Our clients, John and Lynn, have come to us for their home remodeling needs for twenty years. We've remodeled every room in their house, and the family room and fireplace replacement were the last two projects that needed to be tackled. They decided it was time to get rid of their old inefficient fireplace and outdated shelving. John and Lynn wanted this room to look as good as the rest of the house, with a high-efficiency wood-burning fireplace replacement and custom shelving designed around the TV and audio component.

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Enhancing The Look and Usability Of The Family Room

This family room is in a two-story home and sits behind the garage. As is common in homes built during this era, it featured a low cost, inefficient wood-burning fireplace centered in the room with a pair of small bookshelves on either side. It didn't have a good location for the TV, the base cabinet of the fireplace hearth stuck out too far into the room, and the design was uninspired.

Finding The Perfect Fireplace Replacement

The homeowners wanted to find the right fireplace replacement. After visiting three showrooms and looking at dozens of models, they chose a Regency Alterra fireplace with Guillotine style retractable glass. Instead of bi-fold doors or doors that open on a hinge, the glass retracts upward into the unit, hidden behind the mantle and the stone. For the highest efficiency burning, the glass is lowered, so only the necessary combustion air goes up the chimney while the maximum heat is reflected out into the room.

 

Updating the Fireplace Surround

The fireplace is huge! To provide the extra space, we added an additional small bump out to recess the unit at far back as possible. This allowed us to make the room several inches bigger and was carefully coordinated with the depth of the bookshelves on the other side. The shelves house the homeowner's treasured vintage audio equipment and the modern television. The beautifully designed bookshelf has the perfect open space below the TV. Three shelves are tastefully decorated with books and sculptural items. The balanced asymmetry of the custom Amish cabinetry perfects all of this. There's plenty of room for kindling and firewood storage, and the beefy mantle unifies it all.

The Remodeled Family Room Was a Big Hit

To update the out-of-date half walls between the dinette and family room, we replaced them with much-needed bookshelves and a built-in bookcase to create the perfect place for Lynn's many cookbooks. We updated the room with the perfect paint colors that tie the space in with the fond du lac natural stone veneer on the fireplace and the carpet and textured wallpaper behind the bookshelves. The result is the grand finale of this beautifully remodeled home.

 
 
Abe Degnan, Owner Degnan Design-Build-Remodel.jpeg

Project Design

The Team At Degnan Design-Build-Remodel

Lead Carpenter

Kelly Lawton,
CLC, CRPM

 
 
“We keep going back to them with all our remodeling needs. It was fun, easy and painless. Keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
— John & Lynn, Sun Prairie WI