Fireplace

In all the excitement about the kitchen (see post below!) I failed to show our gorgeous new fireplace which was installed before our party although minus the chimney breast...

It's a double-sided slow-combustion firebox which sits within a wall, heating each room on either side fairly efficiently and with minimal smoke. We bought it from Cheminees in Melbourne and it came all the way up here in a van with two very helpful engineers who explained everything to our builder, made sure it all worked and left. Warren then designed the chimney breast himself, et voila!





















Dearest husband's parents installed themselves around the fire during our party: it was by far the warmest and snuggest place to be!

The base was built up on concrete bricks, beautifully mortared with a grey mud, and then topped with a specially-poured and polished cement block for a 'hearth'.





















The base was left in situ for several days after the party and then the brickwork was built up to the ceiling using the same concrete bricks, but leaving spaces for us to stack firewood. I think that the rounded ends of the logs will be decorative in their own right!

The firebox can be completely opened up, either by pulling the fireglass doors on either side outwards or by raising them into the chimney breast. That is the function of the pulley system visible on the 'naked' firebox in the first photo, but we've been advised not to open the firebox on both sides while a fire is alight in case the through-draught pulls sparks out of the fire and into the room, which seems like sensible advice.
















We have various options in terms of finishing the chimney breast but we've decided to leave it unclad and unrendered. It will be sealed in due course, once I've found an appropriate not-too-toxic sealant, but in the meantime it looks very handsome as it is. Obviously the little bits of wood propping things up while the mortar dries will be removed, and the white vents will be sprayed grey shortly so they will almost disappear.
















This is the view from the TV room through to the main room (which at this stage didn't have any kitchen units!), and you can see the opening for logs under the fireplace on this side. The opening will eventually be closed by a large slab of black-hearted sassafrass (to match the feature wood in the kitchen) on an industrial rolling door mechanism i.e. the mechanism will be visible on the lintel above the door. It will be a huge door: 3m+ tall to cover the space between the ceiling and the lowered floor in this room!





















Looking down the spine of the building towards the bedrooms you get a sense of length and space. The long wall on the right is punctured by the opening into the pantry and the wine fridge doors which open into the cool room. Along the ceiling on that wall is a concealed hanging system for pictures.