Small Bedroom Fireplace Value?

[Kathleenkelly152]

We have a 3 bed Edwardian terrace, all the bedrooms have out of commission fireplaces. They do look lovely but in the smallest bedroom (future child's room) it really cuts into the usable space.

Does anyone have experience or expertise - if we pull this fireplace out (leaving the chimney breast), but leave them in all other rooms, will it affect the value of the house?

Only bought this year and don't plan to sell for some years, just don't want to remove something people will desperately want!

One option is to pull it out but keep the fireplace and advise future potential buyers that we have it should they want to reinstall.

Thoughts?

How much useable space do you need in a nursery?
Keep the fireplaces.

I would keep it.

However, if you do remove it, store it in the loft.

It sounds like you'd recoup 10 cm by ripping out the surround... Is it really worth it?

Keep it unless you are going to do a big job and actually remove the chimney breast (expensive).

Keep it!
When looking at period houses it was one of the features I really looked for!

Keep it - we've just reinstalled fires into the bedrooms in our house as a feature. It really doesn't eat into the space much.

I'm guessing the problem with the fireplace is that it prevents you from putting something in it's place on the same wall?
Removing the fireplace should be a last resort IMO, but it's not going to affect the value of your house. If you opt to remove it, I'd keep it stored should your situation ever change and you'd like to put it back.

I wouldn't remove an old fireplace. I love them and they're a huge selling point for me. You'll only recoup the space if you get rid of the chimney breast which is expensive and messy.

I would say though that if you're planning to stay in the house for a number of years then you need to make it work for you. So if that means removing the fireplace or chimney breast then do it.

If you've got loads of fireplaces elsewhere then I'd remove that one.... we live in 2017 and sometimes you need to adjust a property for your own needs, not for resale.

We had a massive Victorian flat with three fireplaces in place and a few had been removed. The ones that remained were enough to give that charm and the flat sold easily enough.

My daughter wanted a desk and the only spot was on the chimney breast with a fireplace. I got a cheap ply desk top and cut a bite out on the far side to accomodate the fireplace. That worked fine as. Temporary fix.

Yes I should say the problem is not so much that it cuts into the room, but that it stops the wall being usable for things like shelf units or a bed.

We can't remove the chimney breast as it's shared by a fireplace downstairs.

I've been using the room as my studio up until now and have had my desk against the chimney breast which works fine as the mantle sits behind my computer monitor and it's no bother. Actually a handle little shelf in this instance!

Now we need a new room layout and need as much usable space as possible so it can evolve with the child's changing needs for a room over time.

Thinking more and more the way to go is to remove it but keep it for possible future use. We'll still have 4 ornamental fire places in the house and most other original decorative features!