Distinctive Interior Designs

Man Cave Fireplace Refacing

It had to go!

When Larry reached out to Distinctive Interior Designs (after finding us on Houzz.com), he didn’t know exactly what he wanted for his new look.  He only knew that he wanted his man cave updated and needed the wall of his firepalce redesigned.

What did he have?  There was wood flooring on the entire 14′ wall around his fireplace and firewood box, a hearth that was offset to the expansive wall, a toe-stubbing risk 1 1/2″ thick hearth slab, carpet that was outdated, track lighting that made the ceiling feel low, a family room that was completely overstuffed by a monster sized TV on a corner stand, and expensive audio equipment.

We came to the rescue with a fresh perspective and many solutions.  Check out the before and afters below!!

Before Fireplace wall redesign

What was is no longer

Before Fireplace wall redesignFireplace redesign with custom mantel | Cherry Hill NJ | Distinctive Interior Designs

This family room felt cramped!  A corner TV stand, BIG TV, and tons of great stereo equipment took over easily 10% of this room.  On top of that, the wood fireplace wall was really dark and outdated.

So, our Lead Designer, Nicole, asked Larry the hard to hear questions:

  • Can we put the TV on the wall?  (Yes, but how are we going to protect it from the fireplace heat?)
  • Do you really need all this equipment?  (Yes,I have to have every ounce of it.)
  • What IS all of it?  (I’m passionate about amazing sound and music…great speakers are a must. No matter what the new design, you have to work around that.)
  • Are you ready to change more than just the wall detail?  (Yes, but I have a budget I want to stay within.)
  • What are the priorities to change within the space?  (All of it can be changed and if I have to I’ll do some of the work myself to stay within my budget.)
  • OK, but what are you personally prepared to do?  (Paint, sheetrock, stone install.)
  • Do you have a closet somewhere nearby that all the media/ stereo equipment can go into?  (Well, there’s the small storage closet on the other side of this wall, but I use it already for other stuff.)  BINGO!  That closet, along with a specialized remote that can go through walls is exactly what we needed!
  • Do you want a WOW factor here and, if so, are you ready to do custom built-ins?  (Tell me the price and we’ll see.)

Note, the sectional was already on order when we first met Larry.  At our recommendation, Larry did try to get the sectional directionality reversed, but it was alittle too late.

Fresh furniture & art

Grey Sectional Nesting Tables | Cherry Hill NJ | Distinctive Interior Designs

First steps:  decide on a color palette and ‘feel’ for the room.  Masculine was definitely a must.  After Larry showed Nicole the fabric he had selected for his new sectionals, we showed him a grey stacked stone, and the rest was easy.  We designed an expansive dark wood mantel with built-in shelves, pulled out our paint palette and suggested a sage green wall color and fresh white trim on the triple doors and then….Larry got to work on doing many of the changes himself.

As mentioned above, Distinctive Interior Designs wasn’t involved in the sectional selection or layout, but the new look certainly is a refresh compared to the big brown leather sectional that was here.  Keeping the new selectional fabric in mind, we sourced the stone and installed this new carpet.  As well, we did help influence the splashy color art addition, the nesting round coffee tables were our suggestion, and the side chair was a great find from Raymour & Flanigan (where we get a designer discount).

Final fun details!

Stacked stone climbing men art| Cherry Hill NJ | Distinctive Interior Designs

DiD helped with many suggestions on lighting changes to ensure the new stone and shelving was showcased…even encouraging Larry and his electrician friend to add a light to the hallway wall so the new textural stone could be highlighted even more.

Accessories can be very personal (and sometimes a challenge to find ‘just the right thing’).  Larry has been in the college dive team/equipment industry for decades, so he had some cool things he knew he’d like to display.  He also found these fun climbing men–the perfect addition to the stone wall.

End result of all our combined efforts–a tremendously opened up space with amazingly well thoughtout details.  Thanks, Larry, for putting in the extra effort to make even more things happen within your budget!  With your sweat equity and our great ideas, your space has been completely transformed!

Want to get started?

If you are interested in any of our services that we offer, please feel free to contact us today to get started on your design journey with us!  You might also be interested in taking a look at our Specialties Gallery to see more Texture & Surface redesigns and Renovations.

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