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Hello Friends! Happy Monday!

By now you’ve seen my living room a number of times and although I’ve mentioned the fireplace, I just realized I’ve never gone into much detail about it!  Today, I’m going way back to give you a little background on how we made our choice and how we modified things to make it work for us!

So, when it came to building the whole media wall, I knew I wanted it to be a divider between the living room and dining area/office.  For this reason, we built open bookshelves and used glass as our supports.  Another way I wanted to keep the space feeling airy is by opting for a see-through fireplace.  I also loved that this meant we could enjoy the ambiance of a flame whether we were sharing a romantic meal in the dining room or cuddling up to watch a movie on the couch!

The one problem with this whole thought was that getting gas to the center of our space or building a chimney for a real wood burning option was pretty much out of the question.  That left us with two more possibilities. We could opt for an electric fireplace or choose one that burns gel fuel.

Being that I don’t really like the look of electric fireplaces (I wanted a real flame!!!), we chose to go with a gel-burning, freestanding option we found on overstock, similar to this…

As you can see by the picture, the fireplace was free standing, so you could basically set it anywhere in your home.  A portable fireplace.  Not a bad idea, but we wanted a more permanent looking piece.  So, we decided to build a surround to enclose the piece and make it look more substantial.

Once the surround was complete, it was up to me to figure out how I wanted to finish out the look of the fireplace.  I went through a number of ideas: mirrored, tile, concrete, ect, but after thinking through all the elements surrounding the piece, I decided to go with a gold paint.  I used BM Molten Metallics Gold because I wanted a rich and textured finish. (You can find BM Molten Metallics paint at your local Spectrum Paint!)

I am a fan of the contrast between the faceted white mantle, the gold surround, and the black fireplace.

This winter we used the fireplace a number of times. I absolutely love the ambiance it provides.  After having a gel burning fireplace in my own home, I can confidently say I think they are a great option for any space…….and Dolly agrees! 😉

‘Til Friday!