My favorite features of my new apartment are the vaulted ceilings, huge amounts of natural light, and as I've mentioned previously, the fireplace. Now that I've gotten my house into pretty much fuctional order and the fireplace is no longer surrounded with boxes, cords, and general fire hazards I'd love to start using it (once the temperature is no longer 70 degrees outside, that is...). My big decision now - do I go with messy but authentic wood or do I cheap it out with fake, but easy, gel canisters?
The midwest girl in me screams for a "real" fire with wood. It's what I grew up with and what I love about a fireplace - the huge flames, the scent of wood, and the crackling sounds. But realistically, how often would I use it if forced to haul wood up to my 2nd story apartment and then deal with the mess/smoke/splinters? Plus there's the time and effort of tending the fire once you start it. I found a somewhat natural looking "fake"
option online that got decent reviews and I'm definitely tempted to try it. The canisters are less of a loose cannon than wood (i.e. easire to control), there's no mess, no tending. I'd just get to enjoy it. But it wouldn't be real...
What do you think? Should I "sell out" and actually use my fireplace with the gel version or hold out for the day I eventually get my butt in gear to buy wood and do it the "real" way and only let it get minimal useage???
(images from
here,
here,
here, and
here)
I don't know how I missed this post when you first wrote it, but I would go with fake, for sure. You'll get almost the same effect with much less effort.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response! I was still hemming and hawing over this, that helps!
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