Strike While the Andiron is...Cold?

Don't Wait for the Blooms to Fade...
Now is the Time to Invest in Your Fireplace!

You may not be thinking about your fireplace much right now, but you ought to. Yes, the sun is shining, the thermometer is rising and the hot cocoa and homemade cookies have been replaced by lemonade and fresh fruit—but much as I hate to remind you, summer doesn’t last forever. Before you know it, the suntan will fade and it’ll be fall again. Sitting in front of the fireplace you’ve been meaning to paint for the past five seasons, or opening the glass fireplace doors that have been falling off their runners since you bought your house, you’ll think, ‘Why didn’t I fix the fireplace up back when I wasn’t using it every other day?”

The fireplace is just like anything else we buy in that the best time to go shopping for new accessories or to update what you have is when it’s the furthest thing from your mind. Why? Because it’s the furthest thing from everybody else’s mind, too. And when nobody else is thinking about fireplace remodeling, that’s when retailers give the best deals. Anyway, it’s a heck of a lot smarter to change out the gas logs or the fireplace grates when they’re cool to the touch.

Keep the Homefires Burning, Indoors and Out

Outdoor Fireplaces Bring the Living Room Outside

When summer rolls around it’s easy to lose the fireplace spirit. Outdoor temperatures rise and we become less concerned with saving on heat and more with keeping the a.c. in good working order and minimizing our use of the oven. For many families, the period from May to September is a time for sitting on the patio and grilling out, maybe sneaking in a quick game of badminton between the burgers and the brats.

Of course, there’s no reason we can’t have the best of both worlds. The number of people who enjoy a fire year-round is growing all the time, as evidenced by the current trend in outdoor fireplaces, and it’s not as outlandish an idea as you might think. As the mercury rises there’s absolutely no reason not to take the party outside and under the stars. The flames dance that much higher in the open air and the crackle of the kindling will even give the crickets a run for the money.

So why not look into an outdoor fireplace as a way to keep the home fires burning until cooler temperatures return? If you get tired of badminton you can pull up a chair and stare into the flicker the same as you did back in December—and while you’re at it, you might even make plans for fixing up the indoor hearth so it will be ready when the leaves finally start to fall. Now is the time to think about things like new fireplace doors or fireplace blowers, not once the temperatures have already dropped. After all, summer goes by more quickly every year and before you know it you’ll be shivering again.

A Fireplace in the Kitchen: What a Concept

Old-World Fireplace Charm...in the Kitchen!

I’ll be honest: apart from the rare power outage brought on by an ice storm, or the occasional impulse to snatch an Oscar Meyer from the Frigidaire’s deli drawer and plunge it into the flames for a quick late-night snack, I don’t use my fireplace too terribly often for cooking.

For one thing, as anyone who has stewed a piece of beef or roasted a bird over an open flame in the middle of the living room can tell you, fireplace cooking can be an awkward endeavor. When you try to up the ante from hotdogs to haute cuisine, or you get overly ambitious trying to locate your inner Julia Child, it can prove not only messy but dangerous. Don’t watch what you’re doing and you’ll spill beef bourguignon all over the shag carpet. Turn your back too long and you might just ignite the coq a vin.

I’m being dramatic, of course, and we shouldn’t be so scared—or so reluctant. After all, it wasn’t so many years ago that our ancestors cooked virtually every meal over an open hearth. Indeed, I just came across this article about 19th century kitchen fireplaces in New England and started wondering why I don’t have a hearth in my kitchen instead of a stainless steel Kenmore gas range. I mean, I like cooking with gas as much as the next home chef, but just imagine how much cooler—or no, hotter—it would be if I could reach a pair of tongs into the fiery pit and pull out a freshly roasted breast of duck, its skin glistening golden and crisp.

