A Tale of Three Fireplaces

About 18 months ago I blogged about the lovely Art Nouveau fireplaces that came with my house.  They were pretty but in a sorry state of disrepair with no hearths, missing fronts and totally unusable as fires.

Earlier this year I got the bit between my teeth and decided to tackle them.

I cut carpet back to reveal the original concrete hearths, filling in the cracks with fire cement.

I borrowed a mitre block and made wooden 'fenders' to edge them (and only sawed my finger once, on the very last one!).

I cut a vermiculite firebrick to size and fitted it where there was once only a hole in the dining room one.

I ordered 2 replacement fire fronts, once for the dining room and one for the study, and last week had the chimney swept for the dining room fireplace. Lots of debris and one dead pigeon were removed before finally the brush could come out.

And this is what the once sad fireplaces look like now - in my bedroom just the hearth was needed.

The study got a new fire front and hearth. I am really pleased with this one as it looks so pretty now.

And the dining room got a new fire front, hearth and back.

All the rooms look complete now and the fireplaces are loved again.  I will really enjoy being able to light the dining room one in the winter - although on such a hot day as this it's hard to imagine needing to!

Sunshine and Fireplaces

What a difference a day makes!  All of the Easter weekend it was either cold, raining or both, and then today the sun came out and the sky was blue nearly all day.  I know we needed the rain, and I'm really grateful we had it, but being stuck indoors for all of the holiday weekend didn't help my mood.  I'm at my happiest when I'm in my garden, in fact if I had my time again I think I'd go for a career in horticulture, but today I made up for it and spent most of the day out there.

Amelanchier Blossom

But it wasn't all bad being stuck indoors as I managed to catch up on 3 episodes of Sex and Sensibility (not what it sounds honestly!).  I've always loved Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts Movement and found the 2nd episode about Liberty's, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his very talented wife Margaret MacDonald totally fascinating. 

My house was built in 1905, and I'm fortunate to still have three of the original four fireplaces.  I've always loved them but I'm now looking at them in a different light, my own little bits of Art Nouveau. 

This one's in my dining room and has the original tiles too.  Sadly it's missing the bar thing at the front of the grate.  When I moved in it was painted in cream gloss paint and I was so excited when, several tins of nitromors later, its original glory was revealed!

This one's in my bedroom, and has a repeated, quite simple, stylised flower pattern on.

But this one is my favourite, even though it too is missing the bar thing.  It's really ornate, even the back of the hearth has the same pattern on.

I think I really must investigate getting the first two repaired, but I must find out what the "bar thing" is really called first - google here I come.

(If you didn't see Sex and Sensibility, all 3 episodes are still available on iplayer until 19th April)