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Heating Up Fireplace Design Ideas

May 06, 2011 7:15 AM ET
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 Fireplace design ideas are a hot topic, and there’s a few details you should know before you burn your money.

Safety is always the hot topic when it comes to fireplace designs. If you’re recently purchased your house and have a fireplace mantel than the first thing you should do is to check if you have a working chimney and that it isn’t a decorative fireplace mantel. Then you need to make sure it’s safe. Depending on where you live there may be certain laws you have to abide by. For example in some countries it is imperative to get a chimney sweep to clean your chimney every year otherwise your house insurance isn’t valid. This is in case of chimney fires. Not only do they ruin the interior design of the room, they are extremely dangerous and you will have to call the fire fighters. Even they will have a problem to douse the fire out because they start up again easily due to the drafts. If you live in thatched house and have a fire, then your insurance may be sky high so if your fireplace mantel isn’t operational make sure you inform your insurers.

Once you’ve established that your chimney is working, you need to determine what kind of zone you are in like a smoke controlled area. If you are, you may decide to opt for a fake fire such as gas, electric or gel that creates the same effect of a real fire, but without the fuss. Of perhaps you may like a wood burning stove or still choose the open fire but burn smokeless fuel. Next decision is which fireplace mantel design you want. It needs to work in harmony with whatever fire type you’ve gone for but it also needs to work within the room. When considering the interior décor take the size of the room into consideration, the lighting and location of the fire. An elegant fireplace design will become the focal point of the room so it’s essential you choose wisely.

Then of course personal preference comes into play, whether you are a traditionalist and prefer a Victorian fireplace mantel or classic fireplace design, or perhaps you’d like a contemporary fireplace design. It may be that you know the material you want the fireplace mantel design made out of such as limestone fireplace mantels, marble fireplace mantels or fireplace mantel stone, in which case, the designs for each will be narrowed down for you making your choice a lot easier. After saying all that, you may not even be looking for a fireplace design inside. Increasingly popular are the outdoor fireplaces which create a beautiful feature for the garden to sit near and there’s nothing like grilling your food over the barbeque whilst you take in the surroundings, so why not enjoy this in colder weather too. Fireplace mantels have always been the centre of activity amongst the family from women using them to cook, bake bread and heat up the iron or just to sit a watch and listen to a story by an elder.

fireplacemantelsllc provides detailed information about wood, stone, custom, antique, and discount fireplace mantels. Check out the fireplacemantelsllc for more information on Fireplace Design Ideas.

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