Hi there nicndrew -- wondering if you ever solved your venting issues if you went ahead and put your range into the fireplace. We have a similar issue - 140 year old victorian and the only realistic plan we can come up with for a new kitchen design is to put our range into an existing fireplace. Our floorplan is constrained by a stairwell as well as a couple of weight bearing walls so we need to work with what we have...I am hoping we can vent up and out the side of the house -- four flues in this chimney but the kitchen flue is closest to the exterior wall. The contractor is coming to take a look on Saturday but would love to gather some suggestions before then.

Hi eclipse 66 I'm sorry to hear about your break in. This is quite tricky to picture as I wasn't certain which walls related to which, but I will give this a go. I wonder if your ceilings are around the 2.4mtr mark, as your doors suggest. Although you have many windows that are probably floor to ceiling, each room is sectioned off by this central corridor, so no real natural light gets down there, is that right? The little natural light that might filter through would be absorbed by the walls, and the colour you have on these walls would not be easily seen. Without. Sounding too mainstream here, I would absolutely paint an offwhite wall the entire corridor and each adjoining living area off that, with exception to your kitchen. All ceilings purest ceiling white along with the window frames and all internal doors. The walls in a satin finish to help the light reflect a little, and move around the wall without being too shiny. You haven't mentioned your floor? Try to keep it consistent in all the living areas including your hallway, and only carpet the bedrooms as these doors would be closed often. With the door filled hallway being a white gloss finish, and a white ceiling in a flat white, the walls will feel a little warmer in comparison, although still a white, perhaps something like a hog bristle 1/4 strength by dulux. In your main living room, and kitchen, paint the hog bristle in full strength, so it feels warmer, as these spaces flow onto each other, feeling larger as a whole. With your doors being so tall, (or the ceiling being comparably low), hang your window rods if any right at ceiling level, use a sheer curtain that even when partly closed let's light filter through, they dress the window but won't block light, for that install roller blinds that will roll right up exposing as much daylight as possible, and if privacy is a factor, the sheer will provide a buffer and still seem light filled. Even if these are never used, framing the window will place an emphasis on the window frame, and more importantly the light they provide, swell as an illusion of vertical space even without it. Aother suggestion for that hall is to use this principle to heighten the ceiling, visually, is to use lining boards vertically, or a wallpaper with a strip or vertical print. Drawing you eye upward toward the end, with a wallpaper, I'm thinking of one I've seen many times over, it's a white or cream background, with an image of birch trunks, the base or top of the trees arent revealed in the picture so it doesn't make the space feel from a low or high perspective. This would provide a creative distraction to the corridor, evoke a feeling as you have walking through a beautiful place, and is graphic but still very neutral. You can even paper you doors so when they're closed, the hallway won't feel so busy. I would remove carpet in the hall if you have any, because a warm closed in space without proper airflow, or light feels stuffy, and carpet absorbs sound and lint, where floorboards or hard surface atleasts has a sound walking down it, which amplifies noise and feels bigger again by comparison. Against this neutral, cohesive space, your furniture andpersonality pieces can really stand out, particularly the red. I would also use this in the kitchen somewhere, maybe a gingham check fabric on the kitchen window or just your accessories. The less is more theory also extends to colour, particularly in smaller busy spaces, minimize these elements, like the repeat of doors and architraves on your walls, by tying them in with single colour, and keep your decorations either in a theme or single colour hue. Scatter your colour around so visually you have somewhere your eye is drawn to around the space. If you get pictures I will know if I'm way off track, but if any of them resonate with you, then great. Good luck. Ml design

I went to Photos>Outdoor>Decks and searched "barbecue" and found lots of them on wooden decks. Some were freestanding, but most of the built-ins seemed to be surrounded by fireproof material.

I've always loved the idea of putting your tv in an old fireplace.