Fireplace screens are available for less than $100 or more than $400. They serve a decorative and practical function. A fireplace screen can protect you from popping embers as the wood burns, and it can provide a lovely accent to your hearth, coming in many styles and types.
A very popular style is theVictoriann fireplace screen. You can find these on eBay as well as various vendors across the internet.
While some homeowners will choose a standard metal screen, others will go with a solid glass fireplace screen for more complete protection. One drawback to this is the amount of heat it holds back from filling the room, although if your fireplace doesn’t produce heat, or not very much, then this wouldn’t be a major concern.
When I was growing u, we had a chainmail screen that opened and closed like curtains in front of the fireplace. It was amazing how that screen would reduce the heat being produced simply by being closed. On a cold winter night, I loved to open it wide and sit close to the fire, caressing my skin. Several decades later, these screens are much more decorative and not nearly as dirty as that chainmail screen got. My hands were often blackened from opening it.
Custom Fireplace Mantels
Perhaps you already own a fireplace but would like to add a fireplace mantle to it? Or maybe this is a complete project you had in mind, including the fireplace and its mantel. Regardless, a fireplace mantel is an excellent addition to your living area. And, there are many choices to choose from as well. Wood or stone? A shelf or an entire surrounding wall?
Putting in a fireplace mantel in your home will add a nice touch to your fireplace. It will also give you considerable room to display your treasures. A mantel can be a great place for pictures, a sculpture, or even just knick-knacks. Or, for another effect, it can be left empty.
Then there are the choices in fireplace mantels that you have. The first one is a wood fireplace mantel. A wood fireplace mantle would look great in a room that already had some wood items. Perhaps a knotted pine wall or the molding in the room will be a tool to find a matching fireplace mantel. The surrounding area in the room where you will place your fireplace should give you some idea of what you would like it to look like. Another option is stone. A stone fireplace mantel is very nice if the surrounding area matches it in some way. Adding touches of the element, whether stone or wood, throughout the room will help to make it mesh.
A fireplace mantel is an excellent addition to a home. It adds style and design as well as a place to store precious items that you wish to show off. A fireplace mantel that matches the room in some way is perfect. Finding the right one may prove to be a little more difficult, but it shouldn’t be harder than checking out a few home improvement stores or catalogs. A fireplace mantel is something to consider if you have a fireplace or plan to install one.
If one were to visualize a fireplace without a mantel, the image would be a very dull one. Without a mantel, fireplaces would seem like a big, dark hole in the wall where warmth is emanated when necessary.
Now think about a mantel that came with the house when you purchased it. Perhaps it suited the former homeowner’s decorating style, but you prefer something more eclectic — something that tells your guests more about you, your personality, and style.
This can only be achieved if you have your fireplace mantle custom-made.
In this situation, you get to “call the shots” as it were, and decide everything from size and material use, all built to your specifications. When measuring, you must include the inner and outer portions of the firebox to the hearth surrounding the mantel shelf, as well as the faceplate.
Remember, if something goes awry when construction begins, it would be because of some minor measuring detail you left out. If you don’t trust yourself to do a good job of it, hire a contractor to do it for you.
Custom mantels don’t come cheap. But at the end of the day, you will be content knowing that your mantel is one-of-a-kind, uniquely made for you.
