If you happen to’ve adopted alongside for a whilst you’ve seen our bed room hearth get a couple of updates over on Instagram Stories, however at present we’re telling the entire sordid story of how our replace concepts lately veered off-course (and the way we ended up at Plan B when Plan A went bust). Final time you noticed it on the weblog, it regarded a bit one thing like this:
However we should always rewind for a second. It was fairly bleak wanting once we first began Operation Revive The Fire. There was a bunch of dried glue and gunk leftover from some tiles that had as soon as coated the encompass (to not point out a rusty display screen and common grime). However Sherry had that look in her eye that stated “don’t second guess me, that is going to work” and after almost a decade and a half of marriage I’ve discovered to not query this look.
The purpose was to have some gasoline logs put in since we obtained a lot use out of the set in our final front room (solely twist right here is that this chimney isn’t correctly vented, so we’d must do ventless logs right here as a substitute of vented ones). So we obtained on the gasoline firm’s calendar to have a line run to our hearth, and whereas we waited not so patiently, Sherry used a straight razor to take away the outdated glue clumps from the steel encompass.
With the floor wanting so much smoother (albeit nonetheless scratched up), Sherry broke out a can of black high heat paint to not solely make it look higher, but in addition get it prepared to face up to any warmth from the gasoline logs.
It nonetheless wanted some trim across the black steel half for a cleaner look – and we thought we’d add some kind of mantel down the road – however it already regarded so much higher. Plus Sherry added a fern. As one does.
Now you might be considering: “Why do you want a gasoline hearth in Florida?” Sure, Northern FL is heat more often than not, however we nonetheless get a gentle winter that undoubtedly qualifies as hearth climate (in keeping with Google the typical January low right here is 46°). It additionally bears mentioning that my spouse’s most popular physique temperature is “floor of the solar” so when this home got here with a fire in our bed room, she very excitedly made plans to get it functioning once more. And the excellent news was that we may get the entire thing achieved by means of our native gasoline utility firm. They not solely got here out to cite the road, however they even promote the logs themselves on their web site – you simply decide them out and purchase them on-line & they arrive set up them in your service date.
Welp. Then the massive day rolled round and about ten minutes into prepping for the set up, a supervisor confirmed up and stated “Wait, this can be a bed room! These logs are ventless! Ventless logs aren’t to code in a bed room! You possibly can solely do vented logs in right here!”
There have been in all probability fewer precise exclamations in his voice, however these phrases actually hit us with some pressure. At this level I believe Sherry’s face was frozen in horror at this information, and she or he slipped someplace between denial and negotiating: “However the one who quoted this famous it was in a bed room and he jogged my memory 4 instances to order ventless logs, not vented ones. It stated all of this on the work order…”
Sadly, no quantity of debate may change the truth that it was only a easy oversight however undoubtedly not one thing that was gonna fly. The one that got here out simply didn’t know the little element that, out of an abundance of warning, the constructing code in our space doesn’t enable ventless gasoline logs in bedrooms (I suppose they don’t need folks placing them on in a single day whereas they sleep). The gasoline firm was very apologetic and shortly refunded the cash we had already paid for the service name, the ventless logs we purchased on-line, and so on.
To Sherry’s credit score, she took it higher than I anticipated… though, the way in which that she pivoted was a shock even to me. You would possibly assume we’d pivot to getting the hearth correctly vented, however nope – that’s not an interesting answer to us (we’d must put a giant tall chimney proper by means of our higher deck – proper the place our out of doors eating desk is or we’d must vent out the wall… which might put an unattractive field on the entrance wall of our home). So as a substitute she pivoted from gasoline logs to… WAIT FOR IT…
Crystals.
Sure, I stated crystals.
Right here’s how we obtained there. Sherry’s first step was Googling fireplaces stuffed with candles as a result of she figured if we couldn’t have an actual massive flame no less than we may have some actual little ones to take pleasure in (we all know some folks love an electrical insert however there’s nothing like watching an actual flame flicker and glow within the night to us). In some way her search turned up some photos of fancy designer fireplaces with glass logs that kind of seem like big crystals in them. No thought how as a result of they’re not candles, however google is a fickle beast. Being ever the shiny rock aficionado, the image of the glass logs stopped Sherry in her tracks and she or he stated that they instantly reminded her of some smaller sticks of selenite crystal that she owns. And properly… you possibly can see the place that is headed…
Invigorated by the prospect of getting a fire stuffed with crystals, Sherry started the hunt for some big ones which may resemble logs – and figured that incorporating candles someway within the combine would scratch the “small dancing flames among the many crystals” itch that solely Sherry may have. Destiny led her to the Pottery Barn web site, the place they inexplicably had been promoting (on clearance for 50% off!) these giant selenite crystal tealight holders. They’re supposed for use as desk centerpieces, however conveniently in addition they occur to be the approximate measurement of a hearth log.
