Dear Danica, The Scale & Proportion Of My Fireplace Looks Off. How Can I Fix It?

Dear danica,

Any help on LVP flooring vs engineered hardwood floors? I can’t decide where to put the most cost into as I’m remodeling our house. New flooring in living room, dining room, and hallways. Also, might mention we are doing new over existing older hardwood that has lots of stains and imperfections. Thanks!

– Angie

I vote for a third option – keeping your hardwoods! While LVP has some benefits, it still looks, feels, and sounds like fake wood. Engineered wood is better than LVP, in my opinion, because it at least has a layer of real wood on top. But I don’t see the advantage of installing engineered hardwood over your existing hardwoods. With solid hardwoods, you can sand and refinish your floors as many times as you want, but engineered hardwood can only be refinished 1-3 times at most. It has a shorter lifespan.

You already have the ideal product; it just might need some repair! Refinishing the floors should take care of stains, and replacing boards that are rotten can be done. Remaining imperfections are characteristics that add to the home’s quality, not subtract. In fact, in our own home, I much prefer the areas of our wood floors where wear, slight gaps, and dents are present. Rather than looking too precious and new, the imperfections signify age and a home that is lived in and loved.

You’ll save yourself loads of money by keeping the beautiful floors that you already have AND the end result will be much better quality.

Dear danica,

There are many updates that we hope to get to with our 1941 farmhouse in Wisconsin. Previous owners have done renovations and additions through the years, so far we’ve only done phase 1 cosmetic updates to hold us over until we’re ready for in depth updates. One of the rooms that is really difficult is the living room fireplace wall. The proportions and scale are off and none of it is original. What would you do? Would you lower the fireplace to the floor to make the ceilings feel higher? Would you remove the built ins that aren’t proportionate? Would you find a mantle that is historically accurate?

– Cassie

Hi! Yes, I see what you are referring to with the scale and proportion of the fireplace and built-ins. It’s not wildly uncommon to have a taller mantel like yours, but generally that occurs in what would have been the kitchen. It’d be floor level, lined with brick, with an empty interior for cooking.

If this were my home, I would remove the hearth and lower the fireplace to the floor. I’d also remove the fireplace insert and swap it with either a wood-burning fireplace or a wood-burning stove. Those would be much more fitting for the age of your home. As for the mantel, since it’s not original, I would replace it with a historically accurate alternative.

I would also add a wall between the fireplace and the adjoining room to the right. Creating some division there with a cased opening would bookend the fireplace and create space for a chair in that corner. It would also change the floorplan from open-concept to closed-concept, which is more appropriate for an old home.

With the fireplace being the focal point, you don’t need the bulky built-ins. But perhaps camouflage doors or inset cabinets would be a good practical use of that space without distracting from the fireplace. That’s what I would do!

Dear danica,

I am unsure what to do with my bedroom curtains. I have a very large window with 10 ft ceilings. There is 30 inches between the top of the window and the ceiling. I am leaning towards wanting to do floor to ceiling curtains or should I hang the rod 15 inches above window?

– Ambree

While the general rule of thumb is to hang your curtains just below the ceiling, there are always exceptions to the rule. I believe your home qualifies as an exception to the rule. When you have shorter windows on 10 ft ceilings, it’s better to hang your curtain rod and drapes around 12-15″ above the window. This still creates the illusion of tall ceilings, but it doesn’t highlight the gap between the window and the ceiling!

Dear danica,

My husband and I lost most of our belongings in a home disaster two years ago. We ended up having to move somewhere new really rapidly and now I’m desperately trying to fall in love with a home I feel like I didn’t really get to choose. We were given a handful of things by family and friends, but now we’re trying to figure out each of these unusually shaped spaces. This living room is so long and narrow and, here’s the kicker, has three entry points and a fireplace that are making it so hard to orient the room to feel cozy and conversational (but also roomy enough to have people in it). Truly any advice would be so so helpful.

– Hannah

First of all, I’m so SO sorry for what you have gone through! How wonderful that friends and family were able to help you out, but I can completely empathize with how you’re feeling. I’d love to help!

The three points of entry are the biggest kicker! From what I can tell, the front door is next to the fireplace, a cased opening is on the adjoining wall, and a third opening is to the left of the dresser. If that’s correct, is there a world in which you can close off the entry point by the dresser? I understand that’s likely not a possibility, but in the long run, that would open up opportunities for a better furniture layout!

Regardless if that’s an option, is there room to move the sofa to the dresser/window wall and place the chairs across from it? Then you could add a small coffee table to the center of the room, in front of the fireplace. Having the furniture face eachother feels very conversational and cozy! It’s like a game of Tetris, and that’s my initial thought.

But let’s open up the discussion to my many creative readers! What do you think the best layout would be? Sound off your ideas in the comment section below to help Hannah out!