What to do with this fireplace to modernise it?

What to do with this fireplace to modernise it?

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UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Photo below, please forgive the frankly cringe worthy 'love'.......the Mrs is a bit of a hippy, what can I say!

The fire is gas and works just fine, but the whole thing looks very dated and oddly positioned.
We'd both quite like to keep the use of a fire, but it all needs modernising.
I'd quite like something (at least in the way it looks) like this: https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/fol100331/kat...

I have no idea how you go about doing this though; anyone know of companies who come round and give a quote for this sort of thing? Most of the things I have found all seem to be electric with fake flame effects etc.
Given that I already have gas plumbed in here, I'd like to make use of that if that's still a thing? Or are all modern options electric?

Any other ideas from people as to how to improve this area whilst keeping the ability to have a fire?


Ace-T

7,688 posts

254 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Is that on a flat wall? If yes, you may have the flue going straight out the wall. If thats the case, it is probably a balanced flue fire which may limit your options somewhat.

Are you wanting to take the whole surround out or only want to do a cheap update?

Pics of the room may help with suggestions too? Are you wanting to modernise the whole room?

More info dammit! hehe

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Ace-T said:
Is that on a flat wall? If yes, you may have the flue going straight out the wall. If thats the case, it is probably a balanced flue fire which may limit your options somewhat.

Are you wanting to take the whole surround out or only want to do a cheap update?

Pics of the room may help with suggestions too? Are you wanting to modernise the whole room?

More info dammit! hehe
The wall is an internal wall, have a look at the floor plan below, it's the chunky black block in the reception room

We're currently about to start renovating the whole house pretty much, so this is part of a bigger 'plan'.

Don't know if that helps? smile


matt666

445 posts

203 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Best thing to do is visit a fireplace store, there will be one near you and they can normally do the full installation service including plastering etc.

Have a close look at the fires, the one you’ve linked has a wood surround, which probably means mdf. They don’t look right in my opinion. Natural stone is best, but they come with a price tag. An in between option would be Micromarble which is like crushed up stone mixed with a resin. It doesn’t look as good as limestone but much better than mdf, and it’s cheaper than stone.

Next is fire type. Electric ones can look naff, but you have the option of flame effect with no heat, and remote control. Gas looks nicer but you have to check what flue type as mentioned above. You can get remote control gas fires but the only ones I found were very expensive.

I went with a Bespoke fireplace, it was the most realistic flame effect and they can alter it to any dimension, choice of stone finish etc. https://www.bespokefireplace.co.uk/fireplaces

No need for a flue obviously but I installed it on a false chimney breast with recessed leds down the side.


anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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The fire fitting itself doesn’t look too dated to me. I’d be tempted to paint the brick, remove the brown wood trim and replace with some nicely finished oak.

Ace-T

7,688 posts

254 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Thats a confused layout! Has it been extended?

One must assume the chunky wall hides a flue, if thats the case and you are renovating, its fill yer boots time, you should be able to rip that out and stick a new modern gas fire in like the one you linked to.

We ripped an old fireplace out that had a back boiler in it. A local company has a showroom so we went in, had a chat, they came out, told us what we were dealing with and gave us a very reasonable quote to do the work. They were tidy, polite and we will use them again.

Beaten to it by Matt hehe

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
matt666 said:
Best thing to do is visit a fireplace store, there will be one near you and they can normally do the full installation service including plastering etc.

Have a close look at the fires, the one you’ve linked has a wood surround, which probably means mdf. They don’t look right in my opinion. Natural stone is best, but they come with a price tag. An in between option would be Micromarble which is like crushed up stone mixed with a resin. It doesn’t look as good as limestone but much better than mdf, and it’s cheaper than stone.

Next is fire type. Electric ones can look naff, but you have the option of flame effect with no heat, and remote control. Gas looks nicer but you have to check what flue type as mentioned above. You can get remote control gas fires but the only ones I found were very expensive.

I went with a Bespoke fireplace, it was the most realistic flame effect and they can alter it to any dimension, choice of stone finish etc. https://www.bespokefireplace.co.uk/fireplaces

No need for a flue obviously but I installed it on a false chimney breast with recessed leds down the side.
Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

That link you sent has some very cool looking bits, I'll have a good look through.

Really dumb question, but the flame effect ones give out heat, right? Or are they simply aesthetic and not for warmth?

My mum has a remote control gas one, same shape/size as mine but much more modern looking, with glass front etc.....but like you say, it was very expensive. I think she said something in the £4k region for the whole thing with the marble hearth etc.....no way I want to chuck that much at the fireplace when we have so much else to spend money on at the moment.

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
ThatGuyWhoDoesStuff said:
The fire fitting itself doesn’t look too dated to me. I’d be tempted to paint the brick, remove the brown wood trim and replace with some nicely finished oak.
Interesting point.....that could be a good plan actually.

Only issue is that the fireplace doesn't sit centrally in the wall section, which hurts my brain a little (see pic)




UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Ace-T said:
Thats a confused layout! Has it been extended?

One must assume the chunky wall hides a flue, if thats the case and you are renovating, its fill yer boots time, you should be able to rip that out and stick a new modern gas fire in like the one you linked to.

