The Warmth of a Fireplace
Who doesn't want a fireplace in their home? A fireplace conjures up feelings of warmth... physical as well as emotional... beautiful architectural details... the faint smell of burning wood... the crackling of the fire... the playful dance of the flame... and a place to hang your stockings at Christmastime.
Fitting even a small fireplace in a small home can be almost impossible though. Fireplaces take up valuable real estate in any home. Actually, fireplaces often become a major feature in any room and can even be monumental in size. Even small fireplaces sometimes just can't fit into small homes... or can they?
We have a small home. Okay... we have a really small home. We have only three adults in the house but it is a tight fit. It is such a tight fit that we are having difficulty renovating the house. Where do we put all the stuff that is in the room we want to renovate while we are renovating? It is like those little sliding tile games where you must get all the numbers in sequence by effectively utilizing only one empty, tiny space. That is our home. So, how do we fit a fireplace into this very small home while making it feel warm and inviting without it appearing cluttered?
Direct vent fireplaces can save room and can be located virtually anywhere within a room. Great idea but, unfortunately, unaffordable for us.
A traditional wood fireplace is both too large and too expensive. Then again, some old wooden yachts have small wood fireplaces/furnaces in each stateroom... maybe I could incorporate one of those designs into our home? Hmmm... wall space is needed as well as a chimney or flue. Turns out this idea was just as expensive as either of the previously mentioned fireplaces. Those little antique fireplaces are exceptionally expensive!
I've had an electric stove type of thing with an artificial fire in the past... that adds some emotional warmth but it is not really what we are envisioning when we discuss the ideas of having a "fireplace". It is sort of 'cheap' and in some ways tacky.
Gel fuel fireplaces... hmmm... this might work. There are dancing flames... that provides emotional warmth. There is no need for a vent or flue... this allows design flexibility and for much lower costs than traditional methods. Each of the gel fuel canisters puts out up to 3000 BTU's... that adds physical warmth to supplement our oil forced-air heating. These canisters crackle as they burn... nice emotional warmth. All very good points!
The down side of this idea is that even though this type of fireplace would not require a flue or chimney, it is still fire. It is actually an open flame. Safety is a concern. Now years of home building come into play as well as the civil engineering education I earned. I decided that I could design a safe yet affordable fireplace to house these gel fuel canisters in our small home.
The first concern was to design a fire-resistant firebox. Done. Sheila and I even picked out the materials already.
Next was the design of the entire fireplace. The only place to install this would be under the television in our living room. This means the fireplace structure must also house shelves for about eight audio-visual components. I already had some visions dancing around in my head so this part of the design was easy.
Next was the style... this is easy was easy to choose but slightly more difficult to design. Balancing all the styles we like was difficult. We have been renovating everything in the house tailored toward a 'cottage-y' feel... with details from various styles such as craftsman, prairie, mission and even traditional american. I would need to come up with something with sturdy wood... thick wood (proportionally speaking)... wood tones with a soft, fine grain... yet incorporating earth-toned tile... a side shelving unit with a shared heavy timber mantle... it should have a cottage-y feeling yet also feel refined.
Next was figuring out proportions and dimensions. I started sketching right away. I think we came up with a nice plan which also includes Frank Lloyd Wright-ish/prairie-ish stained wall paneling on the wall behind the fireplace. I still have some editing to do, primarily in respect to proportion, but it is coming along nicely.
It will be an interesting project. I'll certainly provide photos of the project as we progress through the next few weeks. Wish us luck!
Fitting even a small fireplace in a small home can be almost impossible though. Fireplaces take up valuable real estate in any home. Actually, fireplaces often become a major feature in any room and can even be monumental in size. Even small fireplaces sometimes just can't fit into small homes... or can they?
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| Preliminary sketch... |
Direct vent fireplaces can save room and can be located virtually anywhere within a room. Great idea but, unfortunately, unaffordable for us.
A traditional wood fireplace is both too large and too expensive. Then again, some old wooden yachts have small wood fireplaces/furnaces in each stateroom... maybe I could incorporate one of those designs into our home? Hmmm... wall space is needed as well as a chimney or flue. Turns out this idea was just as expensive as either of the previously mentioned fireplaces. Those little antique fireplaces are exceptionally expensive!
I've had an electric stove type of thing with an artificial fire in the past... that adds some emotional warmth but it is not really what we are envisioning when we discuss the ideas of having a "fireplace". It is sort of 'cheap' and in some ways tacky.
Gel fuel fireplaces... hmmm... this might work. There are dancing flames... that provides emotional warmth. There is no need for a vent or flue... this allows design flexibility and for much lower costs than traditional methods. Each of the gel fuel canisters puts out up to 3000 BTU's... that adds physical warmth to supplement our oil forced-air heating. These canisters crackle as they burn... nice emotional warmth. All very good points!
The down side of this idea is that even though this type of fireplace would not require a flue or chimney, it is still fire. It is actually an open flame. Safety is a concern. Now years of home building come into play as well as the civil engineering education I earned. I decided that I could design a safe yet affordable fireplace to house these gel fuel canisters in our small home.
 |
| Another version of the plans... still not done... but getting there... |
Next was the design of the entire fireplace. The only place to install this would be under the television in our living room. This means the fireplace structure must also house shelves for about eight audio-visual components. I already had some visions dancing around in my head so this part of the design was easy.
Next was the style... this is easy was easy to choose but slightly more difficult to design. Balancing all the styles we like was difficult. We have been renovating everything in the house tailored toward a 'cottage-y' feel... with details from various styles such as craftsman, prairie, mission and even traditional american. I would need to come up with something with sturdy wood... thick wood (proportionally speaking)... wood tones with a soft, fine grain... yet incorporating earth-toned tile... a side shelving unit with a shared heavy timber mantle... it should have a cottage-y feeling yet also feel refined.
Next was figuring out proportions and dimensions. I started sketching right away. I think we came up with a nice plan which also includes Frank Lloyd Wright-ish/prairie-ish stained wall paneling on the wall behind the fireplace. I still have some editing to do, primarily in respect to proportion, but it is coming along nicely.
It will be an interesting project. I'll certainly provide photos of the project as we progress through the next few weeks. Wish us luck!
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