Having briefly lived in an old Craftsman home, I developed a real love for the big grand fireplace mantel. I truly do appreciate how the fireplace and surrounding hearth exude that home like feel. Whether a fire is burning or not, they seem to offer a warm invitation for us to gather in front of. I appreciate the wall to wall shelving, storage below for all the wonderful books & things we inevitably collect over the years. Mantels also offer a nice platform on top to display photos, tchotchkes (lawn gnomes, priceless art, everything in between) and lighting to a room. I always appreciate walking into a room and discovering its arrangement is focused around books and a fireplace.
Yet we do live in a much upgraded and digital age. So the design of this particular mantel had to cater to the modern needs of a modern family. My clients are much more audiophiles than anything else, so the classic look could be retained. I made sure to integrate conduit across the length of the mantel to ensure the present stereo and future setup can blend in with the new surroundings. Two power plugs are on the top of the mantel and another two are on the far bottom shelf to give the broadest range of options--from lamps, Christmas lights, wireless adapters, stereo / laptop power source, iPod / phone charging. . .ect. A small grommet is also in place to lead wires up from the stereo to the top of the mantel.
We opted for adjustable shelving throughout the unit, for the configuration of speakers, books, CD's and other items would be a constantly evolving process. The shelves were made out of Poplar and reinforced with a face frame to ensure optimal strength supporting the heavy loads of all those books & items.
The addition of the slate accent around the fireplace serves as a "warming" touch to the overall look of the mantel. Even though stone can appear cold and dull, this natural slate provides a nice transition from the dark metal fireplace and the white painted wood surrounding. The base gray or green background of the stone is splashed with brilliant orange, red and purple colors on many of the tiles. I was very picky with my slate, and discovered the advantage of buying the original 12" x 12" pieces individually. Color and tone control were crucial for such a small exposed area of stone, so the hand selected pieces were cut down into strips that conformed to the consistent look we were going for.
The deep bottom drawers seemed to offer a bit of balance to the base of the unit and offered a great place to store everyday items. The advantage of having a quick place to store things out of sight seemed to outweigh the option of having one more open shelf. With a little one in the house, the ability to store / hide toys, games and books in an easy place tipped the scales. The drawers are given a legitimate shot at longevity thanks to the bottom mount Blum hardware that has the slam-proof struts. As kid-proof as it gets.
The room configuration posed several different challenges. The central window location below the fireplace gives away the modern retro-fit of the gas fireplace (usually a chimney would be in its place and two smaller windows at each end). This particular unit was purchased at Gordon's Fireplace Shop and installed by Shamburg Heating. The main room boasted a cornucopia of different trim details, reveal depths and molding sizes. Height constraints had to be considered, as well as leg vs. head proportions as compared to the above window trim detail. The original baseboard that used to occupy the back wall was re-used to act as the fireplace mantel base footing.
All in all, a very rewarding project that literally transforms the room and makes the client's lives a bit more cozy and warm.
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