Storage storage every where

When we were living in our first flat, which incidentally is the same size as our current garden, we found out that storage was key. In a country that seems to view closets as some sort of social pariah you've got to get inventive. After all, there are really only so many chests of drawers and wardrobes you can have before you start to look like an overcrowded furniture showroom.

With this in mind we contemplated one of the last great challenges in the dining room. Really it was the only thing that was letting the room down. The hollowed out chimney breast. It was large with not very straight sides and we were desperate for a place to hide the mop, broom, etc etc etc.

The original idea was something out of gothic novels with a wall made to look like a fireplace where the entire thing would swing open. Definitely cool, but seriously heavy and expensive. When we were told that our idea would cost roughly £10,000 due to all the structural work it was time for a rethink.

In the end we took the principals of the original idea and scaled it down with the builders only putting up a frame of MDF so we had at least some right angles and straight walls to work from. Plus it is a lot easier to screw into that than ancient brick...believe me we've tried.

We're pretty pleased especially when we were able to find some hand carved corbels that almost match the living room fireplace exactly. In the end it made a nice feature and gave us storage and function. It's not quite done as we need to make some glass doors for the top, but we're pretty pleased. Thoughts?

Ready to go thanks to the builders

 A nice side profile shot

 Step one..paint (we were still trying to decide what to do here)

 All decided and frame in...no door and more paint needed

 The lovely door is in.....looking spiffy

 Lots of storage inside

 The almost finished article with shelves in on top

Inspired by a fireplace

Well you would think that with the kitchen and bathroom in and well and truly broken in we would be sitting back and enjoying ourselves for a while. How untrue that is. We've just finished having the roof replaced and let me tell you none too soon. Winter seems to be coming on strong here and in celebration we turned on the gas fire today for the first time. There is something very warm and cozy about having a fireplace with a real fire in it (not least because it gives heat). So this got my mind thinking about how we can show off the fireplace when we re-do the front room in the spring.

I think the term that "real" decorators use is feature wall for this type of idea. So I though that since there will be cupboards on both sides (painted white) and we're planning on keeping most of the other stuff in the room neutral a really nice bold bit of wallpaper would look nice. I know I've ranted about wallpaper on here before, but really that's just because it's bad wallpaper. I mean bad taste is painful, but even more so when it's permanently stuck onto your wall forever. Ugh.

So here are a few options we're looking at. I think we are leaning towards the third or last option. Let me know your thoughts: