In too many cases a fireplace, one of the most wanted fatures in any home, looks like it's been set in place without any thinking whatsoever. While we can play with other pieces, a fireplace has to be perfectly blended into a room or we have a warm visual monster in the house.
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First of all, a fireplace should follow the overall design of your room and there are two simple but often overlooked reasons for that. First, it's big. A fireplace's size is something that makes it a focal point just thanks to its size, so it's has to be put in a logical place in your room. Second, when it's there, it's there. If you made a mistake it is hard and expensive to move a fireplace to another spot.
To make things more interesting, you may step aside from that boring and usual square designs and go for a wide fireplace. That approach has some advantages over the traditional fireplace look. You can put the fireplace on any height from the floor you like. Then, it can be as wide as you like and if your room is spacious enough it can even be as wide as your whole wall and that will give the entire space an unusual and welcoming feel.
Another approach is to treat a fireplace like any other nice piece of furniture. Today you can find fireplaces that may be vented on the back or gas versions with no vent needed at all, so you don't need a huge chimney going all the way up through the roof. And it's exactly that chimney that easily turns an otherwise nice fireplace into a cement monster. And you can give yourself a bit of freedom and put your new fireplace in, say, the corner, why not?
While thinking about a fireplace, don't forget that there are other rooms in your home, not just a living room. A fireplace can be a beautiful addition to your bathroom. It is unexpected - and that's one of the best things you may do in design - and it will make you warm without all those radiators and pipes we usually have in the bathroom. You can easily find a model that fits the wall and the overall design of your bathroom, so give it a try. ■
The main thing making weather headlines Friday and into the weekend will be the widespread coverage of showers and thunderstorms across much of the central and eastern U.S., with a particular focus across southeast Texas, the Mid-South, and portions of Virginia.
