Matting and wood stoves?

Hi all. We're just in the beginning stages of building our home tiki lounge. My original plan was to cover all of the walls with matting. But my husband is concerned that this could be dangerous on the portions of the walls on either side of the wood stove. The matting wouldn't be behind the stove--that wall is tiled. The wall is 30" from the stove on the right side and 38" on the left. I know that's plenty of clearance for regular drywall, but I'm not sure about the matting.

I guess he's concerned about possible stray sparks. He was a stagehand for 23 years and has worked with all kinds of materials. He says that the flame-retardant matting isn't really going to prevent a fire and isn't a good idea anyway, because I'm very sensitive to chemicals and fumes, and it's a very enclosed space.

So, I thought perhaps we'd do faux stone veneer on those parts of the walls. However, I priced the veneer today, and it's definitely beyond our budget at this time. About 8-10x the cost of the matting for the same coverage.

So I'm feeling rather frustrated, and I'm wondering if anyone has experience using matting near wood stoves or fireplaces or has used alternative materials in a similar situation.

I attached the best pre-tiki pic I have of that part of the room, showing the stove & the distances to the walls.

Thanks so much for any advice! Much appreciated.
Tara

This sounds like a very, very bad idea.....

Oooh, okay. Then maybe my husband was right. We sure don't want a tiki inferno :o (sounds like a 70s-style disaster movie!)

Then, has anyone used any fire-safe, tiki-vibe wall coverings that won't break the bank? I'm totally willing to get uber-creative, but I can't afford right now what the stone veneer would cost for such a small space.

Thanks!
T

That is a tuff one, safety first after all, what good is a lounge if it burns down

A rock wall would be very cool & safe, but doesn't come cheap
here is the one I did for my lounge, it cost around $1200 to do myself

Faux rock paneling is about half the cost but I am not sure about fire safety
with something like this: http://www.fauxpanels.com/style-stone.php?gclid=CJeWz_X5ksYCFQUNaQodxAIAaA

Even if you used matting & bamboo you are still spending around $200 to $500 (maybe more?) to do a whole wall
depending on the materials available.

I agree rock is the only way to go, I think black lava rock would look amazing in that corner.

Oh, so lovely. That's just what I was envisioning.

I guess I'll have to plan for it down the line. Even the faux panels can get pretty pricey, as each one seems rather smallish. It would take a lot of them to cover the space needed. I've already put more than I should have into the bar itself and some other bits of furniture and decor, so I guess the full wall treatment of my dreams will have to wait. I want it all now! But I'll have to try to be patient.

The vibrant green in your pic is very cool. Maybe the answer is to just do some creative paint scheme or dramatic paint color on the walls nearest the stove. And then I could still do matting & bamboo around the bar area itself, which is on the other side of the room. I'll have to ponder it...

Thanks for helping me think through this! :)
T

Black lava rock would be amazing!!!

In the meantime how about something faux painted? A tapa print perhaps? I sympathize with the struggles of budget. Wouldn't it be cool to have unlimited resources????

I agree with the gang...I would be worried about flames from sparks...avoid the matting.

I love ATP's rock wall and that green is awesome...STOP SHOWING PICTURES OF YOUR SPACE ATP....you are making us jealous.

With a wood burning stove, rocks or bricks are your friends. I'm not a builder, so of no help. I love your furniture...you could actually go cabin Tiki!!! Keep that rustic look and splatter with some great Tiki art, etc/ Your project is interesting...keep posting pictures. Check out Longboard's place....yours has similar potential.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44344&forum=20&83

Indeed it would! I have soooo many ideas, but not the pocketbook to back it all up right now...

What a wonderful idea. I have a piece of tapa cloth that I was going to use behind a mask on one of the other walls. Perhaps I could try to pick up the pattern on it and carry it over to the painted wall. Much to think about!

Thanks!
Tara

Your cheapest option is a coat of paint, the right color can make a world of difference
(Thanks Vamp!)

Oh, Vampiress, you're right. I love the explorer/adventurer feel of Longboard's space. Feels all dark and smoky...in a good way! :)

I'm actually in the process of removing everything from the room, so that I can do the walls and ceiling. Not an easy feat, as there are thousands of books, LPs, and 45s in there. Ugh. Once they're done and the bar itself is in place, I'll bring some of the pieces back in and see what fits. The space is a little small and the ceilings are quite low, which is a challenge (can't use much in the way of swag lights...keep whacking our head on them!). But the stone floors work really well, so I'm going to make it all come together somehow.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!
T

There are a lot of great room organizer apps out there but here is a free one and you can save it on their site.
http://www.rcwilley.com/Room-Planner.jsp

I have all my rooms set up in that app and then decor orchestrated in Power Point...LOL. It really does help cause you can take pictures of your furniture and put it in your rooms different ways. I like the paint like a tapa print idea. Remember...your place is not small...it is "cozy."

"Oh waiter, another cocktail please!!!"

[ Edited by: VampiressRN 2015-06-16 21:31 ]

Fun! I'm a total planner/organizer, so I love this.

Cozy...and "charming"...you must have a calling in real estate :wink:

Got almost everything out of the room today. Almost a blank slate. Next step: paint! :)

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. Until we can afford the rock wall, I did a kind of a gradient tropical twilight paint scheme on the walls around the stove.
Pics here!
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=49594&forum=20&0