Architectural Feature as Focal Point

Color transforms a blah architectural feature into the focus of a viewer’s attention, a starting point, so to speak, of the composition of your room. Much like the focal point in a painting or photograph. It’s the place that the eye can rest before or after traveling around the room, taking in your collections, displays, and artwork. Without that “starting point,” your decorating can be confusing and even junky.

Of course, even with my architectural feature, our place is junky, but that’s because I display everything we own. I miss things when I sort them out and put them away. So as long as a path is clear to the place where IT Guy, our two dogs, and I sit, we’re happy among our mess.

Back to the fireplace. White didn’t do my fireplace justice, even with the faux painted leather as a center piece. Also the fake marble builder’s tile on the floor and surround didn’t match our taste (read "it was ugly!").

So it had to ge black.

Now does that "pop" or what!

I pried off the tiles on the surround and replaced them with distressed-looking plaster, faux painted, of course.

I replaced the floor tile with small river rock, each one lovingly washed, glued strategically in place on a thin concrete board (if I get tired of it, I can just throw out the whole thing), and varnished to bring out the natural colors. Now THAT goes with out décor!

How do you like the iron bedstead guarding the fireplace? IT Guy’s parents bought it when they were first married. It laid out in a pasture for years befoe I rescued it. Note: when I laid the river rocks, I made sure flat rocks would be under bed's legs.

I love thinking out of the box.