Let’s Talk About… Fireplaces

My Lady Owner, who is from South East Asian origin, grew up thinking that all houses in cold climates had fireplaces where you could hang stockings for Santa, you know, the rectangular type. Now that she lives in Europe, she found out that it isn’t true at all: her first home doesn’t have a fireplace as many other homes don’t, a lot of people have fake fireplaces, some people have wood-burners, etc. People apparently, she found out with wonder, have these ugly-looking things on the wall called radiators (unless they are old ornate radiators—now they are beautiful). However she did want to one day sit in front of a burning fireplace again with socks on, drinking tea, like what she experienced once in an old house in the mountainous part of Australia. So when she came across me, the house Valerie, which has a fireplace, she was excited.

I have to tell you, though, that my original fireplace didn’t exactly suit everyone’s taste.

Yup, it was a space shuttle, which can be cute in maybe mid-century houses. It could have been cute anyway too, if only there had been no brick background thingy. Also it was actually an electric fireplace.

Even I didn’t like it myself. So she wasn’t happy. So the fireplace became one of the first things that had to go.

Gone it was. Now we return to LO’s initial moodboard below:

She imagined an antique wooden mantel surrounding the functional part that is more modern-looking.

But you must already suspect that as a South East Asian, LO knew close to nothing about fireplaces. She still doesn’t know much either. After consulting with experts, she was informed that her idea wasn’t ideal and moreover antique mantels were astronomically expensive. In fact, fireplaces are expensive, period.

Back then, she was faced by two questions: to do or not to do, means to have a fireplace at all or not after the space shuttle is removed. But since there was already a functioning chimney, she thought it would be a shame to not have a fireplace after all.

Fireplace after renovation as of summer 2022.

“We no longer build fireplaces for physical warmth; we build them for the warmth of the soul; we build them to dream by, to hope by, to home by.”

— Edna Ferber

Anyway. This post is written to talk about fireplaces a bit more in depth, and not just LO’s dilemma. If you, like my Owners did, want to have a fireplace, let’s learn more about some basic options you can consider.

Traditional

Hurray, the rectangular type. The fireplace we have in mind when someone says ‘‘fireplace”. It is open, so naturally debris on fire can sometimes regularly fly out. We obviously also need a working chimney. Classic, unbeatable, only we really have to be careful with the fire (we don’t want to create holes on the carpet or burn the house down or have carbon monoxide poisoning, right!).

Wood-burners

Wood-burners burn more efficiently because the environment is closed off. It is also safer. Style-wise, it can be simple and casual, and/or rustic.

Combo

Simply a stove inserted into an existing fireplace.

Ultra Modern

A lot of modern fireplaces nowadays don’t burn woods at all—instead, they use ethanol or gel as fuel that can produce real flame. Before the age of bio fireplaces, electric fireplaces existed first, but often the fire looked too fake. Now, other than that the looks of the bio flame is more real, bio fireplaces are also deemed more environmentally friendly. Win win!

Like to Fake It?

Finally this is the route a lot of people eventually take to avoid extra cost, time, and energy. And hey, it’s pretty awesome too. We can be as creative as possible with our non-functioning fireplaces—the limit is the sky—and in the end, its beauty can offer us warmth as well, figuratively speaking. Also hello, extra storage.

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The Bathroom Begins

Reno Update: Primary Bedroom