Fireplace placement

[Chiliprepper]

Hello!

Looking for some opinions on this. DH and I have recently bought a teeny Victorian flat. When we viewed it we saw that there was a fireplace that had been (badly) blocked up in the living room and assumed that once we moved in we would spend a bit of money, open it up and have a lovely fire, no problem.

The previous owners had their couch over the botched fireplace cover-up and we assume this was to hide the dodgy plaster work and moved it to the other side of the living room (the only other wall long enough for a sofa). However after having been there for a wee while now I've noticed that from that side of the room you can see directly into the flat opposite’s kitchen and only a sliver of sky.

So basically my dilemma is, do we have the sofa in from of the blocked up chimney breast, so we can have a view of the Sky instead of a brick wall and not be overlooked and have no fireplace/a fake mantle on an internal wall. Or do we go for opening up the real fireplace and assume the curtains will be shut most evenings anyway…

I appreciate this is a bit of a non-problem but I can’t decide which would be there better way to go, WWYD?

[lalalonglegs]

I'd keep the sofa where you have put it and open up the fireplace - chances are that you will mostly be in the flat in the evening anyway if you work. Put some armchairs nearer the window so that you can enjoy the natural light at weekends.

[Chiliprepper]

Thanks for the reply. That is sort of my preference too but I worry it will be too dark. There is a window seat so I suppose we could put some proper cushions/padding and catch the light there at the weekends, something to think about!

I have been googling/pinteresting fake fireplaces like mad hoping to have the best of both but haven't found one yet that looks appealing...

[lalalonglegs]

You don't need a fake fireplace - assuming the flat is in a period building, you can pick up the genuine cast iron article for the period of house on ebay for not very much (just search "fireplace Victorian" or whatever). You will need to open up the chimney breast first to see how bit a hole there is in order that you get a fireplace that will fit it easily.