Tuesday, October 24, 2006

someday

Kim from One Woman's Cottage Life had a great post the other day about all the small and simple things she loves about her house that make it home to her. I must say, Kim, that the picture of your fireplace had me thinking about mine.

This is mine. It used to be functional, but the woman who we bought our house from had it sealed at some point. We had a chimney guy come out last year to take a look at it and figure out what needs to be done to make it work again. Basically, it's possible but it will require $$$ (of course!) We would need to have a new gas line put in to replace the old one, have new chimney caps put on that are for gas-burning fireplaces (this is too bad, considering I actually had the chimney caps replaced about 6 months prior with apparently the wrong kind of caps.) Then we'd need to have the tiles around the fireplace replaced. When it's warm out we don't think about this project at all. But then it starts getting cool and the mind wanders. I think how nice it would be to have a little fire burning there....how much it would help to keep us warm in the winter...how we'd love it.

7 comments:

bethy said...

what a bummer. i wonder why they closed it up? the previous owners here put in a gas log set and it is NOT warm at all and makes a tweety electrical sound. we talk about pulling that out and going real wood again, but then i remember the mess my husband would make dragging the logs into our first house. but the crackles and pops and the warmth can't be beat, especially at christmas.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! I just found it this morning. While looking through your postings I noticed the floor lamp in your living room. I MUST know where it came from. Is this one of the things your mother's friend painted? Also I wanted to say that up until 5 years ago I lived in a little cape cod home that looks very much like your home. I will always miss that home.

Kim @ Twice Remembered said...

Meg, I love that fireplace mantle and screen...so "cottage"! I understand about the fireplace frustrations. We're going on our 4th fall/winter in this house and this is the first year we're actually using the fireplace in earnest due to past gas insert troubles. We *finally* got the insert replaced last year only to have a part on it go out nearly immediately...we just gave up and didn't replace it until a couple of weeks ago, lol.

How do you feel about burning wood? I wish at times that we could burn wood because I love the smell, but I realize it is a lot more work and mess. But maybe for the time being, when you were able to unseal the chimney and replace the caps, wood could be a stepping stone until the gas lines are replaced down the road.

If not that, maybe a pretty fireplace candleabra or a tray with lots of candles of various heights. You could put mirror panel in your fireplace at the back so that the candlelight is doubled. I love the look:) It won't heat a room, lol, but it would add some nice ambience.

Wow, I've written a book! Hope you have a great day!

Meg said...

Oh, what very nice comments to read. Thank you!

I'm not sure if I'm remembering this correctly, but I'm almost positive that our chimney guy said it's either gas or nothing when it comes to what we've got to work with. I do have a candleabra... great suggestion, Kim. I can certainly look into getting the artificial logs that are in there taken out and put that in instead. I'm also curious about the idea of the electic heater...thank you, Jo.

Gardengirl, I'm glad you found my blog! It sounds as though it is reminding you of the home you loved so much. My lamp is from MacKenzie-Childs, and deserves a post of its own so I can explain how I acquired it.

jillskict said...

Ohhh excited to hear about the lamp! I love the screen too! I need to find a screen for my fireplace at my new cottage, but I am not sure if one like that would work, but I love it. I have a fieldstone fireplace, but it is gas. We put a gas fireplace in the house that I am working on with the bf that he is flipping and we both just love it! Expensive but worth it I think!

Meg said...

Jilly, my fireplace screen came from eBay. I couldn't find what I wanted in any store...and wouldn't you know eBay had exactly what I wanted! Maybe you will find some luck there, too!

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