My next home’s going to have a fireplace built in right between the range and the pantry, I’ve decided. And until then, I’m going to make the most of what I have by cooking over my existing fireplace a little more often than I do. No, I’m not going to break out the cast iron cook pots or install a rotisserie behind the fireplace doors so I baste half a goat, but there is a half a pack of brats in the fridge as I type this and I see no reason not to cook one to a charbroiled blister and stuff it between a bun warmed right there in the fireplace foot for a little midnight snack. I mean, why not? The fire’s already lit--and I'm starving.

Fireplaces in the News

Antique Fireplaces Are Interesting, But Are They Realistic?

Fireplaces seem to get hotter all the time. How else do you explain two articles in two days about how cool they are--and in, of all places, the New York Times?

The latest thing, apparently, is to retrofit your fireplace with vintage accessories, like old andirons and antique screens. And overall, it seems like a pretty sharp idea--a way to make your fireplace a one-of-a-kind focal point and get your friends talking about your aesthetic sensibilities.

I mean, I gotta tell you: if I could track down a 19th century wrought iron and bronze firescreen like the one New York restaurateur and hotelier Sean MacPherson found at a demolition resale outlet, my fireplace enthusiast heart would be, well, stoked. After all, how cool would it be to have a genuine antique like that one right here in my living room? I might even consider selling tickets.

Problem is, Macpherson apparently paid $8,500 for that rusty old hunk of metal, beautiful though it may be once he finishes refinishing it, and that's a just a wee bit more than we can realistically justify here at the blogspot. I mean, can you imagine what the missus would say when she finally noticed the price tag?

Of course, I don't mean to make too much fun of Mr. MacPherson. On the contrary, I respect just about anybody out there who himself respects and enjoys a well-built fire. And to be entirely fair, next time I make it up to the Big Apple I might just have to check out one of his businesses, if only so I can see firsthand the works of art he has given new life. Kudos, indeed. In the meantime, however, I intend to work with what I have--and what I can afford.

While I may, in fact, go rummaging around for some vintage tools--it never hurts to have more than one set, I always say--I am more inclined, in most cases, to look for affordable fireplace alternatives, to hunt down those accessories that will give me a coveted antique look without costing me a modern-day fortune. That's right, I'm talking about replicas, people.

After all, what announces the fireplace's overall aesthetic more immediately than a mantel that looks old but actually isn't? What's better than a vintage look without all that rust, never mind the antique market markup? For my money it's almost always better to say "out with the old, in with the new"-- at least until I can afford to spend $8,500 on a single piece of metal.

Your Own Private Fireplace

A Fireplace in the Bedroom Heats Things Up

We talk a lot about the hearth as a place for the entire family to gather on a cool winter night, but we don’t talk as much about fireplaces in other rooms of the house. At one time, though, many homes were built with multiple fireplaces, and sometimes with a fireplace in every room. Can you imagine? You wander from the living room to the bedroom and the crackle never stops, the warmth follows you wherever you go. What luxury, what pleasure, what a satisfying way to spend the morning or wind down at night. It must have been nice.

Sadly, the days of a fireplace in every room are all but gone, or at least out of most home buyers’ reach. Builders don’t usually build that way nowadays and the majority of us just don’t have the extra capital to invest in the extra amenities. We’re happy to have the one we’ve got, and we settle for the extras we know we can afford, like new fireplace doors and fireplace mantels. It’s not a bad life. In fact, it’s pretty doggone good.

But what if I was to suggest just one additional fireplace? And what if I were to suggest that the extra fireplace go in the master bedroom, where it can be enjoyed by you and your spouse after the kids go to bed, where its snap and its crackle can work their magic undisturbed?

And what if I were to tell you it’s not as extravagant as it sounds, and that people are doing exactly this, more and more? What if I were to tell you it’s not only a reasonable expense, but potentially a money-saving investment, too? What if I were to show you precisely what I’m talking about so you could see for yourself?

Kind of makes you warm just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

It does me. I’m already looking up numbers for a contractor.