Now, who does not love Winter? Imagine this. While the snow falls outside, you are on your couch sipping hot chocolate or coffee before your fireplace with your family. If you ask, that is heaven. But what if you have a non-working fireplace? For example, if you are living in a city like Elliot City where the average snowfall is 18 inches per year, it is better to choose the heating repair in Elliot City to get the best heating experience possible.
Watching the fireplace makes you relax and removes the stress as the wood burns away. Most say that the fireplace is decor for your home. They are 50% right. Why only 50%? The fireplace is a focal point where your family gets together to spend some quality time. Having quality time with your family is important, and thus the fireplace is an essential part of your home.
You need to know how to transform your fireplace into a focal point of your living room to justify its importance.
You might have a question here such as, what is the importance of having a fireplace in a home? Before we look into the steps that help you to transform your fireplace into an important part of your home, we will discuss briefly the benefits of having a fireplace.
4 Major Benefits of Having a Fireplace
1. Keeping your home warm and comfortable during the winter months. The first benefit of having a fireplace is that, it keeps you warm during the chilly season. And the experience can be better than that of a typical room heater.
2. Having a low electricity bill. Since a fireplace doesn’t require electricity (unless you’re using an electric-based fireplace) to keep your space warm, you won’t have to break the bank paying your electricity bill.
3. Add value to your home. One of the most important benefits of having a fireplace is that it considerably increases your home’s resale value. Especially, if your home is in a snowy area, you are assured that your fireplace can help you to get the best value for your home down the line.
4. An invaluable decor addition to your home. Thanks to the various designs of hearth and stone backsplashes, the number of mixes and matches of the decor of your room will be infinite. The beautiful and unique fireplace can create a better focal point for your home.
Year-round, you can be assured that the fireplace can provide you with a comfortable and soothing experience.
Transform Your Fireplace into A Focal Point of Your Room
One of the best ways to enhance your home’s aesthetic is to have a fireplace. Any fireplace will do, but the quality of the ambiance created by the wooden fireplace is unrivaled. If you are planning to decorate your home with a fireplace and make it a focal point of your living room or even your master bedroom, the following steps can definitely help you out.
Step #1– Know your Style!
Take into consideration of your existing room design and theme. Understand what you want to do with your existing design. Whether you want a traditional or vintage style or a modernized and rustic design for your fireplace. Choose the design that goes well with your existing room. Traditional fireplace designs may require more space, while modern ones may not. Take into account your room size before locking your final design. Understanding your room can significantly help you save time and money during your fireplace renovation project.
Step #2– Clean the Fireplace
Once you decided on the design, the next step should be cleaning the fireplace. Your objective here is to clean the fireplace to a pristine condition. Clean the hearth, surrounding, firebox, mantel, and even the chimney (if available). If you have a chimney, you should focus more on that place than anywhere else. Since it can collect large amounts of soots, ashes, and even wood debris. Always check the fireplace for any damage and take steps as soon as possible to resolve the damage.
Step #3– Renovate the Surrounding
After done with the deep cleaning, the actual first step in transforming your fireplace into a focal point of your room is to renovate the surroundings first. If you are confused about what the surrounding is, it is the immediate area that covers the fireplace. So, how you can renovate the surrounding?
With three different methods, you can renovate the surrounding completely differently.
- Painting the surroundings with high-grade fire-resistant paint to give a fresh new look.
- Using a stone veneer. Stone veneer is a layer of different stones put together to cover the fireplace surrounding it. One of the main reasons to go with the stone veneer is that the surrounding area does not have much load-bearing situation. Much load can destroy the stone veneer completely. If you are looking for a rustic look, a stoner veneer panel can be a better option.
- Using tiles as a decorative. One of the easiest ways to enhance the look of your fireplace is to install decorative tiles. Go for a patterned design or even solid color tile, if you are looking for the traditional and vintage look. More importantly, choose the set of tiles that compliments your room and the fireplace and also ensure that it can withstand high temperatures.
Step #4– Upgrade the Mantel
The next step is to enhance the mantel of the fireplace. The mantel is part of your fireplace that helps to catch the smoke over the fire grate. Many may not know, the mantel has another name which is, a chimneypiece. Mantel is one of the important set pieces that can compliment the fireplace look considerably. So, how to upgrade the mantel? Following are some of the best ways you can check out to enhance your mantel.
- Change the material of the mantel. You can go for materials such as wood, marble, or even stone depending on the look that you want for your fireplace. Ensure that the chosen mantel can withstand a good amount of weight, as we often place items on the mantel, especially during the holiday seasons.
- Implement the design aspect of the current mantel. Use carvings or even add the corbels at the end of the mantel to give a more vintage and elegant look, given if you are going for that particular look.
- Use the mantel space effectively. Take advantage of the mantel space by placing design ornaments, even photos. This adds a personal and unique touch to the place, ultimately enhancing the overall fireplace atmosphere.
Step #5– New Hearth for New Look
Since we are revamping the whole fireplace, it is better to upgrade the hearth. Also, the hearth is the place that directly faces the fire. Meaning it takes a toll on its surface. You can “update” them by using any of the following techniques.
- Having a raised platform for your hearth. This raised platform helps you to achieve that distinct look and helps to achieve an even better performance of your fireplace. If you want to make the fireplace the focal point of your room, enhancing the hearth is the way to go.
- Add stone or tiles at the end of the hearth to extend its length. This also contributes greatly to the performance of your fireplace.
Step #6– Accessories and Lightning
Add smart lights around the mantel or the surroundings to make it more lively. Since it is a smart light, you can control the range of lights with an app. This gives a more modernized look to your fireplace and considerably transforms your fireplace into a focal point of your room. Or if you are looking for more of a traditional look, you can install a chandelier over your fireplace to make it a more vintage environment.
Final Thoughts
During the winter months, some cities can be colder than others and it is not a viable option to use a room heater to warm yourself up. That is where the fireplace comes into the picture. Not only does it work more efficiently than a room heater, but it also helps you tackle the electricity bill with ease. This article aims to provide you with ample information on transforming your fireplace into a focal point of your living space.
