Archive for category Fireplace
5 Tips For Tiling A Fireplace
Posted on November 29, 2011 | Fireplace.
Tiling a fireplace can be tricky and challenging work, but you do not have to be a professional to get the job done right. If you really want to know how to tile a fireplace properly, you have to start with the end in mind. What effect are you shooting for? What do you hope to accomplish from your resources and ingenuity? Here to help you in your decision making is a look at 5 fireplace tiling ideas that work. These tips help you accomplish the look that you are hoping for, and give you a fireplace, and a room as a whole, that you can be proud of. Before you begin, get in touch with your inner DIYer, and do your best to get all materials at a cheap price. You can save a lot of money by doing it yourself, but you shouldn’t embark unless your comfortable with the details of the assignment.
Bold and Ceramic
Boldness will always turn your fireplace into something more, and the best way of “bolding” it up is to choose a tile that lends itself to ornate and colorful design. That’s where ceramic tile comes in to play. Before deciding on just anything, check out the ceramic selections online or in your area to get a feel for just how colorful these tiles can be. A word of warning, though: they break relatively easily so be careful when installing and make sure that you have purchased enough materials.
Glass Tiles
If you want to make your fireplace the focal point of the room, then you may consider using the shiny veneer of glass tiles. The designs on glass tile are remarkably colorful and can really stand out. You may wish to choose circular patterns if going with a definite design as these tend to make the fireplace as a whole stand out and instantly recognizable.
Terra Cotta
Terra cotta is yet another great option for tiling. This design looks equally good in glass or ceramic tilings and can even be cut in other patterns atypical from the traditional square. Thing hexagon or octagon.
Brown and Tan Blend
Blending smaller glass tile patterns in a brown and blend pattern is also a way to go. If you don’t like the more natural color scheme it creates, you can always go with something more striking. Just try to keep the contrasting color patterns similar to one another.
Seashell Mosaic
If you have more of a taste for the ocean, then you may wish to incorporate the seashell look to your mosaic pattern. Glass tiles are excellent for this option.
With all the options out there, you’re main problem will be narrowing down a look that is right for your fireplace.
Modern Fireplace Accessories
Posted on May 1, 2011 | Accessories, Fireplace.
These days just as fifty years ago a minimum list of fireplace accessories includes only a few necessary items. Nothing new was invented in the last century. Today you will need a set consisting of a poker, a shovel for coal, also brooms and tongs. Add to this list a screen that helps to adjust the flame, a grate and log holders, and that’s probably going to be all you have purchase for the fireplace.
All of the items above are usually made from steel, brass, bronze and, less commonly, iron. Requirements for special heat resistance are low as no one would ever keep a poker in a burning flame. All the tools are just a part of the interior and mostly perform aesthetic and artistic function. The choice of subjects and manufacturers depends on the owner’s willing to arrange an elegant fireplace area.
Many furnaces are also equipped with glass doors that are especially necessary when the fireplace is warming up and can not deal with smoke and thus lets the bitter smell in the room. The glass cover helps to prevent it., The doors can be swinging or lifting. By the way, furnaces with a fireproof door are safer than open grates, and allow you to manage the flow of warm air much better and easier. The only drawback is that sometimes the heat-proof glass may be covered with soot.
However, it is not a big problem because you can always buy special cleaners for fireplace screens and glass doors. More often the construction of furnaces have special channels that send air flow along the inner surface of the door, and don’t allow the soot particles settle on the glass. If your fireplace has no doors at all, you can use a variety of nets and shutters that can be installed directly in front of the firebox. They help to manage the air flow and thus regulate the heat level.
One more indispensable attribute of a fireplace is a mantels for fireplaces. Very often it is made of wood, typically of oak or walnut, and then it gets smoothed and polished or darkened by time and soot. Of course, the cost of fireplaces and fireplace accessories is quite high, mostly because the price of finishes and high quality materials. A fireplace is a bright, colorful interior decoration, a symbol of stability and warmth. And to some extent it is a luxury item, and as you know the real luxury just can not be cheap.