Any suggestions on what to do with alcoves?

[StrangerThings85]

We are currently remodeling our living room by removing the fireplace as we never use it and instead are replacing our small sofa which sat opposite with a huge corner one instead. This means the sofa will now run across the chimney breast where the fireplace used to be and in front of the alcoves. We plan to shelve the top portion of the alcoves which will sit above the sofa but my husband hates the idea of "dead space". We have a small child too if that helps, I did think of potentially putting a storage bag with toys down one side but wasn't sure if it would be practical. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I hope you'll forgive this comment but removing a chimney breast and blocking off the alcoves sounds like a big mistake to me. Fireplaces provide a focal point to a room and alcoves have so much potential for lots of different treatments. You can change a fireplace but its hard to create a new focal point - and personally a TV isn't one.

I'm also not a fan of shelves over seating - it just seems non Feng shui if you know what I mean. Heavy stuff about to fall on peoples' heads.

Sorry!

I agree, the fireplace is a selling point, you could be making a big mistake.

Sorry but also agree with the PP. I love a fireplace.

Hi, we're only blocking the fireplace hole, we're not removing the chimney in case we change our minds at a later stage. I appreciate your thoughts and understand where you're coming from but we're restructuring the living room to accommodate our family life and have never used the current fireplace and have no plans too. We're limited on sofa space currently due to a large opening into the conservatory and this new layout fixes our needs. The shelves wouldn't be over the seats, they'd still be in the alcoves behind the sofa if you get my meaning. I appreciate it's not everyone's cup of tea but it's what we've decided to do and we have zero plans to move so not to worry about future selling points as we can remedy that should we ever need to.

I agree too sorry! It feels like the flow of the room will be all off if you block the ‘dead space’ too.

I would replace the fire place, with one you like, or change the surround and board it out and put a beautiful vase or something else in there so you still have the focal point.

You can still shelve the alcoves and even create some beautiful storage in one of them for toys.

I can’t imagine a room with the sofa blocking the alcoves very well, it would seem like an odd choice I think if I went into someone’s house. However if that is what you are sure you want to do, could you perhaps have a toy chest down there that you can open?
A standing lamp?

Even boarding the fire place and not having one, just the chimney breast it’s still a focal point and I think it will look odd having a sofa ‘hovering’ away from 2/3rds of the wall. you could keep your sofa where it is now and add an armchair / reading cosy nook to one of the alcoves for extra seating if needed?

I would definitely consider one of the other 3 walls for the sofa though if you can. Even blocking some of the opening into the conservatory would be better imo

Have you already bought the sofa? It does sound like a slightly awkward layout.

I got rid of my fireplace in my previous house and had absolutely no regrets.

Shelves will be lovely.

Just make sure you ventilate your chimney adequately when blocking it up, as it can cause damp if the air can’t flow. We had damp issues in our chimney breasts that were caused by the previous owners blocking up fireplaces without venting properly. We reopened the fireplaces - damp issues solved immediately.

So if you put a vent in, and then push a sofa up against it, you will block the airflow. Think carefully about where you put your vent(s) - you could put one on either side, opening into the ‘dead space’, but you’d need to then keep that space open.

I’d guess the space is pretty inaccessible once your sofa is in? So I’d just get a cupboard built-in and use it to store essential paperwork, and any “stuff” you need to keep but doesn’t get used often. Then the shelves above, which will be more visible, can be books and /or decorative things. Or just have shelves all the way down but have storage cubes to throw less-frequently-used things in.
Toy storage would be awkward to get things in and out, especially with shelves above.
You could also put houseplants and /or floor lamps in?

For the side where the sofa is I'd put a pop up / out table - similar to on a plane in business class, I can't find a pic but did find a vid

So if you are reading or having a drink it can be used.

Other than that I'd put cupboards but only put in things you rarely use eg Xmas decs.

You can also get electric 'pop up' cupboards, so you would have a shelf and at the push of a button it lifts and bringd the shelf underneath with it.