AIBU - fireplace

[nokidshere]

We are redoing our living room. There is a very ugly fireplace that we don't use and I am considering removing. We have been here for quite a long time and never use it as the radiator is plenty of warmth.

However, everyone (and dh) says that I should leave the fireplace as a focal point (will replace it if we do) and that the room will look strange without it. Removing it will give me lots more scope for arranging furniture.

So keep or move? Would you prefer to buy a house with a plain square room or one with a fireplace?

[Katenka]

We bought a new build and asked them not to put a fire or fire place in.

No one even notices. May be different in an older house. But if you don't use it I don't see the point in having it.

[Witchend]

We don't have one, and actually I do agree. The room does miss a focal point. We don't have TV either though.
It does mean we have more options for arranging furniture though.

[Fatmomma99]

We don't have one either (60's build) and it means the telly goes conveniently opposite the sofa.

It's a problem at midnight on 24/12 every year, though.

[Sometimesithinkimbonkers]

We don't have one, we have underfloor heating throughout .... I don't miss the messy fire but I do miss direct heat warming my arse on a radiator.

[ProcrastinatorGeneral]

I'd love to rip ours out. Tiny house and it's a pointless waste of a wall. Council property though, so I'm not allowed :(

[gleam]

Your ugly fireplace is someone else's period feature.

I wouldn't buy a house without a proper fireplace.

[Sighing]

Rip it out! They are rarely used in modern houses and are just something that needs cleaning with no pay off!
Focal points are easy to create.

[AnnieOnnieMouse]

how about rearranging the furniture for a while, pretending the fireplace isn't there, just to see how it feels, then decide. What would be the focal point of the room, if you removed it?

[nokidshere]

gleam its definitely not a period feature

[Dawndonnaagain]

I will never live in a house without either a working fireplace/gas fire/burner. I lived through the seventies and everybody turned up at hours (woodturner) every time the power went off.
I always have a camping stove, a supply of gas, and a source of heat, again, neighbours know that during power cuts they can get a cup of tea/mug of soup here.

[Dawndonnaagain]

That should read woodburner, but as always Autocorrect thinks it knows best!

[JasperDamerel]

The people before us ripped out the fireplace, and it's been driving me crazy ever since we moved in. I am looking for hotels now to get a new one put in, because until until I've done that, I can't paint the walls or lay the floor.

[nokidshere]

I too remember the power cuts of the 70's but that wouldn't be enough to make me keep an unused gas fire lol

[Roobix04]

We've just redecorated and don't have a fireplace. All people have said is how nice the room looks.
Procrastinator we asked the council to remove the fireplace in the last place we lived and they did. I don't think they like people using them anymore and it's one less thing for them to service.

[Chasingsquirrels]

I had mine removed, I had lived here for 10 years and never once used it. It's about 6 years since I removed it, and I've never wished I had it back.

[ProcrastinatorGeneral]

They've capped it off for me Roobix but they have said in not permitted to remove it unless I am prepared to pay for one to be reinstalled when I leave the property. Utter knobrashes they are

[GruntledOne]

If it were reasonably money no object, I'd keep the fireplace and either have a fire in it or a woodburning stove. But then I love real fires.

[Roobix04]

That's sucks Procrastinator

[HaplessHousewife]

I do think in the right room, a nice fireplace makes a lovely feature but we moved into house where the previous owner had not only removed the fireplaces but the chimney breasts as well and it makes the rooms so much bigger and more versatile.

[SaucyJack]

Is it a gas fire? Why don't you use it?

We've got one, and fugly as it is- I wouldn't be without it. There's nothing like for roasting in front of when it's freezing outside.

I shiver when I go round to see people with CH.

[RhiWrites]

Was going to say YABU but now I've seen it. I ripped one of those out myself. Get rid!

[fleecyjumper]

We moved into a new build without a fireplace and put one in after living in the house for four years. The room looks much cosier with it. We can also just have the fire on in that room rather than heating the whole house all the time.

[NeedACleverNN]

Completely off topic
But nokidshere that pic is the spitting image of my child hood home that my parents still live in

[AnnieOnnieMouse]

I seeeeeeeee!
Have it capped and removed. Store in the loft in case you ever change your mind. Seal off the chimney and either put something in front of it, or something pretty inside it/shelve it out for books.

[AwkwardSquad]

I'm thinking of taking out our ugly old gas fire too. It's hideous, too big for the room and we never use it. But I'm not sure what to do with the hole that it'll leave behind. I've decided against a wood burning stove as it's more than I want to invest in this house. But do I replace with a nicer gas fire or do I have the fireplace reinstated? If the latter, decorative or functional? Too many decisions so it'll probably stay just as it is!