If there’s one thing I’ve become exceptionally comfortable with over the last few years, it’s adding architectural interest to a home that had absolutely none to begin with. Turning shit to gold, if you will.
As a solution to the 24 ft. Narnia wall in our living room, Angelo and I have decided to separate the LR + DR and create a fireplace flanked by built-ins. Since a fireplace does not currently exist here, we need to build one from scratch.
Here’s the rough plan that I shared via IG:
Now, let me set the mood.
The purpose of fireplaces is to (wait for it) set a mood and in our situation, create an aesthetically pleasing focal point where one did not previously exist.
I mean, I love a good, raging fire in the most non-pyromaniac way. A wood burning fire is my absolute favorite scent of all time.
But fireplaces are no longer meant to be a main source of heat in your home. It’s 2020, chances are you’re not gatherin’ round a fire covered in skinned bear fur to keep you and your family warm.
Today I’m going to be sharing four options for installing a fireplace one in your home where a fireplace does not already exist. These options can also work if you already have a fireplace and it’s non-functioning/you’re looking to add a new insert.
The most drop-dead-gorgeous fireplace via Alice Lane
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?
(Before we dive in, I want to say that the information I’m sharing is just scraping the surface of each option. Please use this post for guidance and do your own research before determining what will work best for you)!
.01 || electric
Electric inserts are the most cost-effective and can actually provide a good amount of heat, but, most electric inserts don’t look like a real fire. To my point above, if a fireplace nowadays is mostly for aesthetics and to set a mood, are electric inserts really going to accomplish that?
Although electric inserts have come a long way, most on the market today look tacky. I’d rather save up for a fireplace that produces real fire and I don’t have to worry about fooling anyone.
Here’s how I look at it…
Angelo and I are going to spend a good amount of time, money, and effort into creating a beautiful living room built-in area with a nice mantel, and then we’re going to add………an electric insert? It’s like being served hot dogs at a black tie wedding.
Dimplex makes inserts that do look pretty realistic, but I’m still not 100% sold on any of them.
And this Dimplex insert does look very convincing (look at the review photos):
.02 || ventless/Vent-free/GEL firebox
Ventless fireplaces don’t require a vent/chimney and are fueled by alcohol gel inserts that actually produce a real fire (although maybe not a raging fire).
There are quite a bit of ventless options on the market, including some *luxury* ones that cost up to $10k.
A nice ventless insert looks something like this:
And then like this once it’s installed:
I believe you can buy a firebox and ventless fireplace insert to use together.
Please do your research on a ventless fireplace because some towns don’t allow them or may have certain code for installing one. They do need to meet federal safety standards before being sold to the public.
A few ventless options:
- Woodland Direct sells a few
- Monessen
- Astria – something like this could be inserted in a compliant firebox
- Hearth Cabinet – I love their options and am currently weighing out pricing for one of these. My concern is that their gel inserts are proprietary, which means if they ever go out of business, I’m screwed. They do have gorgeous ventless fireplaces that you can customize, and their prices are between $3k-$10k, which actually may be cheaper than the cost to install a gas line for a new fireplace. which leads to the next option…
.03 || gas/Direct vent
If you’re starting completely from scratch like we are, this may be the most complicated/costly option over ventless and electric, but you get a *real* fireplace.
Based on research and speaking to a few people who have had a gas line installed to hook up a new fireplace, it costs anywhere between $800-$3,000 (just to hook up the gas line, not including the actual fireplace). The cost mostly depends on where a gas line currently exists in relation to where you want to install one.
My friend Dana (she’s awesome, follow her) hooked up a gas fireplace in her home and has encouraged me to do the same. She also tiled the fireplace herself!
So cozy.
Here are a few gas inserts I’ve been looking at:
Consider how often you plan to use it, how it will affect your gas bill, and if your town/city allows it, do you need a permit to install?
.04 || COMPLETELY FAUX/DECORATIVE
If you really could care less about having a functioning fireplace (but still want something aesthetically pleasing), then this option is for you. What do you want inside the mantel? Aspen logs? Fire balls? Greenery? Art? Books? A mirror? The possibilities are endless.
Josh Young is great at decorating his faux fireplaces:
ONCE YOU’VE DECIDED ON YOUR INSERT…
You can choose your mantel based on the fireplace insert type and size.
I won’t go too much into mantels, but what I will say is that I’m personally leaning towards a cast stone mantle, which is a material like limestone, like this:
With cast stone material, you don’t have to worry about tiling around the firebox – you (sort of) just drop the firebox or whatever insert you choose inside. From my research, it seems less complicated than the wood/tile/fireplace insert combo. And since the cast is non-combustible, it should meet fire code.
If you can find someone to make a cast mantle for you, you can customize color, curves, coves, size, etc. (if you can’t find someone local, I’ve seen some custom stone makers on Etsy)!
On average cast mantels around $2k, which actually may be around the same cost as buying a wood mantle and tile for the surround. IMO, a cast mantle has more perceived value than a wood mantle with tile.