We ripped an old fireplace out that had a back boiler in it. A local company has a showroom so we went in, had a chat, they came out, told us what we were dealing with and gave us a very reasonable quote to do the work. They were tidy, polite and we will use them again.

Beaten to it by Matt hehe
The old couple we bought it off I think bought it off plan in the 60s, and as far as I know it has been untouched since then!
See pic below, sadly they were at the stage of life of hospital bed in the living room etc:



From looking outside it does seem there is a chimney that must be where the fire feeds into.....

Ace-T

7,688 posts

254 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
The change of ceiling heights are a bit strange too.

I would think about what you want to do with the kitchen dining room and living room before you consider the fireplace.

Personally I would make the kitchen and dining into one big room, steal a bit of space from the living room and close off the living room to make it into its own room. Then look at the fireplace and layout in that room to make it super cosy.

roadsmash

2,622 posts

69 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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It’s all a matter of opinion. You need to look on the internet and social media and get some inspiration.

For example, I think that “LOVE” sign is hideous, others may not. So you/your other half probably won’t want to hear my opinion on what you should do.

You need to figure out how you want to modernise it yourself.

matt666

445 posts

203 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
You could keep the fire and just get a new surround. That’s a common fire, I’ve had one in a previous house and I’ve seen them a few times. You could try and find out the make and see what options there are for a ready made surround. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get it to fit in an off the shelf surround. You’d just have to knock the bricks out and make good

BritishBlitz87

655 posts

47 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Before you go too mad with modernising, always remember that today's dated is tomorrow's period feature...

That fireplace looks lovely to me! Though I agree with you on the enormous "love" motif wink

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Ace-T said:
The change of ceiling heights are a bit strange too.

I would think about what you want to do with the kitchen dining room and living room before you consider the fireplace.

Personally I would make the kitchen and dining into one big room, steal a bit of space from the living room and close off the living room to make it into its own room. Then look at the fireplace and layout in that room to make it super cosy.
I think the photo is deceptive, the ceilings are pretty standard, roughly 2400mm height apart from the two beams running across.

We've got a very good idea of what we're doing with the other end of the room, we've got a couple of walls to knock down, the kitchen will be larger than it is now, with bifold doors out to the garden with a breakfast bar/sofa area by the doors. I've spent a while doing the design for the kitchen and we're heading to Leeds tomorrow to the showroom to choose the finishes/colours we're going to want.

The fire place is just one of the last bits we need to decide on as everything else we have a clear plan on so far I think.

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
roadsmash said:
It’s all a matter of opinion. You need to look on the internet and social media and get some inspiration.

For example, I think that “LOVE” sign is hideous, others may not. So you/your other half probably won’t want to hear my opinion on what you should do.

You need to figure out how you want to modernise it yourself.
LOL I agree, can't stand the LOVE sign. To be fair I think she's just stuck it there for now as part of the whole "let's just unpack all the boxes then see where things go". I hope it ends up on the top of a wardrobe in a spare room, if not the bin.

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
matt666 said:
You could keep the fire and just get a new surround. That’s a common fire, I’ve had one in a previous house and I’ve seen them a few times. You could try and find out the make and see what options there are for a ready made surround. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get it to fit in an off the shelf surround. You’d just have to knock the bricks out and make good
Thanks mate, I think looking into a new surround will be our first port of call, as it sounds like the cheaper/simpler option.

I can't help but think a 'widescreen' fire would look pretty cool there though, if you know what I mean.

UTH

Original Poster:

8,865 posts

177 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
BritishBlitz87 said:
Before you go too mad with modernising, always remember that today's dated is tomorrow's period feature...

That fireplace looks lovely to me! Though I agree with you on the enormous "love" motif wink
I did think about blurring out the sign before posting the picture, but that would probably have created more questions

Hindsight: Should have got off my lazy ass and just moved it then put it back! haha

Mark V GTD

2,194 posts

123 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
UTH said:
I have no idea how you go about doing this though; anyone know of companies who come round and give a quote for this sort of thing? Most of the things I have found all seem to be electric with fake flame effects etc.
Given that I already have gas plumbed in here, I'd like to make use of that if that's still a thing? Or are all modern options electric?
What you are looking for is generally called a 'living flame' effect fire. They are gas powered and some will provide a significant amount of heat whereas other models are largely visual - But they all feature an actual gas powered flame. Take a look here for a broad spectrum of ideas. Perhaps one of the wide slot types would work - in any case lots of ideas here:

https://www.direct-fireplaces.com/gas-fires.html

loskie

5,145 posts

119 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
I would get a fake woodburning stove, one that runs on mains gas
Change the mantlepiece for an oak look one and consign "LOVE" to the garage or better still charity shop

talksthetorque

10,815 posts

134 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
loskie said:
I would get a fake woodburning stove, one that runs on mains gas
Change the mantlepiece for an oak look one and consign "LOVE" to the garage or better still charity shop
If your a cyclist change the order to "velo" and stick it in the garage.

For the fire you need to work out what's behind the fire, BUT for a quicl makeover just paint all that hideous Brick white or something,