Fireplace Styles Revisited

There are so many beautiful fireplaces throughout our world.  It's just hard sometimes to decide on the exact one you want.  Walking through a home with a client of mine, she saw two fireplaces she would absolutely love to have in her own home.  The ones she chose weren't cost effective at all, but there was a way!

The first one she saw was a beautiful stone fireplace in the living room overlooking the backyard.  The waterfall in the backyard complimented the fireplace.  In fact, the huge bay window and glass sliding doors seemed to invite a unity between the living room and the backyard.  So, the landscaping and the home décor went very well together.

She wanted that look.  But, hers was not the million dollar house we were touring at the time.  I looked at her with a look like something had just dawned on me.  And that is the way ideas are created.

"What if you could have that look in your living room?"

She had confidence in my abilities.  But, the look on her face was priceless.  How was I going to be able to give her a million dollar setting on her budget?  It was an idea still in the making, but it could happen.

We looked at her living room, which also met with her backyard through her own sliding doors.  Then, I made a layout of the furniture and where the fireplace would go.  I made a few calls and came up with the stone that we would be using for the fireplace.  But, she didn't need as much stone.  The key to that?  We were creating a mockup of the original fireplace.

There would be a fireplace, but it wouldn't be an expensive fireplace with the need of a chimney and a hearth.  It would be a ventless gel fireplace placed within a stone shell.  The fireplace shell would only go to as high as the ceiling.  I finished it off with a wood frame at the ceiling and we placed the ventless gel fireplace in it.

I had ordered enough stone to make her a small waterfall outside in her backyard and she was happy.  She had her fireplace.  It wasn't as huge as the one in the million dollar home where we originally got our idea.  But, it fit her home.  And it fit it quite nicely.  It has literally spawned ideas for other clients who wish to have elaborate fireplace ideas, but lack the resources.

You remembered that I mentioned two fireplaces.  The other one is a story of itself.  I'm more than willing to share that one with you as well.  But if you want a fireplace that you think is going to be way beyond your budget, look into purchasing the inexpensive ventless gel fireplace that fits the model.  Then, build yourself a mockup so that it has the same ambiance, but not the same dollar sign.

Keywords, targets, tags:  fireplace, million, dollar, home, waterfall, remodeling, mock, ventless, gel, improvement, expert