This weekend just flew by, and though I had this weeks Friday Flashback ready, I completely forgot to post it… blame it on the summer and having too much fun with the family. 😉
It’s Sunday night now and the kids are finally sleeping… they are both laying next to each other in bed, it’s soooo cute… Noah has his arm over Abby’s shoulder and she’s actually holding his hand for once. It must have been a good weekend, because as we were out getting some ice cream tonight, Abby looks at me and says “I hahpie Mahmie” – love her!!!
So here’s this weeks Friday Flashback… some things have changed since I wrote this over two years ago, but I still feel the same way about our fireplace.
Fire Stopper
When my husband and I bought our home a few years ago we had a list of things we wanted it to include, but not a list of things it shouldn’t include. If and when we ever upgrade to a larger home, you better believe there will be a list of want nots… and topping that list will be a fireplace.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a nice cozy fire on a cold night… snuggling up next to your loved one with a glass of wine and a blanket (of course in this scenario the kids are not at home, you got a full night of sleep the night before and you were able to shower and shave your legs without being interrupted 100 times by someone under 4 ft tall). It’s especially practical when the fireplace is a gas fireplace complete with fake logs and ashes, like ours is. Though the smell of a wood burning fireplace is nice and romantic, I do love the fact that I don’t have to clean up the mess the next day.
My problem with a fireplace is this… it is usually placed on the “ideal” TV wall. You know the one… the wall where there is no glare from the windows… the one across from the “ideal” sofa wall… just plain and simple, it’s the TV wall. My husband and I have noticed this to be the case not only in our home, but also in many of the model homes we’ve looked at over the past two years.
Sure, if you have a flat panel TV you can go and hang it up above the mantle… you would think that this solves everything, but having it here still poses a few problems. First is that if the TV is above the fireplace, you become very limited in how you can decorate your mantle. I can’t put any vases or flowers up on the mantle… no mirror or oversized clock… our TV is our decoration. That’s great if you’re living in a bachelor pad, but it’s not so nice when you want to make the place feel homey. Secondly… you will always be staring at the TV with your neck tilted upward. Now that may not be a problem for everyone, but believe me when I say that it gets old after a while. Those are just the problems for those with a flat panel TV… there are even more problems for those that still have a tube TV… believe me I know, because we had one… there was no good place to put it with out making the room feel cramped.
Maybe we’re the odd ones, maybe my husband and I are the only ones who are bothered by the placement of the fireplace. I do know that if and when we ever move, we most definitely will not have a fireplace in the family room… because that’s where our TV belongs.