Does anyone have a fireplace that they don't use? What do you have in it?

[KristineIN]

Does anyone have a fireplace candelabra? I've seen them at Goodwill before for a pretty decent price. I doubt that we'll burn wood, dh says it's not really efficient and with the mess that it made when we had a woodstove insert in our old house, I really don't have any desire, but it would be nice to have something that looks cozy.
So if you don't burn wood and have a fireplace, do you have anything else in it?

Kristine

[Whisperlily]

I have seen people put plants in the fireplace, if it was exposed to sunlight.

My biggest regret is not using the fireplace we had in our first house. I thought the same things as you and DH. Inefficient, messy, etc.

Thankfully we came around and started using the fireplace in the last 3 places we've lived.

It's wonderful. It makes some beautiful evenings on cold wintry nights, or even soggy cool rainy days. The warmth from the fire is something that you just don't quite get from a heating system. In our current house, it's in such a place that it REALLY did cut our heating bill. Not so much in the last house we lived, but here it really makes a difference.

It's warm and inviting, nostalgic and has made many memories... *sigh*

The kids often talk about the way it feels to have a fire burning. They have many positive memories about family times together, or even just hanging out... and they mention the fire burning in the fireplace as part of the memory.

[Dot]

she thought her fireplace looked "too pretty" to burn wood in it. She did, tho, make it look very attractive by putting an antique mirror in the back, then she sat large candles in front.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Yes! We have a large fire stack that has 2 fireplaces. One is in the kitchen eating area. We have burned in that but not regularly. It is not vented (?) well and does nothing for larger scale heating other than the area right in front of it. The one kiddy corner behind it is in the living room and has not been burned in. I have a metal fireplace pillar holder candleabra in there and love it. One night, the power went out. I lit all the candles in there along with some others to sit in front of them. I curled up on the floor reading and working a crossword and felt so nice a cozy that way. I love mine!

[Carol in Cal.]

red votive candles in little white dishes tucked into the greenery here and there. It's so pretty, whether the candles are lit or not. And if one of them flares up, there's always the chimney!

This year we put an armload of greenery in, and a pile of very large pinecones. That looked great, too.

At Easter time, DD got all inspired and put in fake Easter basket grass in thoroughly unnatural green and utterly fake yellow. Then she put in some open and closed plastic eggs. Frankly, the effect is quite garish, but she likes it so there you go.

We never have a fire in the fireplace at Christmas time because we're paranoid about the real Christmas tree igniting.

In theory we could have fires the rest of the year, but usually by the time that tree comes down, it's not that cold anymore.

[mcconnellboys]

We really don't make fires very often, so I did begin using fireplace candles at Christmas this year. They really make the whole house smell great!

Regena

[Julpost]

We have a fireplace both downstairs in the family room and upstairs in our living room. The downstairs fireplace has a woodstove insert and it makes a huge difference in our oil usage. We've gone from watching the oil gauge move a small amount everyday to not seeing it move in over a week! We also keep the house colder and just heat with the downstairs fireplace when it's really cold. Our upstairs fireplace needs to be cleaned out, we haven't used it in years, it must be around 4-5 years now. I just closed the doors and haven't had a chance to clean it out. It looks pretty bad. I'm glad you reminded me of it....there were some good ideas of decorating ideas I could use when I clean it out.

[angela in ohio]

Our gas fireplace doesn't work, so I made my own sort-of-candelabra. It is two sets of three candlesticks with a wrought iron look to them. They hold those short fat candles - maybe 3 inches wide? I set them in the fireplace with cream-colored candles on them. When all 6 candels are lit, it gives off a warm glow. :001_smile: