Give me a break! Take a look at this:

This room has so much going for it I don’t know where to start. I suppose I should begin with my favorite feature. Bet you can’t guess what it is…

1. The Window Seat

The year was 1986 and I was listening to Bananarama when my parents bought a new house. My second floor bedroom had a window seat and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Easy to build and great for storage window seats are serious multi-taskers. For me, the ability to sit right up against the glass and look out is the clincher.

And what a view I would have from this one!

2. Of Course, The Ginormous Window

Probably most people’s first choice, this amazing window is a thing to behold. You might look at it and think…no way, that’s too far to “span”. It’s not, just think of your average two-car garage opening. It can be done!

Large windows like this are generally just a short version of a sliding glass door, known in many circles as a “patio door”.

Just like in a sliding door, the window panels “stack” on top of one another and, in this particular case, they “pocket” behind the wall so you can’t see them when the window is open.

It gives the illusion, when open, of the room not even having a wall on one side. Just how cool is that!?

On the down side, these type of windows don’t usually look as nice as other options when they’re closed. Trade-offs.

3. The Bookcases

These win my heart because of three things.

• I love to read and I’ve got a ton of books that I want to be able to see.
• The deep window sill that is created above the bookcases looks great and works.
• A place to put our photo albums. I like to keep them close.

4. Simple Wood Paneling Made Elegant

The simple paneling works with the rest of the decor, which is more polished, to create a really elegant look. In my view, it’s perfect.

This picture might show original construction, but the look can be achieved easily on a retrofit. The paneling is just 1×8 boards nailed on. Nothing special and an easy DIY ceiling or wall project.

5. The Open Trusses

This ceiling is made complete by these open trusses. The way these are constructed is something that you can easily duplicate underneath an existing sloped ceiling. These particular trusses appear to be structural, but you can copy the look even if you have regular (ugly) trusses above the ceiling.

6. A Fireplace in the Bedroom

It saddens me to report that I have never had the luxury of a fireplace in the bedroom. I think I’ve stayed as a guest in a few such rooms, but in the summer!

What I want to experience is sitting up on a cold night with a fire blazing…

Well, I guess I better leave the details of the scene to the imagination. Point being, a fireplace in the bedroom is a great thing indeed!

Bottom Line – One Awesome Room!

What did I miss? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the great bedroom in the comments!

-RG

When you get ready to build that new fireplace surround, don’t settle for anything less than “wow!”. You can get exactly what you want without paying a fortune if you do your homework.

Use Pictures To Express Your Ideas

• With the availability of so many pictures online, you can find exactly what you want. Your project will go more smoothly when pictures express your desires.
• If you can find the exact look, great! If not, have a few pictures you can show your builder or carpenter. Tell them specifically what you like about each one.
• Even with a picture, verbally describe the things you like. If the picture above is perfect, you might say “I like the narrow mantle depth.” This keeps the builder from making it deeper because he likes it that way!

Educate Yourself On Where The Costs Are

Here are a few examples:

• Flat panels (the area inside the center squares on each leg) are less expensive than raised panels.
• Painted surrounds are less expensive than stained.
• If you want stained, wood species comes into play. Brazilian Cherry is going to cost more than White Pine or local Oak.
• If you’re fine with the use of MDF (which sometimes paints-up nicer than wood anyway) make sure you ask for it. The cost is substantially less most of the time.

You Want Electricity Near The Hearth and Mantle

• Decorations or lights during the holidays
• Small lamps on the hearth or mantle look fantastic
• Fix-Mount light fixtures, like in the photo above, really add to the look.
• In case you ever fold and allow the flat screen TV up there!

Here’s to some great fireplace surrounds! Send me some before and afters!  The photo above is courtesy of RemodelingCenter.com

Kachelofen… best I can make of the sound in English is what happens if I kick my feet up and nod off at my desk. My wife might say “caught you loafin’” really fast, with an accent. Then it would be Kachelofen.

But that’s not what this post is about. Here’s a picture:

I found this picture at a Wasserofen.de , after I went searching for pictures of Kachelofens. Mary commented in the last post about fireplaces mentioning these and I went a lookin’. Way cool! Here’s more:

From Polar-Ofen.ch

Then I hit the motherload of awesome pictures at der-ofenladen.de

The people that design and build these things are just so talented and creative it amazes me! And they apparently really work!

Heat Flows Inside

From what I can understand, the interior of these structures has pathways for heat (air) flow. The areas that you can sit, as best I can tell, are up against warm walls, usually tile or what appears to be a clay/stucco type material.

Clearly I need to learn more, but I’m hooked! If I had one of these, I can tell you where you would catch me loafin’ on a cold winter day!

Of course, it was in the mid-eighties today… that whole Florida thing… probably why I’ve never heard of these!

How about some incredible open beams and floors to go with it, like these from Kachelofenfreund.de

I’m in awe.

I was thinking about fireplace surrounds today. So I decided to browse around a little and see what I could find. Take a look… some of these are pretty awesome!

1.

This one totally wins the award for bringing nature into the design. I love, love, love the use of a naturally smoothed piece of wood for the mantle. I wish I could reach out and touch it!

But it’s the stonework that really ROCKS! (heh) And the way it ties in with the built-in to the right which so skillfully curves back to allow for the window. Perfection! LewFrenchStone.com

2.

This one wins the award for integrating real art into the design, like artsy art. I’ve always been amazed by great mosaics and this one really looks cool to me.

Finish it off with some beautiful woodwork and you’ve got a winner. What’s really neat is that I think this is in a bedroom. hhmosaics

3.

The award for great use of colors goes to this one! I really love the way the art ties-in with the wall color and the window treatments! I’m not sure which came first, the painting, or the room, but they go together perfectly!

I always find a warm place in my heart for the way bright white woodwork contrasts against colored walls. Houzz.com

4.

This one… this one just gets the award. Period. Grand Prize for best room overall. Can you tell I like it? Light filled, beautiful woodwork, great wall color, built-in seating, cool floors. Great room.

An interesting piece of architecture to take note of is the tapered upper portion of the column. This one is done right. You see these with too much taper or not enough taper all the time. I don’t know the formula, I just know right when I see it, and this one is right. Houzz.com

5.

Cozy and Simple goes to this one. Old brick painted white always looks good. It can be a chore to get the mortar joints painted well, but it’s worth the effort. You would definitely want to use a semi-gloss paint if you plan to build real fires. (smoke) DIYNetwork.com

6.

The best Comfy Cottage award goes to this one! I can’t see it, but I can imagine snow on the ground outside and some hills with trees bare of any leaves (something I almost never see). I love the contrast of the green against that old brick.

Something about this one… just seems so inviting and comfortable. CountryLiving.com

So, which one is your favorite?