I used to be basically like “WUT?” at this level, however Sherry made a powerful case that (to my shock) didn’t relaxation completely on “buttttt they’re CRYSTAAALLLLS!!“
Her key factors the place (1) the sale worth meant we may get a bunch of logs and nonetheless spend lower than half of the worth of the gasoline logs we had purchased and returned (not counting set up charges & ongoing gasoline utility payments, which might add as much as way more). And (2) this is able to be a beachy crystalline spin on these birch logs that folks usually stack in an unused hearth. Additionally (3) they’re crystalllllsssssss. So right here we’re:
I’ll hand it to her, the ultimate result’s fairly darn good – as bizarre as it’s to say that about flaming crystals stacked in a fire. Possibly I want to jot down a e-book referred to as Crystals & Candles: The Mixture I By no means Knew I’d Be Into – However My Spouse Was Fairly Sure It Would Be Superior The Entire Time.
It’s a must to watch the video we manufactured from them burning that’s a bit additional down on this publish to get a a lot better visible of what it’s like after they’re lit (they give the impression of being so much much less like thrilling within the nonetheless photos – in all probability as a result of there’s no flickering, which is the mesmerizing half). Is it an an identical substitute for an precise working hearth? No. However because the gasoline firm closed the door on that choice, we’re extraordinarily proud of the place we ended up. We will get that glowy ambiance once we mild the candles, and nonetheless take pleasure in a light-weight & beachy feeling hearth the remainder of the time – even after they’re not lit.
Right here’s a more in-depth shot. They actually do look kind of “glimmery” in individual even after they’re not lit. They usually’re further particular after they’re flickering within the night after the children are in mattress (these are the clean burning beeswax tealights we obtained for them).
I simply realized that the candles + crystals + furry rug = some kind of romance novel scene (possibly it ought to be the quilt of my e-book??). It is best to know that Burger REALLY likes sleeping on that fluffy rug – a lot in order that he couldn’t even keep away whereas we had been taking the photographs for this publish.
As beforehand talked about, right here’s our fast video that exhibits a few of this mission in motion (together with our tragic first try at “filling” the hearth with candles, which is hilariously pathetic). Additionally there’s nothing like seeing the candles flicker within the firebox on video, versus being all static and fundamental within the photos of this publish. Yeah I stated it. These non-moving flame pics are fundamental.
Be aware: If the embedded video above doesn’t load, you can too watch it here on YouTube.
You’ll additionally see within the video that we painted the within of the firebox earlier than including the crystal logs. Sherry tried scrubbing the bricks with baking soda to take away the soot and that’s once we realized these weren’t bricks in any respect – they’re a skinny steel insert on all three sides that appears like brick.
Scrubbing it didn’t get the soot stains out, however we knew the logs would look higher and brighter with a lighter background behind them. Fortunately the fake brick steel panels took paint rather well, so we placed on two coats of Almondine by Sherwin Williams in a satin end on them and in about half-hour they regarded like new.
It’s a light-weight sand colour that ties into the tones in our flooring and the artwork above the hearth. Plus it makes the firebox much less of a “black gap” when the candles aren’t lit. And as soon as we truly add that mantle and/our trim encompass I believe it’ll end issues off properly.
We’re additionally gearing up so as to add built-in cupboards on both aspect of the hearth underneath the home windows (as a result of sure, that tiny white finish desk is approach too small for that spot). Extra particulars to come back… as soon as we determine them out.
P.S. IN LAST WEEK’S POST ABOUT OUR KITCHEN STORAGE WE GOT SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT WHERE THE FOOD IS. The freestanding shelving system to the best of the fridge with 4 further vast drawers is our “pantry” (that data was written within the publish, simply not pictured) and you’ll see Sherry pull it open on video again in this older publish.
P.P.S. You possibly can see our whole Florida home reno proper right here. From our household room/workplace to our children rooms & the kitchen (and our solely toilet), you will get all caught up shortly (there aren’t that many posts as a result of this home doesn’t have that many rooms).
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