Blog | The Blog at FireplaceMall | Your Fireplace Accessories and Chimney Caps Headquarters

Silver Fireplace Accessories

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Susan — No Comments ↓

Are Chrome or Silver Fireplace Accessories Right for Your Hearth?

The Bling of Silver Fireplace Accessories –

Traditionally wrought from black iron or cast of brass, fireplace accessories were limited to these time-honored metals. But the twenty-first century has welcomed fireplace accessories with more sparkle, bling and dazzle! Shiny, silver fireplace accessories with chrome, brushed steel, satin nickel, stainless steel or pewter finishes are now available to decorators and shoppers seeking modern, reflective fireplace screens and fireplace tools.

Are these shiny, chrome or silver fireplace accessories right for your home? Here are some decorating concepts to consider:

• Look at the other metals in your room. Are your lamps, picture frames, candle sticks, and other metal accessories silver, steel, chrome, or pewter? Do you have furniture with chrome or stainless steel accents? If so, shiny silver fireplace accessories will be perfect for your room.

• Are you aiming for a sleek, uncluttered,contemporary look? Rooms emphasizing a modern style usually use steel, chrome, or pewter accents instead of brass, copper, or wrought iron, so the silver-toned fireplace screens, fireplace tools, fireplace candelabra, and fireplace log holders would compliment these rooms.

• Do you have a formal, traditional room? Are your sil!ver tea set or other silver pieces prominently displayed? Traditionally styled fireplace accessories in brushed silver or nickel will add a luxuriant, dramatic flair and enhance such rooms.

• Does your room need some sparkle? If your room has no reflective surfaces (such as mirrors, shiny glass, or silver or brass accessories), silver fireplace accessories can brighten it up and provide just the light-reflecting property you need.

Sometimes a traditional look is best, but for other rooms, shiny chrome, steel, nickel, pewter, or silver fireplace accessories can be just the updated touch you need.

Posted in Decorating Tagged with: fireplace screen

Decorate Fireplace with Logs

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Susan — No Comments ↓

Log On to Your Fireplace:
When Your Fireplace Logs Are Purely Decorative →

Particularly in warm weather, sometimes decorators and home owners prefer to place firewood logs in a fireplace purely as a just-for-looks decorative arrangement. Here are some simple decorating tricks that answer “how to decorate fireplace with logs”:

• Use birch logs: No other tree has such distinctive bark. The uniquely textured surface and the handsome white and gray tones of birch bark have long been favorites for just-for-looks fireplaces. Set the birch firewood in a fireplace grate or on the shanks of andirons. Arrange them as though you were going to light a fire. Only you will know they are there just as fireplace decorating accessories.

• End of Logs Display: Select pieces of firewood that have been cleanly cut at 90 degree angles. Then fill the fireplace with logs so only the round ends of the logs face out into the room. Carefully align them so the ends all come out to the same place, so the ends create a solid plane. You can select logs all of the same diameter for a very structured appearance or logs of different diameters, as shown here, for a more casual look. Fill the fireplace at least two-thirds full, but many like it completely full. Experiment to see which log arrangement you like it best.

• Split Wood Pyramid: A variation of the display technique described above is to use split firewood and arrange it in a a pyramidal pile with the ends of the split logs facing into the room. This creates a focal point that is both tidy and dramatic!

Or amp it up with color! Use the colors you want to pop in the room.

• Crystal Logs: Selenite, a natural crystal that looks much like glass, comes in log-shaped pieces that add incredible drama to an unused fireplace. These replacements for real logs are sure to be comment-worthy from your guests. Folklore says these crystals clear negative energy from the room. See other alternatives for the selenite, crystal logs.

If you really want to splurge, go with Jeff Benroth’s real glass logs.

Glass like crystal selenite logs

Jeff Benroth’s cast glass logs.

Large Log Container: Large, attractive baskets or bins, tubs or other generously sized container sthat will work well with the room’s style and colors. Fill it with firewood and tuck the firewood-filled container inside the fireplace. Classic copper tubs, buckets, and cauldrons in beautifully hand hammered copper of various sizes and shapes are stunning when used this way.

If none of these ways to decorate fireplace with logs works for your fire-less fireplace, you might want to consider a fireplace candelabra. Available in many different finishes and sizes, fireplace candelabra not only fill that black hole of an empty fireplace, but they also put a bit of fire back into the fireplace each time the candles are lit.

Adala Celtic Knot Fireplace Candelabra comes with candles.

Posted in Decorating Tagged with: fireplace, firewood

CO Alarm Beeping – What to Do

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Monte — No Comments ↓

What to do if the carbon monoxide CO alarm is beeping

What to Do If Your Carbon Monoxide Alarm Goes Off

When the CO Alarm is Beeping, What Then?

→ If one or more person is ill…click here.

If no one is showing symptoms…click here.

Carbon monoxide (CO) can sicken or even kill occupants of homes without CO alarms. The gas cannot be seen or smelled, and the symptoms are ones that can easily be mistaken for a headache, flu, cold, asthma, or general fatigue. In addition, dangerous levels of carbon monoxide can build up before some people are even aware of symptoms.

According to the Center for Disease Control, symptoms of toxic levels of carbon monoxide can include any of the following:

•Headache
•Nausea
•Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
•Fatigue
•Impaired vision
•Dizziness
•Disorientation or confusion
•Impaired coordination
•Unconsciousness

If carbon monoxide CO alarm beeping and no one in the home is feeling ill or showing symptoms, follow these steps:

1. Silence the alarm.

2. Turn off or extinguish all fuel-burning appliances and systems including gas furnaces, grills, vehicles, and wood-burning furnaces or fireplaces or wood stoves. Open doors and windows to air out the house.

3. Relocate infants and children, pregnant women, people with heart or lung problems, and the elderly from the home to a safe location.

4. Open doors and windows to air out the house.

5. Call a qualified technician to inspect your fuel-burning systems and appliances to locate the source of any carbon monoxide buildup.

6. Do not use any of your fuel-burning appliances and systems until you get the “All Clear” signal from the inspecting technician(s).

7. Replace any batteries older than 6 months old in a battery powered carbon monoxide detector.

If you hear more than one carbon monoxide CO alarm beeping, even if no one is feeling ill, follow the directions below.

If carbon monoxide CO alarm beeping and one or more people are experiencing possible symptoms, immediately do the following:

1. Evacuate everyone right away. Do not stop to silence the alarm.

2. Call 9-1-1 or the appropriate emergency number in your area. Give them

your address,
the number of people feeling ill and their symptoms, as well as
the information that your carbon monoxide alarm has sounded.

3. If the emergency medical personnel determine one or more of you should be transported to a hospital for evaluation or treatment, comply even if people are now feeling better. Remember, CO poisoning can impair your judgment, so trust the EMT’s.

4. Do not go back into the house until you get the “All Clear” signal from the fire department.

5. Have your fuel-burning appliances and systems inspected by qualified professionals to determine the source or sources of carbon monoxide.

6. Have the source of the carbon monoxide repaired by a qualified technician.

7. Replace the batteries in your carbon monoxide alarms.

8. If your carbon monoxide alarms are more than six years old, replace them.

Posted in Safety Tagged with: alarms

3 Plus 1 Mantel Decorating Trick

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Susan — No Comments ↓

Decorate Your Fireplace Mantel with the 3 Plus 1 Mantel Decorating Trick

This FireplaceMall post was featured in The Washington Post’s PostPoints, November 18, 2010, in Mastering the Mantelpiece by Megan Buerger.

You’ve found the perfect mirror, painting, quilt, tapestry, or element to center above your fireplace mantel. But how will you decorate the fireplace mantel itself to get that “decorator look”?

One easy trick decorators use over and over again with fireplaces is the 3 Plus 1 Mantel Decorating Trick. Here’s how it works:

For the “Three” part of the 3 Plus 1 Mantel Decorating Trick, select three related, similar objects and place them on one side of your fireplace mantel. The three objects should not be of identical height, but, then again, they shouldn’t vary too much in size.

You might choose three objects to decorate your fireplace mantel that reflect your interests or things you collect. Keep in mind the colors and style of the room the fireplace mantel is in.

For a living room, perhaps three candles or three framed pictures or three decorative plates would be just the thing. In a beach home, it might be three good-sized, lovely seashells or three pieces of coral or three model sailboats. For a den you might try three different beer steins or three pottery pots or three antique clocks. A dining room mantel might contain three decorative teapots or three glass sculptures or a set of three different lanterns.

When you group your three selected object on one side of the fireplace mantel, don’t line them up like soldiers. Think in terms of layering. Experiment with bringing one forward, one visually overlapping another, or tucking one a bit behind another.

Instead of having the three objects face straight into the room, experiment with having them face a bit toward the center of the fireplace mantle.

Don’t cram the three objects all the way to the left or right end of the fireplace mantel. Leave a bit of space after the last object so the end of the fireplace mantel serves as an edging for your grouping.

For the “One” part of the 3 Plus 1 Mantel Decorating Trick, select a large object and place it on the other end of your fireplace mantel. As a rule of thumb, this singular object should be either about twice as tall as the threesome of objects or have the “visual mass” of the three objects. If you go with a tall object, it should not be as tall as the top of your mirror or painting. Again, don’t push the object all the way to the very end of the mantel.

The one large object may have something in common with the three objects on the other end of the fireplace mantel. Maybe it echoes a color or a texture or a shape or a theme found in one or more of the objects at the other end of the mantel.

Here are some ideas if you’re searching for a tall, singular object for decorating your fireplace mantel: a topiary or other plant with a strong vertical line; a tall vase with a few dramatic silk flowers; a big, bold candlestick and wide candle; a dramatic sculpture; a tall clock; a lofty, decorative urn; or a tall object from a personal collection.

The 3 Plus 1 Mantel Decorating Trick works with almost all decorating styles. Experiment and have fun with it, trying different “3 plus 1” mantel arrangements throughout the year, even for seasonal displays.

Posted in Decorating Tagged with: mantel