With the wonderful choices in electric fireplaces out on the market now, a world of ability has opened up to us to add a fireplace to any room.
Now we can create a cozy room, highlighted with the focal point of a fireplace, all the while being able to have an additional heat source. To add a fireplace to any room, there’s no need to build any sort of chimney or drill through the wall for exhaust… in fact, all you need is an outlet.
Here’s what we did in the condo I showed you a few weeks ago… (you can see all the posts about this condo renovation here)
Just a quick rundown of that condo project… it is a 1980’s small condo that we renovated into a ‘Modern Swedish Farmhouse’ style.
This is the living room space during the de-construction:
The wall dividing the kitchen from the dining area, that flows into the living room area was removed, opening it up to one great room.
There is a large sliding patio door on the far end of the space. However, an important feature that was missing in this space is an axis to that strong visual line from the kitchen to the sliding door.
By creating an axis in the living room area with an addition of a fireplace, it allows the space to be balanced and visually defines it.
The first thing we did was to determine how much space would be the living room space. That way we could center the fireplace on that space… hence the ‘axis’.
Then we went fireplace shopping…
Well I went fireplace shopping, online… and forwarded the choices to them. Knowing that they were going for a more streamlined modern look, I was thrilled to find this great choice.
These are pictures from the listing:
This electric fireplace is visually very appealing, but also is a solid heat source for the space, it even has a thermostat.
Once we had the fireplace determined, although at that point we could have just hung it on the wall, plugged it in and called it good to go, I really wanted to create a very strong visual axis in the living space, and the carpenter was already there doing everything else, so I had him build a faux fireplace chase:
This was the first chase he built, but it had a mistake…
In keeping with the clean steamline ‘Modern Swedish Farmhouse’ I didn’t want any kind of a hearth that jutted out. I had designed it to be a solid flat plane with an inset only for the fireplace unit to hang. There was a wee bit of communication confusion from me, (the designer) to the carpenter and the homeowner to the carpenter. Of course the homeowner always has the final say… that’s clear to understand. They’re the ones that will live with it day in and day out, so they’re the ones that must like it… plus whoever signs their name on the bottom of the check is the one that has full veto power. (as a designer, I understand and respect this fact completely!) This wasn’t a case like that, this was just a matter of the homeowner not having a clear understanding of the vision, but was very open and in full agreement to the original design of the flat plane chase once I explained it again.
All that being said, it was fairly easy for the carpenter to fix the jutting hearth mistake and create the flat plane front of the original design:
The entire faux chase was then covered with the same wonderful whitewashed planks that were installed in the hallway and on the kitchen island. Repeating an element like that gives the space a sense of congruity and flows from space to space.
This is the inset panel for the fireplace to mount to.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to have the fireplace in hand before one builds a chase for it to fit in. I just don’t trust the specs that are listed on the website, not only could they be wrong, there could also be a problem with stock, backorders etc. and you wind up never actually get the fireplace you thought you were going to get. (the old adage ‘a bird in the hand verses two in the bush‘ is solid advise for making custom designed items like this)
I’ve had orders never come to fruition and had to re-order so many times for different jobs… I never trust for sure I’m getting something, until I have actually received it. Don’t build this until you have it in hand!
Here is the fireplace mounted:
There is a special backlighting feature of this fireplace, so we built the inset a little larger to showcase that subtle lighting.
This chase is flanked with built in bookshelves on each side.
The living room space now has a strong axis creating a floor plan that visually seems to push the walls out and gives a sense of balance to the living room space.
By adding a fireplace to this space gave us the features we were looking for. The wonderful options that are out there for us in the world of electric fireplaces is fantastic… giving us tons of choices to easily add a fireplace to any room… living room, or master bedroom… how about a dining room, with an antique mantel? lovely! So many options!
Thinking you may want to order a fireplace for you space?
HERE you can find a ton of choices for great Electric Fireplaces.
HERE is the link for an electric fireplace that’s a petite size, in a more square shape, if that’s your need.
Finally, HERE is the link for an electric fireplace that’s a beautiful long 50″ size, very similar to the one we put in this condo, only a little larger.
Here are all the posts featuring this condo renovation:
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This post is linked up at: HomeTalk, The Charm of Home, Design, Dining and Diapers, Too Much Time on my Hands, French Country Cottage, Between Naps on the Porch, Skip to my Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick
