I am in the middle of a joinery and fireplace project. Seems hard to get my head around given it is so hot right now in Sydney, but in reality it is the perfect time to get it done, so it is well and truly ready for when the cooler months roll around.

There are a few components to this fireplace project and I thought I would break it down into small chunks because it might help you if you every go down this road in your own home.

1. Location: We needed to work out exactly where in the room the fireplace was going to go. Not too difficult in this space. There is one back wall to this open kitching/dining/living space and it has the sofas placed around it. At one end of the room is the kitchen and at the opposite end of the room is the sitting area and the wall the fireplace will be on. It is right for directing heat around the room, it is in view wherever you are in the room and it is perfect for cosying up on the sofa on a winters night or cold and rainy day.

2. Type of Fire: For this project we chose a gas fire – a Jetmaster 5x. So it looks like the real thing but has the convenience of lighting the flame and sending out heat with the press of a button. The truth is that I adore open fires but for most families in the city, in your everyday kitchen and living space you need instant heat at 6am when you get up and start your day. Stoking the fire etc isn’t always practical at that time of the day and it can be freezing while you wait for it to heat up. I think open fires can be saved for sitting rooms or second loungerooms and areas where you can let it heat up and then enjoy (ideally with a red wine in hand).

3. Fireplace finish: In this instance we have decided to go with a painted brick finish and an aged timber mantle. It is not done yet but the finished product should look something like this.

There are loads of gorgeous finishes you can have – traditional timber and tiled, marble fireplace and my personal favourite, sandstone..just to name a few. Here are some pictures you might find inspire an idea for your own home:

Gorgeous marble surround - Image via Pinterest

Lovely mix of modern and traditional - image via Pinterest

Sandstone - love it! Image via Pinterest

4. Stand Alone or Joinery – By this I mean does the fireplace stand on its own as the feature or do you put joinery either side of it. I think either way here you can’t go wrong. You will notice that in all the photos above, the fireplaces are stand alone and they look spectacular. In this project however we are doing joinery to really amp up the cosy feeling in the room and to give this family more storage. We will also include lighting in our project, above the shelving. It looks great with or without but I am keen to include it in this room, I think it will really make a difference. Here is an image (without lighting) that gives a good indication of the joinery we will do…

Absolute favourite - image via McGee and Co

5. To TV or Not TV? – We have chosen no TV for this room. There is another room for watching tv in the home and the theory was that there is more conversation in this room since there has been no TV and
they would like to keep it that way! The truth is that everyone also has their own devices these days (laptop, iPad, phone) and so having multiple TVs in the house is no longer as big of a requirement because people can watch what they want to watch, when they want to, on their own device. If there was going to be a TV though, I would always try and not put it over the fireplace. It is so nice to see art or a mirror or a dressed mantle rather than a huge TV above the fire (my opinion).

So ..the joinery goes in next week and hopefully the cladding of the fireplace in brick will happen in the coming weeks. I will be sure to keep you posted!! To follow along you can also check out @acollectedhome on Instagram. I will post real time updates there.

Geez It's Hot.....Fireplace Project