By the fireplace

It's another cold day here in Port Orange. I do enjoy these cold fronts. And yes, a cold front for us here usually doesn't reach below 30-something. I don't know what they'd call it if it got below that here. People would probably be at a loss for words. We get to use our fireplace on cold nights like we've had recently. We had some leftover wood from last winter and used that up a few weeks ago, so I had to go searching for some wood last week. I was at Target doing some shopping and tried to get wood there - nope. Lowes was next - nope, just little chopped up wood for outdoor fireplaces. I guess we could have used that but it was $10 for a little bag. No thanks. Then it was on to Walmart and just when I thought I'd have to go chop down our own tree, Walmart came through with a $6.00 box of wood. That wood, paired with the starters also from Walmart didn't produce as nice of a fire as the wood from last year. The Walmart wood was split, which I thought was suppsed to burn better. Oh well, at least it looks pretty all stacked up. Here Rufus and I enjoy the fire while DH takes our pic.

We'd like to replace the brass fireplace door and frame with something black. I can't seem to find replacements anyplace in town, they just say we have to order it. Same goes with the replacement mesh curtain - can't find it anywhere, and don't even know how to order it. I did find the original brochure for the fireplace doors. They came from Sears but I still couldn't find anything for wood burning fireplaces on their website.

I did just find a website that offers replacement mesh screens up in Pennsylvania. They range from $51-$70, so that may be the way to go. Although, a new glass door replacement is around $300 and includes the mesh screen. Maybe we can just paint ours with a fireproof black paint?http://www.fireplacedoorsonline.com/acatalog/Black_Replacement_Spark_Screens.html

And we love Norm and This Old House - here's tips on installing or replacing masonary fireplace doors http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/overview/0,,1154375,00.html

This is the closest pic that looks like our corner brick fireplace with the mantle (ours is a dark brown stained wood) and this is what ours would look like with the black frame.Eventually I'd like to change the brick to ledge stone or similar style.

And while I'm talking about ledge stone - I've also been thinking about changing the columns out front to a ledge stone base style as shown below. We may screen in that whole area, and if we do that, the columns would be hidden in with the screen. Just looking at options... From the newer houses, it looks like ledge stone is the new brick. I bet if we wait about 5-10 years, brick will become the new ledge stone. That's why I enjoy traditional, timeless decor.