Overall finished look of your oven

[fxpose]

Do you have a specific design style in mind before you even break ground?

I'm at a stage where I'm studying and compiling photos of ovens which I like and think would fit in with the overall design of my house. I want to end up with something that somewhat matches the architecture of my house and will blend in nicely with the rest of the property. I'm constantly drawing sketches of what might look good.
I don't want it to end up being a potential eye sore for someone who ends up purchasing my house if one day should I decide to sell.

Thanks!

[Wiley]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

Yeah, I would hope one had a mental image of what they wanted the final WFO to look like before they started.

That being said, one needs to be open to new ideas and conditions as they present themselves. And serendipity is wonderful.

However, if one just started putting things together with the only constraint "I want a WFO when I'm finished." it may end up looking like something produced by the US Congress.

Wiley

[papavino]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

Wiley,

Are you talking about my oven?

[papavino]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

I guess I did have at least a mental image of what I wanted. It really helped looking over the forum. That being said, I've gone back and forth on many decisions during the build. I eventually just choose one and move on.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

fx,

I went through the same oven style study stage taking way more time than I should have, but was able to compile a list of oven attributes and styles I can live with. I found out about Sketchup on this site and when it came time to design my oven used it to create variations of what I thought I wanted the end result to look like. The difficulty was/is magnified by my requirement that the oven finish matches the style of my outdoor kitchen. I am up to 9 revisions now, and despite finalizing a number of key elements, am still waffling on others. Per the attached files, I learned that I prefer an ached entry much more than a square one. My last revision has a stucco finish vs the original tile and the beauty of it is that I can wait until the entire kitchen is built to decide!

My advice is to use (easy to learn) Sketchup to make a series of possible finish styles and gather your family/friends around to talk about what appeals to them. After all, they have to work with/look at the finished oven too, right? Review the options over a period of weeks. You'd be surprised at how your preferences can change over time.

Good luck!

[Alter ego]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

Fx,

I have done a similar thing to the others who have responded. The other good thing about Google Sketchup is that you can insert your design into a photo. This way you can get a good visual of how various oven styles will compare to the architecture of you house.

Below is a Sketch model inserted into a photo.


I am lucky with the final finishes of my oven and landscaping as I am not allowed to make these decisions. I just suggest several options that are technically possible and the lady in charge determines the best method.

When we go married I explained to her that she could make all the minor decisions and that I would make the major ones. It is amazing that in 20 years we have not had to make any major decisions.

Paul

[KINGRIUS]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

Before I decided to go with a pompeii oven, I definitely had a finished look in mind, down to the last brick. I was using Rado Hand's step-by-step instructional slide show. So switching oven designs was a real big change for me. But the changes I had to make are definitely worth the advantages of the smaller pompeii design. I still like the barrel vault enclosure look though. As for right now, I am planning on enclosing the oven in brick and roofing it. I already have all the bricks, so thats some incentive.

[fxpose]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

Thanks for all the replies and ideas!

I'm basically looking at an igloo styled oven at the end. Where I'm somewhat lost is the style and shape of the stand and hearth, whether to go round or square. Our Spanish styled house is all white stucco and we have a round breakfast nook which juts out the side of the house where it will be visible from the oven area. So my inclination is to go with the rounded overall shape, just to add a little uniformity.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Overall finished look of your oven

One of the beauties of an igloo is that you can always set it up to enclose it afterwards if you change your mind,,, good luck and enjoy

Mark