Yes, I’m trying to sell myself and you on a cast mantel, like this one from Lowe’s:
SOME GENERAL FIREPLACE INSERT + MANTLE TIPS/THOUGHTS
- Research your town’s code to see what is/isn’t allowed when it comes to installing ventless or gas fireplaces. I imagine electric inserts are allowed anywhere. You may have a local fireplace expert/store that can answer questions for you.
- Consider the resale value of the fireplace. Installing a gas fireplace over an electric insert would improve the cost of your home.
- I think a fireplace should look intentional, not like it was just stuck onto the wall. If you have the means to bump out the fireplace wall or surround the fireplace with molding or built-ins, it would make all the difference in the world. We’ll probably use this tutorial while we’re building ours.
- When considering an insert, think about your needs and how often you plan on actually using the fireplace. Do you just love a cozy, raging fire? Maybe you live in a colder climate and a fireplace could be a good additional source of heat on cold nights? If so, maybe go for a ventless or gas fireplace. If you only care about how it looks, decorative is your best option.
- When choosing a mantel, make sure it’s at least 10-12″ deep. The deeper it is, the grander it will look, and you have more leeway with decorating. I may do a separate post on mantels alone, depending on how far I spiral out of control with choosing one.
FIREPLACES THAT ARE INSPIRING ME RIGHT NOW…
Also via Alice Lane (they do gorgeous stone fireplaces)
Love those fireballs! Via Sabbe Interior Design
Sarah has a gorgeous cast stone fireplace in her living room!
Have you ever installed a brand new fireplace? Would love to hear about it!
Have a great rest of your weekend!
xo
Alisa
Perfect timing. as winter approaches I have been trying to convince my husbnd that we need some sort of fireplace in our basement but haven’t been able to tell him just what we need. always appreciate the research you do for your blog posts
Thank you for sharing me and my fireplace, lady! I cannot wait to see what you and Angelo do!
Of course Dana!
Perfect timing. I think a faux fireplace would complete my bedroom makeover. After installing picture moulding and chandelier, a fireplace with a gilded mirror above would complete the luxurious look I’m going for.
oh awesome! Would love to see the final look! 🙂
Will your taxes go up if you add a fireplace? You need a permit right? Just wondering. NJ taxes are stupid high.
good question! I have to look into it. We go our taxes re-assessed last year and they didn’t go up that much (but they’re still ridiculously high haha)
If the point of a fireplace is to NOT fool people into thinking it’s something it’s not, then gas or gel logs or inserts are also not fooling anyone.
We can agree to disagree, Susanne! Thanks for reading!
I hadn’t even heard of some of these (ie: ventless/gel) – and I can’t speak to all places, but I think you may face the most restrictions with traditional gas. Obviously, each area may have their own rules/code – so I’d definitely deep dive into your local stuff before you decide. For example, you mentioned the mantel minimum depth at 10-12, but code might say otherwise (or, that you have to go back into the wall more too). Also, you didn’t touch on this too much yet, but there may be a hearth requirement too (I know in our area, you need so much non-combustible hearth – like tiles – in front of the fireplace, and extending the sides). Something to keep in mind (especially if it has to be floating/raised).
As far as costs, I think it would also depend on the area. BUT we priced out a couple of cheap gas fireplaces (we already had the gas lines there and the vents in the wall), and it was like 3-5K each. Those were the cheapy standup ones, not sure the difference between those and the insert/wall versions.
I personally love a gas fireplace though, good luck!
Wow That’s super helpful!!! Thank you Nicole!!
We installed a gas fireplace insert into an existing fireplace – a wood burning one that had been converted to have a wood burning stove. They were able to vent the gas exhaust out the existing chimney and drill a hole for the gas intake, but there was some initial question about it happening. I had a mason remove the existing slate tile (which we couldn’t have saved, regardless) bring down the opening size of the firebrick, and face it with soapstone, then we had a carpenter build a mantle and built ins (with cabinets, like you’ve drawn), and had our electrician wire the tv and a couple of outlets in the built ins. We painted the whole thing to save money. All told it ended up being about $20k, and we didn’t need a permit but did need to get gas run to the house (we didn’t have it previously). Hope that’s helpful!
This is an amazing site with a lot of great content on this topic!
We began shopping around for a style we like and think would suit our living room. Some of these fireplaces look really fantastic! Gives us a lot of extra ideas when we finally choose one we want to install!
Wow these fireplaces look fabulous. It’s great to see that a lot of the styles we install for our customers are also similar to these, good to know that we are still trendy and full of design! We absolutely love seeing homeowners’ faces after we’ve put in a new fireplace with our touch of style to add extra decor.
Properly venting out a fireplace and trying our best to make sure the appliance operates properly really does sound important. If we can do that well, then we can focus on making it as elaborately designed as possible since it won’t have any safety issues. I’ll ask a fireplace expert to help us with this so that we can get the project started right away.
Thanks for also talking about the decorative aspects of installing a new fireplace. I’d like to find a good contractor for that because I’m thinking about having a more classy vibe for my living room. Having a fireplace there would surely be one of the best ways to go about that.