For five years, my husband and I lived in a center-chimney Colonial home in Connecticut, which was built in 1769.  It had three fireplaces, and the one we consistently used in the living room really threw some serious heat on those frigid winter nights in New England.  When we moved to Baltimore and bought a brick rowhouse last year, we were miserable, and missed the fireplace (among other things) like you wouldn’t believe.  Much to our delight and surprise, we found a simple replacement—a gel fuel fireplace, which we purchased online from Amazon.com.

It sounds ridiculous, and to be honest, my husband still chuckles at the thing, but it’s a lovely addition to our living room, and it actually keeps the room and the surrounding area very warm and cozy.  The gel fuel fireplace requires no venting.  It’s not electric, and it’s not gas.  It’s free standing, and it’s easily portable.

For the fire itself, we place 2-3 cans of gel fuel inside of the fireplace, and light it up.  It’s essentially like soup can-sized tins of sterno fuel.  In much the same way sternos emit real flames and keep food warm on a buffet table, the gel fuel can provide a real fire and warmth inside of the fireplace, where it’s safely nestled in a protective case.  The cans of gel fuel sit behind a relatively real-looking stone log, and the designers created the special gel fuel to crackle like a real fire.  Each fire lasts approximately 3- 4 hours.  Trust me—I know it sounds cheesy and down-right funny, but it’s actually pretty sophisticated, and gets the job done in an uncomplicated way.

At the time we bought our fireplace, we searched online for a style of mantle that we felt would complement our living space.  There are lots of varieties.  We decided on a cream colored wood fireplace, with just a simple design.  It arrived on our doorstep just days later.

Not surprisingly, it comes unassembled, but my husband and I had the whole thing together in about an hour, just the same as you would assemble any furniture.  As we need it, we order gel fuel by the case from Amazon and its partners, which also arrives within days on our doorstep.

For us, while it seemed silly at first, it became a fun, no-brainer way for us to have that comfy ambiance of a fireplace.  The best part is that it’s really inexpensive.  Gel fuel fireplaces come in all shapes, sizes, and prices online.  We bought the Patricia model in Antique White, but Amazon offers a huge variety at resonable prices.  We’ve had good luck ordering gel fuel from them as well.  Hands-down, there’s no simpler way to inexpensively have a fireplace in any home, in any room!

In addition to Antique White, the Patricia model we chose is also available in Distressed Black, Mahogany, and, Golden Oak.

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