Even more offers for you if you are hunting for a Fireplace bargin this Jan/Feb. So visit your local dealer and ask about all the Gallery Fireplace suite offers in Mirco Marble and Jurastone. The Copeland and The Dacre.

If you are hunting for a Fireplace bargin this Jan/Feb then Gallery have some offerings, so visit your local dealer and ask about the Marseilles, Palladio, Henlow, Lyon and Milano offers.

If you are hunting for a Fireplace bargin this Jan/Feb then Gallery have some offerings, so visit your local dealer and ask about the Fulham offer.

There is no doubt about it, a fireplace will enhance your living room, dining room or bedroom as a focal point. The question is does it add value? Expert New York designers from design 2 share say it does. In fact Irwin & Nicola love the Fireplace and say that putting fireplaces throughout the home aids in the sale of the home, and to ad most value make sure you put in a fireplace that suits the decor and is in a family room.

The January edition of Country Homes & Interiors is on the shelf and packed full of interior inspiration and things to do in January, such as winter walks, family theatre and fantastic new year retreats.  Also included is advice on choosing the style of Fireplace for the home, on page 60 is the Gallery Pembroke with a large solid fuel burning area.

Christmas is made perfect when you are sitting by a real open fire with the family and when your relaxing on your own after the festivities finishing off the mulled wine, but can you tell the difference between gas and real burning coal?

My friends can’t, we enjoyed a relaxing drink by the river yesterday in a kind of romantic old pub with big woodern fireplaces and cast iron tiled inserts with gas fires inside. I popped off to the toilet and four friends (and one husband) started up the conversation of how wonderful a real fire is and a gas fire is simply no comparison and could never look as good as these fires.  I then pointed out the gas pipe at the side!

The Low fireplace suite is chic and contemporary and ideal for modern apartment living when you don’t want the fireplace to dominate the room.  Crafted in stunning Agean Limestone the suite is compact (1160 mm wide by 725mm high) and versatile because it can be fitted with a verity of Gallery Fire baskets and Firebowls from the Capital Fireplaces range. Plus its ideal is you want to put your plasma TV above on the wall.

  Shown above with the Capital Fireboxx.

Shown above with The Gallery Zen Basket.

When buying a Fireplace there are two kinds of customer, one is looking for crisp, precise, consistent colour to compliment specific decor, and, the other (like me) would prefer a piece of history to compliment home.

To me the beauty of natural stone lies within the history that forms it.  Each piece of natural stone is unique to another. Limestone is a sedimentary rock primarily made of the mineral calcite CaC03 (here comes the science bit) which originates from the floor bed of tropical seas and turns into stone by the accumulation of the constituent grains of calcite and marine sealife.  Most limestone is formed with the help of living organisms, when the organisms die their shells and bones settle to the seafloor.  Over millions of years, these sediments of shells, sand and mud harden into limestone - your limestone fireplace is millions of years old and is made up of fossils! how cool it that! 

If you choose to buy a limestone fireplace you do need to be realistic about colour and consistency.  The legs and mantel shelf of your Gallery Fireplaces are colour matched as close as possible and at point of production any legs and mantel shelves with large fossils  (i.e 10 pence size or larger)  are generally rejected, but tiny fossils will be inevitable - to me that is the beauty of natural stone!

Gallery strikes again!

I haven’t actually seen  the film myself yet but some of the Gallery employees have and they give a mixture of reviews about it, some say plenty of great action, some say too much action, but they all say they noticed  a Gallery Arched inset in M’s bathroom (for a brief moment) Last time it was her living room,  now its her bathroom - she’s like a walking advert for Gallery.

This is the Bartello Agean Limestone Mantel with the Radley Cast Iron Insert shown in a highlighted finish (that’s black with polished details).  This Fireplace can be used for Solid Fuel, Gas or Electric so there is an option for everyone and would make for a beautiful Christmas Fireside setting im sure.

The Quantum of Solace IMDb rating is 7.2 out of 10 and to date there are 26,119 votes.

In furnishing any room their is a piece of furniture that should be considered first - the sofa in the living room, the bed in the bedroom, the desk in the office. This piece in most cases should face the focal point of the room. The focal point can be a view window, television, or best of all a beautiful fireplace.  Keith Reading Designs recommends ‘The Large pieces should be evenly distributed so as not to put the room off balance. Leave room around them for the best affect. In selecting these pieces, keep the architectural shapes in the room in mind. To echo a curved bay window with a curved sectional sofa or curved desk is pleasing to the eye.’

Advise from the official bbc home website says:

‘ Make your fireplace your focal point’

v     Consider painting the chimney breast to contrast with the walls and to highlight the feature, or  for a more subtle effect paint the walls and chimney breast with the same colour or tone as the fireplace.

v     Mantleshelf - de-clutter. The mantle is a style focal point not a magnet for keys, loose change and post!

v     Accessorise - if there is an open fire, then a coal scuttle, log basket, tongs and poker may automatically theme a traditional fireside area. If you have an unused hearth or an electric or gas fire and you’re looking for a modern, minimalist look, a collection of large church candles will provide warmth, light and atmosphere. In summer, fresh flowers draw the eye.

v     Artwork/mirrors - to reinforce the fireplace as a focal point, hang your best artwork over the hearth or place a mirror in that spot. Be aware of the safety implications of viewing your reflection close to an open fire!