Design Decisions - The Fireplace

So normally I would think that in this stage of the game I would have weeks, maybe even months, to figure out the finishes. Turns out this is not the case. Sinks and faucets need to be selected now to get the plumbing roughed in. The fireplace and its' location have to be finalized so we can get the chimney pipe out of the house before the roof goes on. The cabinets need to be in the final design phase, with appliances selected, in order to get them installed in a month. All of this lands in my department, which means I have some decisions to make! Luckily it was a snooze of a winter, so much of this has been decided, except for when the almighty budget gets involved.

So let's talk fireplace! There are many synonyms for "contemporary architecture" but some of the critiques would be cold or stark. I have seen some images of the latest trends that look like a jail cell to me. Blah.

Since we like modern architecture, but don't want to feel like any of the above, we decided a fireplace would visually and physically warm things up. We then took the next 6 months to debate gas verses wood heat. I was on Team Gas, for obvious name reasons, but because gas has that push-button comfort, there is no wood involved, and we could get a really sleek, streamline unit that just screams modern. Team Wood, on the other hand, was mentioning things like "source heat", "save money", chants of "No Faux!", and "real fire". All in all it came down to two major deciders for me to cave into Team Wood: the gas units use a fan, which would be noisy in our large room, and to get a streamline gas unit, we would have to loose square footage in our room and drywall out further than anticipated. Thus, I switched teams and it was decided. Wood! (There was also a promise of Tyler being responsible for wood chopping.)

Our criteria for selecting a unit was as follows: legit, budget-worthy, space appropriate, efficient, and passes Washington State regulations (which is good for the environment, but limiting). Most options were out right away due to state laws and budget. We lamented over the Worlds Most Beautiful Object

and then the Fire Orb

But the above criteria eventually lead us to the TULA!

As it appears, this unit is tall and skinny. It doesn't require much floor space, is efficient enough to heat the main floor, and is awfully cute. (right?) It's also allowed in WA state. We are going to offset it on the wall and put up a wood storage box like this, but more simple, blackened steel.

Tyler better start chopping wood!