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Unused Fireplace Updates

We have a fireplace. It’s my favorite part of our entire apartment, I think: I mean…a fireplace! In New York!

Of course, you can’t actually light a fire in it. But still.

If you have a fireplace in your home, you’re not using it at the moment, regardless of whether or not it ordinarily functions. So what to do with that pretty, pretty space?

Some ideas:

- Use it to display artwork (we have a wooden Balinese headboard sitting in ours) or floral arrangements (place flowers in vases of different heights)

- Fill it with potted plants

- Transform it into a bookshelf (left)

- Fill it with decorative logs

- Add mosaic tiles to the space, or paint it to create a blank canvas

- Cover the interior with copper panels (you can buy stick-on ones at Home Depot) and fill the space with candles

- Fill it with a ball of light

- Change it up with the seasons (flowers in the spring, pumpkins in the fall, artificial logs and pinecones in the winter, seashells in the summer)

- If the interior is irreparably ugly, consider filling it and adding a coat of paint or some wallpaper to the front panel (it will still serve as a pretty frame for items placed in front of it)

- Use it as a frame for your TV

- Place an antique mirror (or several mirrors) inside to open up your room

Top image via; lower image via.

More image inspiration here.



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  • http://www.laviejaime.com Jaime @ La vie…J’aime

    I love these ideas! esp the books, potted plants, and using it to hold your tv.  happy friday!

  • Anonymous

    happy friday back atcha! i love the books idea too – ours is mostly filled-in, so that wouldn’t work for us, but it’s so pretty (and practical).

  • Jennifer

    Yes! My parents have been keeping the TV in the fireplace for years. It’s a great space saver and frame for the television. I completely forget that it’s even there until new guests point it out. Me, I would be more likely to store books in that sport ala the pic you posted.

  • Anonymous

     Okay, this is wayyyy expensive, but how cool would it be with a small light behind it??

    http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=203360836&c=

    You could probably figure out a way to turn it into a DIY…

  • Megan

     Yes, thank-you! I have been living in my (rented) apartment for a year and a half and still have done nothing with my unpainted brick fireplace… I think books will be the most likely solution :) maybe surrounded by a string of white lights?