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[Mom2Dogs]

@Mominohio   We have a floor to ceiling fieldstone fireplace with a mantle, it takes up about 2/3 of the wall...it's long!

It's a beautiful fireplace but the contractor did not put in any places to hang things.  I decorate for every season and sometimes use a mirror and my only option is to let it rest on the mantle.  I do agree about the TV on the mantle....my neck would be in a world of hurt and I don't want a television to be the focal point of the room.

[Mominohio]

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@Snowpuppy wrote:

@Mominohio , preach, girl!!!

I hate to see photos of decor/non-functioning fireplaces! It's like having a broken appliance being proudly displayed in your living room.

Fireplaces, woodburning or propane inserts are hugely popular up here but they are mostly necessary for a secondary heat source and anyone I know that has one....it actually functions. Like with real wood and all the work!

What happened to hearths? @crazycockermom has a full wall brick fireplace with a  beautiful hearth she decorates.

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@Snowpuppy 

I loved when @crazycockermom would post pics of her fireplace. She was doing such a great job with a couple of things. First her fireplace is so rustic (for lack of a better term) with all that beautiful brick, and she was choosing decor that actually complimented and matched the style. So many people take a super elegant fireplace and yuck it up with primitives or modern things, or they take more rustic ones and try to glam them up. I think that fireplace decor needs to stay in the lane of the size/color/style/manterials used in the fireplace. 

Again. being way to preachy! I just have a thing about it. 

And I agree that a fireplace should function if at all possible (I know there are older homes that need a great deal of work on the fireplace to be safe, and funds aren't there sometimes to make it safe, so you do what you have to). 

We considered having a fireplace built in our home here but the expense just can't be justified for the home's resale value, and once we could afford it, I don't feel we would get our money's worth out of it, for the time we most likely have left here. 

I've considered getting a great old mantel and making a fake, just to scratch the itch a bit, but I haven't done it, and probably won't. I so miss a wood fire. Had them all my life, growing up and as an adult till moving into this house. Sigh.

[Mominohio]

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@Mom2Dogs wrote:

@Mominohio   We have a floor to ceiling fieldstone fireplace with a mantle, it takes up about 2/3 of the wall...it's long!

It's a beautiful fireplace but the contractor did not put in any places to hang things.  I decorate for every season and sometimes use a mirror and my only option is to let it rest on the mantle.  I do agree about the TV on the mantle....my neck would be in a world of hurt and I don't want a television to be the focal point of the room.

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@Mom2Dogs 

I'd love to see your fireplace! I bet it is stunning! 

It took me years to understand that not every fireplace was like what I grew up with (older homes with a standard fireplace, brick with big wood mantels). Over time, I have come to love a variety of fireplaces and especially love how they vary with the style of home or the geographical location. 

Have you ever posted pics here of yours?

[Kachina624]

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@ECBG wrote:

@Oznell 

All of these were a lot of fun!

You could look through basic kinds of antique stores and pick up a mantel to put against your wall!  I would put an antique basket or antique bucket of fern or flowers in the opening.

I just google imaged them!

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@ECBG.  lol.  Looks like a drunk did the brick work.

[Kachina624]

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@DREAMON wrote:

We do have a mantle. I decorate it with more for each Holiday. Off Holiday season I have less and go with a Seasonal look.

I don't care for books on mantles and definitely not books in a fireplace. That looks like you have no where else to put them and stuck them in the fireplace ....and want to burn them.JMO.

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@DREAMON. Books, whether on mantels or tables, make great elevators to give height and importance to lesser objects.  I've got a couple of fat, old leather-bound books with character that I use for this purpose

[Catiele]

I am in the process of changing out my mantle so I thank you for the pictures. I was up late last night trying different arrangements. I finished I think? Or not.

[Kachina624]

I'm sure many of you will be horrified but this is my favorite fireplace.  I can see it with a huge wreath and red bows around the horses' necks at Christmas.  The man pictured carved them.

[Mom2Dogs]

@Mominohio I have not posted photos...it's a bit of a pain since I don't have a smart phone.   Maybe I will at Christmas.

When I first started decorating the mantle, I was overwhelmed thinking I had to decorate the entire length, then one day the light bulb went off and I do just the center now, (it ends up being 1/2 of the mantle). so much easier and really looks better.

[NickNack]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I'm sure many of you will be horrified but this is my favorite fireplace.  I can see it with a huge wreath and red bows around the horses' necks at Christmas.  The man pictured carved them.

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@Kachina624   What a talented man!

[DREAMON]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@DREAMON wrote:

We do have a mantle. I decorate it with more for each Holiday. Off Holiday season I have less and go with a Seasonal look.

I don't care for books on mantles and definitely not books in a fireplace. That looks like you have no where else to put them and stuck them in the fireplace ....and want to burn them.JMO.

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@DREAMON. Books, whether on mantels or tables, make great elevators to give height and importance to lesser objects.  I've got a couple of fat, old leather-bound books with character that I use for this purpose

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@Kachina624 ,

Attractive bound books used as a pedestal/elevator I could live with and probably would really like ...but books on the inside of a fireplace is not something I would ever do.

I do have a few stacks of leather bound books in different areas of my home. I love all of them. 

This may sound crazy but (in my mind) putting the books inside the fireplace is disrespectful ..it would be like placing my parents Wedding picture in the fireplace...it's just the way I feel about it.