When our family moved into our home fifteen years ago, everything was state-of-the-art. In the past five years, we have remodeled extensively and the house looks great. However, our gas fireplace is original to the home and really just doesn’t fit into our updated home. So, we began looking into more modern gas fireplaces to fill the space and functionality of our dinosaur. I thought the hard part was making the decision, and I guess after I reconciled myself to the idea of parting with the money, I thought the perfect fireplace would show up on my doorstep. That didn’t happen.
After three weeks trawling the internet for advice, my husband lost some enthusiasm. Bless his heart, he is a great guy, but the man did not want to accept that fireplaces do not come free for the asking. He said he was considering moving to electric heat as the sole source of warmth for our large family. I listened and nodded, however, I was not about to give up. Because I love the idea of sitting by a fireplace during a cold winter night, I bulked at the idea. Maybe I am being sentimental, but so many of our family memories include playing board games or watching TV huddled around the fireplace. I wanted to continue that tradition. Besides, we would have to deal with the empty space after we removed the original one anyway.
Finally, we got smart and decided to put the whole thing into the hands of a professional. The wonderful designer who helped us re-imagine our home came to the rescue and found an amazing modern gas fireplace that worked perfectly with the rest of the living room. She designed a wall feature that transformed the quirky space left when we hauled away the old fireplace. We absolutely love it. It is the focal point of the house now and the first thing visitors comment on. My husband never came out and gave me credit for it, but I am glad I stuck to my guns, committed to spending some money and got the help we needed to make it happen.
New technology is available all the time and modern gas fireplaces are no exception. I am grateful that we started looking when we did since the old one conked out just before last winter. We had an especially brutal winter, with temperatures often reaching the single digits. It wasn’t a problem for us. Now, my oldest son and his wife are expecting our first grandchild and I am planning to sit by the fire on many an evening rocking my grandbaby to sleep and enjoying our new fireplace.
