I'm finally moving to the West Coast (Long Beach, CA) and I've been searching and searching for apartments that are the perfect combination of everything I love. During my search I've noticed a trend among apartments in LBC — fireplaces!
I've never had an apartment with a fireplace before so it's unfamiliar territory for me. I'm overwhelmed with excitement and the possibilites of actually residing in an apartment with a fireplace. Some have been functioning fireplaces while others are now strictly decorative — but that doesn't necessarily mean anything to me. I absolutely love the charm and character they bring to a space.
I could hang our tv above the mantel — which would also save money because I could forego an entertainment center. I could also hang a large mirror or a single piece of artwork or even a cluster of smaller pieces of artwork — I certainly own enough!
If the fireplace isn't functional there are so many options on what to put inside. I really love the look of stacks of wood filling the opening because it provides a rustic element in the polished environment.
How did you style your fireplace?
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woo hoo, long beach! i live here, and love it -- so many great little bungalows, arts & craft style homes, and spanish architecture. welcome to the city!
Very beautiful. On a side note, storing wood in your fireplace is a great way to introduce termites to your home. It may look cool but it's not.
I was really sad that the fireplace in our 1920s rental is strictly decorative (no chimney anymore), but I found a candelabra at Goodwill and pillar candles on sale--$10 later and I'm pretty happy (and termite-free).
What about advice for people who have 8 of them? :-/ My only non-fireplaced rooms are one bathroom and the laundry. They are beautiful but big wallspace-suckers in my small rooms.
I'm about to turn my unused fireplace into a container garden. I've seen some examples of it that are really cute. And it will give me an opportunity to buy cool pots and planters in varying shades of my accent color. Hooray for a good shopping excuse! :)
Many of those were never real fireplaces. They contained old gas heaters which are now illegal.
I would think about something you have collected which has no practical storage place - like colorful throw pillows, for example. As long as the space is clean, You could use it. Another idea would be (if you are handy with arts and crafts) to make a cheerful and fun display of a fake fire. You can style it to match either your decor or the period of the architecture. (I'd probably make the flames extend beyond the fireplace a little, but that suits my own sense of humor.)
Enjoy!
We're (the west coast) is happy to have you!
I've never had an apt with a built in fireplace, so I've made two different ones over the years myself. One was a giant one like in many of the photos and another that was a corner unit about 8' high. I burn candles in them and use the (current) corner one as my meditation corner. I live in a studio, so every inch does double duty.
Hope you find a space you love to call home!
Fireplace, schmireplace - filled the house with smoke and sucked all the warm air up the chimney. Last year we put in a Vermont Castings Montpelier fireplace insert with a big glass door -- beautiful energy-efficient supplemental heating. Can't wait for fall!
An yes, storing wood inside is an invitation for termites. Keep it in a woodrack a little away from the house. Only bring in what you're ready to burn.
Technically, ours works. We just need to replace the gas logs. We used a drywall compound treatment we found on AT. You can read about it in this post (about halfway down).
http://thenestinggame.com/2011/08/26/nest-tour-family-room/
I'm going to submit a real "HELP ME" later with a picture, but what do you do if your fireplace has some ugly-ass vents cut into the stone?
Beautiful fireplaces are amazing, but unfortunately a lot of the apartment fireplaces I've seen while looking at new rentals were anything but. A lot of buildings around where I live were remodeled in the 70s or 80s, and the owners were clearly just looking for a cheap way to update the fireplace, so they wound up with a powerful combination of cheap and outdated.
For our ugly fireplace, I think I am going to get a cute basket (similarly styled to old-time hot air balloon baskets) and put our extra blankets and cushions in there.