Does a home need a fireplace?

[suffolkpunch85]

We are moving in the next couple of months and will have to carry out some redecoration of our new home. There is currently a gas fire and mantelpiece which isn't to our taste.

As we never use the fire we have at our current home, would it be terrible if we just got rid of it? It is a 1970s house so hardly a crime against heritage but there is a lot of talk about focal points of rooms etc and I don't want a lack of fire to put off a buyer if we sell said new house in future.

Thoughts please?

[PigeonPie]

We had a dado rail round the entire room and a mantlepiece with no fire in in the sitting room. DH got fed up with it all and took it all off before Christmas. It looks a sight at the moment, but we're going to decorate.

It's made the room much more usable and more flexible with where we put the furniture (only been here 15 years!).

Anyway, the only reason we miss the mantlepiece is that there's no where to put cards but we'll find somewhere else once we've decorated!

[JT05]

We have not had a fire place for 27 years. No problems, we put two sofas facing each other for conversation and focus to the centre of the room. DH longs fondly for coal and soot! So next in house it's a must.

[GingerIvy]

I love having one but we rarely use it.

[WhispersOfWickedness]

Nope, we don't have one and don't miss it. We're vaguely house hunting at the moment and I actually spend half my time thinking 'nice living room, but we'd have to remove the fireplace' when I look at the details We'd never use a fire in a house with central heating, so they just use up valuable wall space imo.

[RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog]

I can't imagine having a living room without a fireplace, but we've never lived in a house that's less than 100 years old and houses of that age look odd without a fireplace as focal point imo. Every house we've owned we have either used the existing fireplace or else fitted a reclaimed one and gone on to use that. Last house we inherited a woodburner in a large inglenook - we weren't keen on the woodburner and would have replaced it with an open fire had we stayed long term - but would never have removed the f/p entirely. A 1970s house is a different story and if you need the space/it will make furniture layout easier, I wouldn't hesitate to remove it.

[EarSlaps]

We had a fireplace with no fire in my last house and it was on my list of things to do to get rid of it. It really restricted how we could lay out the room.

I would consider keeping a gas fire though as long as it wasn't horrible or unsafe. Very useful if the heating breaks or you are all hanging out in one room and just want to hear that room.

[SansaClegane]

We bought our 1980s build with a horrible fake fireplace and electric fire. We ripped it out as we redecorated - I do love a fireplace but it has to be real! Even the mantle in ours was some kind of horrid plastic. This way, we can use the living room much better in terms of where we can place furniture.

That said, I seriously miss having a fireplace and I'm hellbent that our next house will have a nice real one!

[Wuffleflump]

Since I've been living in relatively new houses for years, I haven't had one. Don't miss it. Potentially draughty, limits how you layout the room.

There are other ways to create a focal point if you want one.

[IssyStark]

Even in a 1970s house I'd be reluctant to tear out a real fireplace, but I'd get rid of a gas one without hesitation.

I'm longing for a proper fireplace: our's are blocked up and after a draw test, we'd have to change the chimney etc to get a good draw. unfortunately given we're in a smokeless zone, the cost really isn't worth it. However in my more pessimistic moments I do wonder how we'd cope if there was a power cut as there used to be in my childhood. Even in a house with central heating, a real fire in a boon for those times the boiler is knackered, or your mainly in one room and you don't want to heat the whole of the house.

[HopeClearwater]

I don't think the heating is a problem, you could keep an electric convector heater for the rare times the CH is on the blink, but I really, really miss having a fireplace. Mine is there, but blocked up at the moment, and the plan is to find it again in the future, get a mantelpiece and get cosy again even if the telly has to move.