A fireplace in the home is a great feature to have whether it is wood fired or even just an electric fireplace.
The fireplace upgrades you can do depend on the type of existing fireplace you have. Do you have a built in wood burning fireplace? Do you have built in natural gas fireplace. If you don’t have a built in fireplace you can still get one by building one by scratch which gives you the most choices in design options or installing a vent less solution, such as an electric fireplace or fuel gel fireplace.
If you live in a new home or have an apartment with a fireplace chances are you have a natural gas fireplace. In a new home often times the stock fireplace that comes with your home is rather plain. You can definitely dress up this plain fireplace with a new mantel kit or a new surround. You can get any finish or color of wood or go for a natural rock or stone surround.
Once you have the surround and mantel looking how you want you can customize the inside of the firebox with a new gas log insert or fireplace river rocks or even fireplace glass. You can finish it all off with a new screen or fireplace glass door. You can create your own fireplace designs.
What type of fireplace you design depends on what you already have to work with. If budget is not an issue you can let your imagination run wild, otherwise you may have to work with the confines of your existing fireplace. An easy upgrade is to clean up and convert a natural gas fireplace with a ceramic log to a natural gas fireplace with fireplace glass or rocks or balls. This is an easy upgrade and it looks very modern.
You will want to clean out your existing fireplace and remove the insert and install a burner that is designed to work with fireplace glass. Make sure that there are enough jets to get a nice clean even flame. Adjust the burner so the flames point up not back or sideways. Then cover with fireplace glass and your fireplace is the envy of the neighborhood.
A great look for upgrading a fireplace is rock. That’s right natural stone. You can cover a boring fireplace surround with natural slate tile. Slate is durable and long lasting is great for using around heat sources. If you have a large room and can afford it I like floor to ceiling stone that follows the chimney upwards. This is a dramatic and striking look for any large room and fireplace.
If you want the look of a vintage stove without all of the mess you can duplicate a coal burning stove with heavy engraved cast iron. Cast iron is strong and can withstand extreme heat. That is why when people used coal to heat their homes it was burned in a cast iron grate. If you want to simulate the coal you can get an electric insert that looks like coal. This is a great way to simulate that English countryside without all of the mess and fumes, otherwise you will most likely have to have an ionic air purifier running all of the time to take care of the odors.
You can get a small electric stove fireplace for that cool porch or the little nook where you like to read near the cold window. There are many great electric fireplace options for bedrooms and other rooms that may not have a built in fireplace.
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