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Original poster

Should I keep this fireplace?

15 replies

agnesrose86 · 04/03/2015 16:25

We bought our house a year ago and finally getting round to decorating our bedroom. It has this fire place in it (see pic). Please help me to decide what to do with it? I.e do you think it could be made to look nice or shall I just board it up and plaster the wall? Help!

Should I keep this fireplace?
OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 04/03/2015 16:27

It's lovely!

How about do nothing apart from some thick candles in it for romantic trysts?

You could always repaint the White with a chalk paint (not the cast iron as its lovely)

LaurieFairyCake · 04/03/2015 16:28

Is it useable by any chance?

It would be so romantic with a tiny log fire in it.

wowfudge · 04/03/2015 16:34

It's quite big for a bedroom fireplace. Is the whole surround painted cast iron? You could strip all the painted off and polish it up, or paint the whole thing one, uniform colour. It depends where it is in the room, whether it is in the way of what you want to do and so on.

If you decide to strip the paint, have it tested for lead first. Chemical strippers are better than heat strippers if there is lead in the paint you are removing.

I once stripped the paint from a small, but ornate cast iron fireplace. It had been painted about 10 different colours over the years. Looked fab when it was back to the metal.

Original poster
agnesrose86 · 04/03/2015 16:40

So when you stripped all the paint off was it black cast iron underneath? I'm sure the whole inner bit is meant to be black but there are so many layers of paint I can't even tell if it's wood or iron.

In terms of its location in the room, it is at the bottom of our bed so not in the way but I have to look at it all the time!

My dh is very keen on getting it working as a fire again, I am not so sure because of the distance from the end of our bed (fire risk) and would definitely need to do some work on the chimney.

OP posts:
Original poster
agnesrose86 · 04/03/2015 16:43

And what would you do with the hearth??

OP posts:
RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 04/03/2015 18:17

We had an original hob grate a bit like that in the master bedroom of our last (Georgian) house, although the original surround was missing so we replaced it with a later (Victorian) wooden surround we found at a salvage yard and painted a period off-white.

Ours hadn't been painted so we left it as it was. Like yours it was on the wall facing the bed and had a stone hearth which I admit was a bit of a tripping hazard but under no circumstances would I have removed the fireplace as it was such a great feature.

We never considered using it as a working fireplace as the room below had a huge woodburner (16kw!) that heated our room too.....and I'd be reluctant to have an open fire if it was very close to my bed.....

wowfudge · 04/03/2015 19:05

Yes - I stripped the paint down to the metal as it would have been originally. It was dark grey. I can't really see the hearth in your photo, but it had been removed in our old bedroom.

You should be able to tell what the surround is made of by tapping it. Given that the motif doesn't look quite the same on the surround, the surround could we'll be a more modern addition and wooden. The inner part will be metal or it wouldn't have been safe.

Madcats · 04/03/2015 20:24

Georgian house owner here (late 1700s). I have very similar fireplaces in my bedrooms. We don't use them (I used to pop a basket of dried flowers in the guest room fireplace...DD has a toy display in hers!)

The painted shelf bits will be cast iron, but the diagonal vertical bits will be either brick/stone.

My house was an artisan house, so the surround is stone, with the thin pine trim and mantel. I can't really tell, but your surround looks a bit too pseudo-Adams.

We can barely sneeze without getting permission from Listed Buildings. Are you sure your house isn't listed?

Somebody would pay good money to get hold of that fireplace, though.

ShebaRabbit · 05/03/2015 10:17

That's a beautiful fireplace, I'd strip it back with nitromors and then paint the flower reliefs gold.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 05/03/2015 11:04

Oh - that's fabulous. Please don't rip it out. You can put a balloon thingy up the chimney to block draughts. I suspect that the whole thing used to be black. You can get metal paint in tons of colours now though and paint it anything from hot pink to a tasteful Farrow & Ball sparrows fart or whatever the latest mouse breath equivalent is Grin

Don't rip it out though !!!

bilbodog · 05/03/2015 14:17

don't rip it out, it is lovely. As suggested above, either paint the whole thing in whatever colour you like or strip and have it black.

PrimalLass · 05/03/2015 22:17

We had a very large cast iron fireplace professionally 'dipped and stripped'. They also collected from and returned it to a 3rd floor flat. It was so worth it.

Devora · 05/03/2015 23:41

I like it as it is! Please don't cover it up or strip it out.

Beaverfeaver2 · 06/03/2015 07:51

Georgian Hob Grates are worth £££'s.

There are a few for sale on Lassco if you want to check.

I have a large original hob grate in my front room which we use. DH wanted to rip it out and put a log burner in, but when I realised how old and original it was I couldn't let it go.

ChristmasName · 06/03/2015 08:04

It's lovely. Get a magnet to see which bits are cast iron.

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