Family Room Ideas with Fireplaces – Beautiful Looks for your Social Space

The family room is an informal, relaxed living space that should be defined by spending quality time with your friends and loved ones.

For centuries, fireplaces have created a central element in the home where people congregate together for warmth and light. For family room ideas, embracing and enhancing the fireplace in your designated family space will help to create a cozy and inviting environment that the whole family can enjoy.

A main focal point in a room, using our family room ideas with fireplaces can help you to effortlessly integrate and make the most out of this architectural feature in your family room design scheme.

FAMILY ROOM IDEAS WITH FIREPLACES

Whether you want to enhance the fireplace in your family room with wallpaper, or use a luxurious marble frame to add a touch of sophisticated elegance, we have gathered our top tips to help you with your family room ideas with fireplaces.

1. PAINT YOUR FIREPLACE TO MATCH YOUR WALLS

A great tip for family room paint ideas and an easy way to add a colorful, contemporary twist to the fireplace in your family room, using paint to incorporate the fireplace into your scheme will make for a bold, cohesive design.

In this family room space, the gorgeous red-pink shade creates a striking design. By painting the fireplace surround the same shade, the colorful impact is taken one step further and the original feature is brought to life.

Whether you choose to match your fireplace with the same paint color used throughout your family room, or choose another complementary paint shade, you can make your fireplace into a real statement piece with paint ideas.

2. CENTER YOUR SCHEME AROUND THE FIREPLACE

Centering your scheme and family room layout ideas around your fireplace is a simple design principle but one that is guaranteed to create a cozy and intimate family room space.

The fireplace is one of the the central gathering places in the home, providing warmth and an area to sit and socialize with friends and family.

'Fireplaces are often the main focal point in a room, so centering your scheme and your main seating area around the fireplace will create a natural, balanced design that makes the most out of this timeless architectural feature' says Homes & Gardens' Editor in Chief Lucy Searle.

3. EMBRACE A MODERN FIREPLACE DESIGN

Whether you want to upgrade your traditional fireplace ideas, or are installing a new fireplace into a modern property for your family room ideas with fireplaces, choosing a contemporary design can make a real statement in a space.

Alice Lane states, 'the design of the family room began with the fireplace design and rug selection. The client loves cozying up around the fireplace during the cold winters and wanted to incorporate storage for the cut logs.'

The rectangular, white paneled frame makes for a truly contemporary feature, with the large, blocked design matching the style and proportions of the family room.

Hot Fireplace Design Trends for 2022

Home renovation exploded during the COVID stay-at-home period, and some very distinct fireplace design trends emerged during that time. Improvements that had been put off were suddenly top priority. People working from home fell (partially) out of love with their open concept homes. The desire for more welcoming home entertainment rooms rose to the top of the wish list.

Even as the world returns to something close to normal, how we use our living spaces has been permanently altered. The boom in home renovation rages on as the desire to improve our living and working spaces has become more necessity and less a luxury.

Here are some of the hottest fireplace design trends we are seeing now.

Design Trend: Traditional Contemporary Fusion

Design Trend: Defining Spaces

Design Trend: Clean & Simple

Design Trend: That “Look at Me” Drama

Essential Gas Fireplace Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Home Safe

Regular cleaning and inspection are crucial to gas fireplace maintenance. Here's what you need to know to ensure your gas fireplace is safe, clean, and in good working condition.

By Jessica Bennett - Home & Gardens

A gas fireplace lets you enjoy the warmth and coziness of a glowing fire by simply flipping a switch or pressing a button. Without the mess of ash and soot, these clean-burning units require much less upkeep than traditional wood-burning fireplaces, but a bit of gas fireplace maintenance is essential to keep yours in top shape.

First, it's recommended that you have a licensed gas service provider inspect your fireplace at least once per year. The technician can thoroughly clean gas fireplaces, check for gas leaks, ensure the fireplace is venting properly, and identify potential safety issues.

Between annual inspections, you can also conduct some gas fireplace cleaning yourself. Especially if you use your gas fireplace frequently, dirt, dust, and other residue can build up over time, eventually resulting in musty odors or glass doors that appear milky or foggy. If your fireplace's interior or glass looks grimy, follow the steps below on how to clean a gas fireplace.

How to Clean a Gas Fireplace

Working around gas components can be dangerous. Before you begin, read the manual for your gas fireplace and be sure to follow all manufacturer's instructions, paying special attention to safety precautions.

What You Need

• Screwdriver

• Dropcloth or towel

• Vacuum with crevice tool attachment or handheld vacuum

• Soft cleaning cloth

• Fireplace glass cleaner

• Paper towels

Step 1: Turn off the gas and disassemble.

Switch the pilot light and the gas valve off and wait for the fireplace to cool down completely before cleaning. Following the manufacturer's instructions, remove the glass panel to access the interior of the fireplace. Set the glass on a soft surface, such as a dropcloth or an old towel. If possible, remove the decorative logs (this might require a screwdriver) and place them on the dropcloth or towel. Consider taking a photo of the fireplace before disassembling to help you remember where to put everything back.

Step 2: Clean the fireplace interior.

Vacuum up any dirt or dust inside the fireplace, moving carefully around the grates, decorative stones, or other components. If the stones or rocks inside your gas fireplace are small enough to get sucked up by the vacuum, carefully remove them before vacuuming. Dust off the logs using a soft cloth and replace them inside the unit.

Step 3: Clean the gas fireplace glass.

Gas fireplace glass sometimes acquires a white, foggy-looking film resulting from chemical residue. To clean, use a glass cleaner specifically designed for fireplaces ($8, The Home Depot) and buff with paper towels or a soft cleaning cloth. Replace the glass on the fireplace.

Other Gas Fireplace Maintenance Tips

The faux logs and rocks inside your gas fireplace can become discolored, worn, or cracked over time. If you notice any signs of damage, replace these components immediately. Ensure you have a working carbon monoxide detector installed nearby that can alert you in the event of a leak. Call a professional if you notice any signs of excess moisture, cracked paint, stains, or other damage around your fireplace or chimney, and schedule your annual fireplace inspection in the late summer or early fall before the temperatures drop.