If you are lucky
enough to have a wood-burning fireplace, cold weather comes with a silver
lining: an excuse to build a roaring fire.
“Fire becomes this really
amazing focal point for a room, whether it’s traditional or modern,” said
interior designer Thom Filicia. “There’s just something poetic … and inviting about
gathering around a fireplace.”
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But before you build that
first fire, make sure you are ready. That means not just decorating the mantel
— which, of course, steals attention during the holidays — but choosing the
right tools and accessories to ensure that your fireplace looks good and works
well.
We asked Filicia and other
designers for advice.
Assess the situationNot all fireplaces are
attractive. In older homes, some have beaten-up mantels and damaged surrounds;
in newer homes, they may not have much personality. In either case, a simple
change — or a few tweaks — can give a fireplace a new look without tearing
everything out.
While you could remove your
mantel and replace it with a new one, it is not always necessary. Never
underestimate the power of paint. When Mona Hajj, an interior designer based in
Baltimore, was working on a home in Washington, DC, her clients found the wood
mantel in their dining room “so dark and depressing,” she said, that they asked
her to scrap it.
But she could see that it
was a quality piece, and when she coated the mantel and the surrounding walls
in off-white paint, it transformed the look from forbidding to fresh.
“It just softened that
area,” Hajj said.
Changing the surround
rather than the mantel can also give your fireplace a new personality. When
Amanda Jesse and Whitney Parris-Lamb, the founders of the New York City-based
interior design firm Jesse Parris-Lamb, renovated a brownstone in the Park
Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, they encountered tired fireplaces that had
surrounds of damaged subway tile within attractive original mantels.
Rather than replacing the
damaged tile with something similar, they chose more distinctive, contemporary
tile: a blue-and-white checkerboard pattern from Balineum for one fireplace and
a russet-colored floral pattern from Neisha Crosland for another.
“Changing out the fireplace
surround is a nice way to update it while still respecting the history of the
house,” Parris-Lamb said.
Add distinctive andironsA pair of andirons or a
fireplace grate is critical to help get air under logs and keep them from rolling
out onto the hearth. But choosing the right ones is not only about
functionality.
“It’s the jewelry. It adds
a little character,” said Victoria Hagan, a New York-based interior designer.
“I love searching for special and unusual andirons.”
Sometimes it is the first
purchase she makes when furnishing homes for clients, she said, “because it’s
the focal point” — not just of the fireplace but of the room. Hagan favors
vintage andirons and coordinates them with the period and style of each home,
from curly wrought-iron pieces for a casual, colonial-style home to weighty
brass ones topped by heavy ball finials in a formal space.
Others opt for more playful
designs. When Gary McBournie and Bill Richards, the married partners of
Boston-based interior design firm Gary McBournie Inc., were accessorizing a
fireplace in Wellesley, Massachusetts, they chose anchor-shaped andirons.
“An anchor is about as cute
as we get,” Richards said, adding that they like the contemporary andirons made
by John Lyle, who crafts models with anchors, fish, stars, human figures, and
other sculptural elements, as well as more traditional English designs from
Jamb.
Choose fire toolsYou could buy a set of
matching fireplace tools with a stand that sits on the hearth, but Hajj and Hagan
prefer a more minimalist approach: They limit the number of tools — often using
a single poker or a pair of fireplace tongs — and simply lean the tools against
the mantel when they are not in use.
“I don’t typically like
tools in a stand,” said Hagan, who considers it too formal. “I like them
casually placed at the fireplace.”
She buys tools with the
longest handles she can find because they tend to be more elegant and are easy
to use from a safe distance.
An ash shovel is also
helpful for cleaning up after the fire has gone out, but it does not have to be
stored near the mantel, so it does not need to match the other tools. “I
actually find the shovels awkward,” Hagan said. “Personally, I prefer a
dustpan.”
Add a fire screen
If your fireplace does not
have built-in doors or metal mesh curtains, a fire screen that will prevent
sizzling logs from spewing burning embers into the room is essential.
There is a wide range of
designs available — from flat-panel models that nearly disappear when in use to
folding ones with multiple panels and those that curve out into the room, which
often looks more traditional and provide easier access to the fire.
Whichever style you choose,
the most important thing is to use one that matches the size of the firebox
opening. If it is too small, it will not do its job; if it is too big, it will
look awkward.
“We see a lot of fire
screens that are too small or too big, and it looks kind of like the fireplaces
are wearing the wrong size clothes,” Parris-Lamb said. She and Jesse often
order screens in custom sizes from Wm. H. Jackson Co. or Etsy vendors.
Find a place for firewood
To keep the fire going, you
will need logs at the ready — and somewhere to store them. Many manufacturers
make special metal racks and leather slings for holding a few logs by the
hearth, but almost any large-scale, good-looking container will do.
McBournie and Richards
usually search out big, sturdy baskets woven from natural materials.
“Typically, we’ll have a large basket that can hold at least a day-and-a-half’s
worth of firewood,” Richards said.
Hajj uses a big Moroccan
copper urn in her own family room and has bought similar copper buckets for
clients’ homes. “I always try to get these big buckets,” she said.
A bonus: The buckets
capture dirt and wood shavings that fall off the logs, keeping the mess off the
floor.
Pull up some seats
“There is a sort of primal
interest in fire. It’s an attraction,” Richards said. “That means people are
going to want to sit by it.”
To create the coziest spot
in the house, Hajj likes to put a big, comfortable chair or chaise longue right
next to the fireplace.
Hagan has designed rooms
with upholstered stools that sit directly in front of the hearth, a couple of
feet from the flames. “It’s a nice place to sit,” she said. “It’s very cozy
during the winter.” And in the summer, the stools can easily be moved
elsewhere.
In a New York City row
house, Jesse Parris-Lamb placed thick, tasseled floor cushions near the
fireplace. “It’s nice to have some kind of ottoman, stool, or floor cushion
close to the fire so you can cozy up,” she said.
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