If you’ve been around Our Fifth House since last summer than you might remember that last year we made one of our big house dreams come true when we had our deck turned into a screened porch. Last summer was long and rainy, so the project ended up taking a lot longer to complete. For that reason I never had the chance to wrap things up and give you a full screened porch reveal. I showed you the dining area and gave you a few sneak peeks on instagram, but the weather turned cold before I had a chance to finish some of the little details. Thankfully it’s been warm enough to get back outside, so I’ve been busy readying our screened porch to finally reveal it here on the ol’ blog.
Today I’m going to show you the fireplace area. On the other side of this brick bump out is the fireplace in our living room. We had initially talked about blowing through the brick in order to make this fireplace double sided. Sounds cool right? Well, after talking with 4 different contractors we decided against the double sided fireplace idea. Every one of them basically said that to do what we wanted to do would probably end up opening a can of worms and it would be a really expensive can of worms at that, so instead my hub and I decided to create the look without the worms or the high price.
We ordered a real flame gel fireplace. It’s actually made for indoors; but this outdoor room is completely covered, and so the fireplace is protected from the elements. You can’t burn wood in it, but you get the look of a real fire using clean-burning gel fuel which comes in easy to store cans. It provides mess free warmth and is environmentally friendly – win win. It’s not as warm as a real fire, but you get some warmth as well as the firelight ambiance. We’ve used it a ton and are really happy with our decision.
The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the large gap between the television and the top of the mantel. It felt like this fireplace was too small for the space. So when my dad visited last fall I asked him if he’d build me a base to raise this fireplace up and create a place to sit around the fire.
He whipped out that little bench in no time, and it was the perfect solution!
I had fun last week finally decorating our outdoor fireplace. That’s always the best part isn’t it?!
I kept it simple.
I filled the fireplace with candles as I doubt we’ll be needing the gel fuel until late September. It’s been in the 70’s and 80’s lately!
My horse candles are right at home here.
This fireplace really adds so much to this space and gives it more of an outdoor room feel. This whole space just feel like an extension of our home, and we’ve been spending so much time out here lately.
My hub thinks we need a bigger television out here. What is it with men and tv’s?! I’m not going to lie, I love having a tv out here, but I think the current size is just fine. He thinks this size will work until Father’s Day – ha!
I’m still pinching myself every time I walk out onto our screened porch! I love it so much – I may even sleep out here this summer -ha!
oh i am in love! it's beautiful!!!!! and the styling- so you and so gorgeous!