Great Ideas for Decorating Your Fireplace

Fireplaces are warm, cozy sources of heat and illumination. Whether you have a fireplace in your living room, bedroom, study or any other room in your home, you have surely noticed its tendency to draw visual attention and become the centerpiece of your room decor. Sometimes, a fireplace can be so overpowering it is difficult to decorate the rest of the room well. Other times, you may fail to take advantage of the opportunity to make your fireplace look its absolute best. These three simple ideas for decorating your fireplace can be used alone or together to bring your room to life and give your fireplace the spotlight it truly deserves.

Fireplace Doors and Screens

While the aesthetic of a fireplace is generally a pleasant one, in reality, a fireplace that is used frequently can become dirty, smoky or grimy. Wood-burning fireplaces can even send clouds of soot and dust all over the room, requiring you to perform more frequent and thorough cleaning to keep your home spotless. You can effectively reduce the problem of fireplace debris, hide a less than perfectly cleaned hearth from view and add a delightful decorative touch with the easy installation of fireplace doors or screens.Fireplace Doors are available in styles and colors to suit any fireplace in any home. Doors are simple to install and require very little maintenance over time. Best of all, they are a fast and affordable way to give your entire fireplace a facelift and breathe new life into your room.

Decorative Mantels

While a well-maintained fireplace is a decorative element in its own right, it also removes your access to a great deal of wall space that could be used for placing furniture or hanging artwork. Sometimes rooms with fireplaces can be difficult to arrange and decorate simply because the fireplace itself takes up such a significant amount of space. By adding a decorative mantel along the top of your fireplace, you give yourself additional storage and display space for photos, knick-knacks and other small items.

Mantels can be made of wood, stone, composites or any number of other materials. They are available in sizes to suit any fireplace and colors and designs to suit any decor. A mantel can be the perfect place to display just a few treasured items in a position of prominence, allowing you to maximize your decorating efforts despite your reduced wall space.


Fireplace Accessories

Accessories such as pokers and log holders can give your fireplace a bit of flair and personality. Visitors to your home will be aware your fireplace is not merely for show, but an integral component of your home's functionality and aesthetic sense. Accessories can be made of materials and available in colors to complement your existing designs or to add a highlighted splash of color in an otherwise unused space.

About the Author

Sharon Dyer is a writer and the Outreach Director for the Morgan Law Firm, a firm that represents clients going through a divorce in Austin divorce firm. See additional articles on the firm's Austin Divorce

How to Make your Fireplace Look Better with Glass Doors

Spring is a natural time to make home improvements that keep the home looking fresh and up-to-date. As a fireplace is a strong architectural element in the home, it creates a natural focal point for the whole room. Giving the fireplace a mini-makeover makes the hearth of the home worthy of attention. Installing fireplace glass doors is an easy DIY project that not only adds a lot of style to the room but helps keep the household safe as well.

Gathering with the family around the fireplace to enjoy a cozy fire on a chilly night is one of life’s simple pleasures. Not as enjoyable as waiting for the fire to completely burn out before calling it a night. Fireplace glass doors provide the only safe way to leave a wood fire in a fireplace unattended. Whether the fireplace is metal or brick, installing the doors is easy. Glass doors are available in sizes than can fit almost any fireplace opening and can be installed using standard tools.

If retrofitting a pre-fabricated fireplace, sometimes called a zero clearance fireplace, installing glass doors is even easier. The best fireplace glass door retailers have the ability to create glass doors based on the make and model of the unit. This ensures a perfect fit. A variety of glass doors are available for masonry fireplaces too.

New glass doors for the fireplace offer opportunities to update the style of the fireplace as well. Fireplace glass door frames come in a broad array of colors and finishes. By choosing a color or finish that matches other accessories in the room, the doors help unify the room’s décor, adding a polished, cohesive look to the space. Homeowners may prefer to install an eye-catching frame that will enhance the fireplaces position as a strong focal point.

Whether the glass doors purchased are for a new installation or are fireplace replacement glass, it’s important to ensure that the glass meets UL testing standards for heat. Doors with a lifetime warranty are an indicator of quality as well. While installing the doors is easy, purchasing fireplace glass doors from a reputable online retailer that offers technical help when needed ensures a hassle-free installation.

Installing fireplace glass door this spring ensures that the family fireplace will look great all summer long and will be ready for the first fire in the fall. With so many decorative options available, fireplace glass doors are a great way to add style as well as function to the family hearth.

About the Author Sharon Dyer is the Outreach Director for the Morgan Law Firm. She is a frequent blogger on a variety of subjects. See her recent article on finding a divorce lawyer in Austin on the firm's Austin Divorce Blog.