The Many Purposes Of Fireplace Doors

Fireplace doors are seen in many modern homes because they provide an array of benefits for the fireplaces they cover. These are more permanent solutions than fireplace screens, and they can actually add value to the home if they are installed properly. If you have been trying to figure out if you should install a door on your fireplace or not, consider some of the benefits listed below before making a decision.

Less Heat Loss

When you do not have a fireplace door, you tend to lose a lot of heat because of the airflow going throughout the fireplace. A fireplace glass door will allow heat to travel into your home without having it travel up the chimney. Glass doors also allow you to still watch the fire while it is going, so you can get the aesthetic effect without sacrificing the heat. If you have a warmer fire going, you should be able to save money on the heating bills for your home.

Safer Protection

If you have small children in your home, fireplace glass doors can allow your kid to see the fire without having an easy way to reach out and touch it. You need to be careful with doors though because there are some that are easy to open. Make sure you buy fireplace doors that stay secure and do not get too hot to the touch. Certain materials can be just as hot as the fire they protect if you leave them shut for too long.

Better Design

Fireplace doors can add a design element to an otherwise boring fireplace. You can update your old fireplace with modern glass doors and instantly raise the value of your home. You may also want to make your fireplace look older than it actually is by adding antique doors to it. These can be found easily on the market, and they can provide a unique look to your fireplace that other people in the area will not have. You could get an antique tool set to go along with it and tie the whole look together.

Cleaner Air

The doors will help you keep the ashes in your fireplace instead of having them float in the air. This can cut your dusting time in half, and it can also help your guests breathe better when there is a fire going. You will still get the same warm smell when you light a fire, but you will not have to deal with the embers and ash floating through your room.

Getting the right fireplace accessories will not only enhance your decor but it will get you one step closer to making your house feel like a home.

A Challenge To Santa: Fireplace Accessories

Every Christmas Eve, Santa Claus wiggles his way through countless numbers of fireplace doors. Each pair of doors insures the safety and functionality of a hearth. The fireplace accessories around the hearth opening manage to put each glowing fire in a stylish metal frame.

Hearth Collections are not defined by their fireplace tools. The defining characteristic of any such collection lies in the nature of the fireplace screen. Traditional or Custom accessories have a simple frame, one that does not contain a single visible rivet.

Some hearth accessories have been categorized as “rivet flat.” The visible rivets in each of their screens form a straight line across the top of that screen. Other such accessories have been described as “rivet arched.”  They all have arched frames, and a curved line of rivets that follows the curvature of the frame’s top.

A top quality steel screen has artisan crafted and hand-forged components. The fine wire mesh in such a screen allows it to keep sparks from flying into the room, the room that can feel the warmth of the fire’s flames. Sometimes a quality screen has a forged iron finish; sometimes it has a matte black coating. In either case, that finish or coat enjoys the protection of a clear coat, one that enhances the beauty of the metal screen.

While an electric fireplace does not need a tool set, a homeowner might want to place a poker, shovel, broom and tongs adjacent to the hearth, in order to play down the presence of a fire that is less than real. When a fireplace holds a true fire, then it should have a firm and secure screen.

The varied types of fireplace mantels reflect the varied environments that benefit from a glowing fire. A formal setting, such as a living room would need a mantel such as the one found in the picture on restorationhardware.com. That lovely wooden mantel joins with a screen from the Rivet Hearth Collection, as it frames a warming fire. The formality of that mantel forms a sharp contrast to the sort of mantel one might find in a family room.

A family room might have been designed so that the brick in the fireplace extends out onto the wall around the brick hearth. In that less than formal setting, the mantel could well be a thick, long wooden beam, a beam anchored to the brick on the wall. To complete to look of your fireplace, look for ideas by searching for your fireplace accessories online.

The Various Fireplace Accessories For Your Home

If your home has a fireplace then you have probably shopped for some fireplace accessories to use with it. The various kinds of items you can use in conjunction with a fireplace can be functional or decorative. Most fireplaces have some type of screen or protective element in front of it. This can also be fireplace doors which might be constructed of glass. The doors made of glass can come as plain styles or with decorative etchings on them. These are generally used with units that are built-in to a home when it is constructed.

Fireplace mantels are also items which are generally built-in when the fireplace is installed in the home. A mantel is the top portion above a fireplace which usually has a broad shelf like area. The design for a mantel can be one which is made of wood or stone. Wood is a common material for the mantel and it is often used to place decorative centerpiece items on as a focal point for the room. A stone mantel may not protrude as far out from the base wall as a wood one and is often left unadorned.

In the line of fireplace accessories you will find several styles of fireplace tools to choose from. The tools come as a set which is placed on one side of your fireplace unit. The set will contain a brush, shovel, poker and tongs. These are all items used in placing logs and cleaning the area. You will also find several types of log holders or baskets you might use. These items are generally placed on the opposite side of the tools. All of the fireplace accessories are available in the popular black cast iron material as well as a few other styles such as brass or wood.

If the home you live in does not have a built-in fireplace you can still get the beauty and heat of having a traditional unit by purchasing one of several types of electric fireplaces. These items come as free standing units which can be placed against a wall or set in the middle of the room, depending on the design. The come with the same styles and features as the built-in items, but are more cost efficient and easy to use. They are available in different sizes ranging from an 18 inch unit to a large 33 inch one. A well designed fireplace will provide an attractive addition to any room it is in.