Every living room needs a focal point. By its very name and nature, your living room is a space that is made to be lived in and to be comfortable in. With a suitable and functional centrepiece, there is a feature around which all of this happens.
If your living room lacks an eye-catching and homely feature, a stunning new or renovated fireplace could transform it.
Types of fireplace
Fireplaces come in a plethora of shapes and sizes. Some fireplaces are empty, used for storage or as a bookcase, or home to an aesthetically pleasing pile of logs or a precious ornament; some are home to a stately and majestic log burner.
Gas and electric fireplaces can be contemporary or traditional, but all will efficiently heat your room as well as look fantastic.
Modernise with a traditional touch
Fireplaces are now a point of fashion. A modern fireplace is necessary to bring your living room into 2020, and the beauty of them is that they are still as functional as ever. Having your fireplace renovated by heating specialists will make sure your home is toasty, as well as looking like something out of a magazine.
While filling an empty fireplace with storage is of course an option, to keep the traditional touch it should still be filled with a stove or a heater. Having a fireplace with a light and heat emitting core keeps alive the memories and traditions of chatting around the open fire, huddling close on winter nights and cuddling with pets in front of the mantelpiece.
Use the fireplace seasonally
To transform your living room into a modern space, your fireplace should be used seasonally. This can be done in a number of ways. Firstly, through the summer months when it is not being turned on, cover it with an ornate fireguard or use it as a place to display flowers in vases. Then, as winter and Christmas come around, place small tealights or fairy lights in front of it in festive holders or, if possible, use it to toast crumpets and marshmallows.
Transforming your living room from season to season keeps your home feeling fresh as the months roll by, while also increasing the number of functional benefits your fireplace is bringing to your life.
Decorate your mantelpiece
It is important to remember that your fireplace does not end with the stove, heater or alcove that makes up its main body. The fireplace is much more than that, including the hearth and the mantelpiece.
These should be decorated in equal measure: use the hearth for a basket of logs, some impressive antiques or a plantstand and cover the mantelpiece with birthday or Christmas cards, awards and trophies and pictures of loved ones.
The whole environment of the fireplace should be an event, rather than simply an object. It should feel as homely as it feels exciting, and it should be functional in terms of seasonality and heating.