What to do now?

[angieh]

Hello all - well, we went ahead and bought a woodburning stove, which has just been fitted today. It has to dry out for a couple of days yet.

We are going to have the whole lounge/sitting room redecorated anyway, so thought it was the ideal time to get it installed beforehand.

Now, my question is - do we go for a fire surround and/or a mantelpiece and/or a hearth surround too (the old brass one you can see in my pictures are there to protect the slate hearth edge while it's setting - but I don't necessarily want to keep it). My particular taste tends to be plain and our bungalow is 50's so we really can't go for the traditional or heritage look. Any ideas will be seriously considered!

Here are some pictures:-

By the way we did choose the red paint for the aperture as it echoes a feature wall at the end of our hallway.

We keep telling Merlin that he will love it (and he will!)

[yola]

Nice stove Angie! I would suggest either nothing; keeping a nice clean, modern wall or alternatively a simple chunk of reclaimed wood. The only problem with that is that it should be inset into the top of the space like a lintel for maximum effect. Can you do that prior to redecorating as I think it would look best . . . kind of like a mini-inglenook.

I agree that a proper surround and mantle wouldn't look right.

Here are some reference sites for pictures:
http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_b...el-Stoves.html

This is a nice modern interpretation of what I mean:
http://www.firebellystoves.com/firebelly%20web/FB1.htm

[angieh]

I really like the firebelly picture Yola - that look is very clean and could be just what we're looking for. Thanks for that.