Hearth of the HOME
Want to add warmth to your living room with your fireplace? Evan Bradlee, Director of Sales for Touchstone Home Products, shares tips on what to look for and where to begin.
TYPE OF FIREPLACE. Do you want a wood-burning, gas or electric fireplace? First, check with your state’s requirements. Some states like California no longer allow installation of wood-burning fireplaces. Gas fireplaces may be safer, but they can also be more costly. “It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to run gas lines,” Evan says. “With an electric fireplace, it’s ventless. You can put it on the wall or recess it into the wall. Touchstone uses a standard 110/120V, so it can be plugged in or hardwired, and it’s going to be cost effective that way.” Electric fireplaces are also safe for pets and kids because they’re cool to the touch.
WALL SURROUND. When you consider how you’re going to design the wall around your fireplace, you have a variety of options, especially with an electric fireplace. “A lot of homeowners will use shiplap or drywall,” Evan says. “You can use anything: white wood, drywall, tile, faux stone or real stone. You’ll even see some built into cabinets.”
FLAME. Whether your farmhouse style is traditional or modern, you can get a good quality flame with your electric fireplace. “We work hard to get the LED technology so it looks very realistic,” Evan says. “You wouldn’t know the difference.” You can use resin logs to make it more realistic, and use an electric fireplace year-round. “With an electric fireplace if you are cold, you can turn the built-in heat on, or you can run it with just the lights on with a separate setting,” Evan says.
Ottomans are a good way to fill blank space in the middle of a seating
arrangement. Use them to add additional character too, through
color, pattern or texture.
Tying together the ground-floor living areas is a warm gray wall paint and accent colors inspired by a natural palette of rattan combined with pale blue, pink and green, and the occasional black decorative details. “When we were doing the floor plan, I played with color placement and how we wanted everything to flow,” says Rachel, our interior designer. “We wanted to make sure everything worked well together, especially because all the rooms opened up to each other.”
TRADITIONAL MEETS MODERN
The major goal for the living room was to include as much seating as possible for family gatherings and other entertaining events, so you’ll see two sofas and four additional chairs in the space. The neutral colors and rattan textures feel casual and carefree, adding a modern twist to the farmhouse style. “I love these sofas because they have a more traditional feel to them with the little turned legs and casters, but the bench cushion feels more updated and modern,” Rachel says. “On the side chairs, we added a ticking stripe as a nod to farmhouse style.”
“My favorite single thing in the room has to be those two rattan ottomans,” says Victoria Van Vlear, American Farmhouse Style’s Brand Leader. “They add so much character without being a bright pop of color, and work functionally in the room as well as adding great modern farmhouse style.”
The fireplace is a central symbol of the heart of the home, and the vision for this fireplace was a clean, Scandinavian-inspired look. The hearth wall is designed with a natural stained, white oak veneer and a sleek Touchstone electric fireplace built in for an earthy-modern juxtaposition. “Whenever I’m designing a house, I always want the big statement pieces to be timeless, but you change things like décor through the seasons,” says Lindsey Morris of Scissortail Homes. “Our goal was to create something really timeless, but which can be adapted to the season by simply changing the pillows on the couch or adding a warm, cozy throw blanket during the winter or a lighter throw in the summer.”