So you got lucky in your house hunt, finding a home with a fireplace. But it doesn’t work. If a fix is not in the budget or even possible, here are several ideas for making the most of it. And should the fireplace be in good working order but you know that actually making a fire will be a rare occurrence, take the liberty of treating this feature in a way that fits your lifestyle and design preferences.
The most popular approach to decorating a nonfunctioning fireplace is to store wood in the opening, as if the option of creating a fire were just a little prep and a matchstick away. Here, logs of random sizes and shapes are stacked horizontally.
The designer of this room had a nearby lumberyard cut quarter-sawn boards to the depth of the fireplace before stacking them in the firebox, tightly filling the entire opening.
It’s not clear if the mantel seen in this historical Newcastle, England, home has always been here or is merely decorative, but it does present the option of installing a mantel in a room to add a focal point and architectural interest. Again, lengths of logs have been cut to the depth of the mantel and assembled in a tight collage.
Loosely piled logs, with an additional supply stacked to the side, give this room an appealing ambience.
Longer lengths of birch logs placed on end leaning into the firebox present another variation of the theme.
A more unexpected approach to placing logs in a unused firebox is to tuck in a basket filled with bundles of cut firewood.
Moving away from the more predictable use of logs, a creative approach for an unused fireplace is to use it as book storage. It’s not only a playful decorating idea but a functional one as well.
If the fireplace is in a child’s room, take full advantage of the creative license often given for these spaces — like by inserting cheerfully painted shelves for books, as seen here.
Another old fireplace, this time found in a kitchen, is also fitted with shelves, making it a convenient place to store cookbooks and jars filled with grains and snacks.
In a cozy sitting room, books are stacked in a tight configuration in the firebox, adding to the impression that this is a perfect space to snuggle up with a great read.
A single book on a hearth flanked by bookcases on either side, filled to the brim, is an artful and witty flourish.
Yet another popular choice is to place candles in a firebox, giving the option of actually lighting a few flickering flames. In this New York farmhouse, the candles used are ironically designed in the image of logs.
Completely filling a hearth with candles laid out from short to tall allows for a close approximation of a traditional log fire when all the candles are lit.
Instead of simply placing candles directly on the hearth, you can also arrange a collection of candlesticks of varying heights.
Placing a basket full of greens in a firebox is another possibility. If the fireplace is functioning but rarely used (in this case the plaster fireplace was custom designed and does work), why not decorate it anyway? Decorating is not reserved solely for the nonfunctioning fireplace!
In a newly remodeled kitchen and family room, the addition of foliage adds an element of warmth to a space that might otherwise have felt cool, with its black firebox so prominent in the room.
Do you have a favorite art object that has yet to find the perfect spot in your home? Put it in an unused fireplace! In this traditional South Carolina home, a decorative plate that picks up on colors in the room is set on a plate stand on the hearth.
In a midcentury San Francisco home, a sphere, which looks to be a disco ball, casts lighthearted sparkles of light throughout the room.
A rustic mounted disk is a perfect complement to the reclaimed wood and herringbone brick fireplace in this newly built home.
In a converted English schoolhouse a vintage trunk has been slid into the fireplace opening, looking right at home.
Nonfunctioning fireplaces in children’s rooms look utterly charming painted a happy color and filled with a few well-chosen toys.
Now you: Have you discovered an ingenious way to use your nonworking fireplace? Please post a photo in the Comments!
from Houzz http://ift.tt/1O0w4wk
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