Decorative Fireplaces, What to do with them...

There are many people who have purchased a home or are renting an apartment that has a fireplace in it, that once upon a time was working, but is now only there for decorative purposes. But before you get started decorating, you might want to use a fireplace hand brush to clean all the soot off of it from the days when it was once in use. So here are 5 ideas that we have come up with for your decorative fireplace:

1. Tried and True.  Many people have used candles in their decorative fireplaces.  And this is a great idea, and there are many candle racks, or candelabras made for fireplaces.

2.  Make it look real.  Many people will still put firewood in their decorative fireplaces to give it a feeling that it could be used, just be sure to keep people from trying to light it.

3. Storage.  Some people use them as a place to store things if the fireplace is deep enough.  Want to hide the clutter that is hiding in your fireplace, use a decorative fireplace screen.

4. Bookcase.  If the seal is tight enough that no water ever leaks in, you could add some shelves into your nonworking fireplace and create a neat built in bookcase.

5. Potted Plants.  Some people keep a potted fern, or other plant that needs limited sunlight in their decorative fireplace.  This adds a bit of greenery to an otherwise dark space.

Let us know if you try any of these ideas.  We'd love to see some photos, or your blogs about what you did with your decorative fireplace. Also feel free to check out some fireplace myths.