be necessary to scale down on your plans, put them on hold for a while or look for other sources of workers or materials. This is again why it is a good idea not to jump in and start trying to put your home remodeling plans into practice.

It may not be necessary to do all of this prep work if your home remodeling plans are purely the changing of which way a door opens. The same theory of not rushing in though is still valid, as it is easy to get the simple of the hanging of a door wrong.

Home remodeling plans are great in theory and many people will dream about what they would like to do. Whether these dreams are ever put into practice doesn’t always happen though but the plans themselves are something anyone can do.

Jeanette Joy Fisher asked:




Colors contain underlying psychological meanings and evoke particular feelings when we see them. All of us have preconceived notions, learned from childhood memories and family customs concerning colors.

Since our entire world is actually colorless, we only see color through light. Colors are simply wavelengths of light that we see. Color perceptions, however, change from culture to culture.

Whenever you want to enliven a space, to provide a great background for yourself and your loved ones, or to enhance a desired emotional atmosphere, you should turn first to the use of color. Every color has some sort of influence on our emotions, either by contributing to an inherent physiological emotional response or by triggering a personal response, based on a person’s past experience and memories. Learning how colors work allows you to enhance the preferred emotional support needed in every area of your home.

But remember: the interior and exterior designs of your home are not fashion statements. Therefore, you’ll want to disregard current color trends, whatever they may be, and choose colors that are based upon your own emotional needs. Above all, never forget that color design is supposed to be fun, so get creative, be bold in your color choices, and live without fear. Understanding how color makes people, especially with regard to temperature, will give you confidence in your choices and help you avoid costly mistakes.

Colors and Apparent Temperature

Colors seem warm, cool, or neutral. Warm colors are psychologically associated with happiness and human comfort, and produce warm, inviting, and cozy feelings. They include: red, orange, yellow, magenta, and yellow-green hues. But because these warm hues tend to speed up our perception of time, they don’t feel relaxing. Warm colors, although considered harmonious, are often tedious and mind-numbing unless they’re used in combination with balancing cool shades.

On the other hand, cool colors make spaces appear slick and professional, but their coolness calms feelings. Cool colors, especially light shades of blue, tend to recede into the distance, which makes them more suitable for backgrounds. Cool colors include: green, violet, blue, light blue, and cyan. These colors slow down the perception of time, but without variety, cool color designs seem lackluster and monotonous.

Neutral colors, such as black, white, gray, and brown, usually have undertones that make them not truly neutral, especially when they’re affected by lighting. Too many neutral colors without contrasting depth grow wearisome.

Choosing correct colors is vitally important for creating a specific look and feeling in a room, and the ways that colors affect our perception of temperature should be one of the first considerations in a remodeling project.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.