A good-looking fireplace can add instant charm to any room. Whether you’re remodeling or just looking to refresh your space, here are ways to update your fireplace and get it looking like new before winter’s chill arrives.
Add Glass Fireplace Doors
A cozy fire on a cold night is a delight. But a wood fire left untended isn't safe. Unlike a gas fireplace, which can be switched off, the only way to leave a wood fire is closed off with glass doors.
Retrofitting this safety feature to an existing fireplace isn't difficult. The doors come in standard sizes that fit in any flat firebox opening.
Get Your Firebrick in Shape
After years of searing-hot blazes, fireplace mortar can crack, crumble, and fall out. Gaping mortar joints are not only unattractive, they leave the bricks more vulnerable to damage. So before wood-burning season starts, examine the condition of the mortar in the firebox and take an hour or two to replace any that has deteriorated.
Install a Mantel
Don’t let your mantel bore you. Sharp, detailed models come in kits that lock together with a few twists of the Phillips-head. You can have a whole new look in less than a day.
Opt for a Salvaged Mantel
The hearth has endured, in part, because of the wooden mantel that frames it. A mantel serves not only as an architectural anchor in a room but as a functional shelf on which to display prized possessions. That's why so many of them still grace the parlors, dining rooms, and bedrooms of old houses even when the fireboxes have been walled over to eliminate drafts.
For every surviving example, of course, there are dozens that were torn from walls during reckless remodels. Luckily, many discarded mantels have ended up at architectural salvage yards.
Add a Gas Fireplace
There’s only one thing better than a roaring fire on a wintry night: a roaring fire that needs no tending, requires minimal cleanup, and doesn’t leave the rest of the house freezing cold. That’s what you get with today’s gas fireplaces.
Long gone are the anemic blue flames and unconvincing “logs.” Modern versions burn much more realistically, with glowing red embers and tall orange-yellow flames that dance and flicker around ceramic-fiber logs molded from the real thing.
Put in a Fireplace Insert
Fireplaces rank among the top three features desired by new homebuyers. Unfortunately, fireplaces are also major air gaps—they can send up to 8 percent of valuable furnace-heated air flying out the chimney, making them really fun to look at but inefficient as heating sources.
Tile a Hearth
Mantels come and go. It's the hearth that's always been there, an ornate buffer between the fire and the shag rug.
Consider jazzing things up with some colorful new tiles. You can change the whole look of a fireplace—and the room—in one or two weekends.
Choose the Right Tiles
Designer tile is a great material for a hearth, but it isn't always the appropriate one. Fortunately, there are many other masonry products that work well for fireplace decoration, from formal white marble to earthy terra-cotta.
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