Just because the summer has come does not mean that you cannot use your fireplace to help improve the design of your living or family room. Here are just a couple of ways that you can take an inactive fireplace and make it into a decorative centeripiece in your home.
Use it in conjunction with plants
A fireplace that has a large opening and a sizable shelf above it is a prime candidate for some indoor plant life. By putting flowers or ferns on the shelf you can enjoy some color above the fireplace. This will draw attention away from the empty fireplace and give the plants prominent placement in your room design. You also have the option of putting a larger plant in the opening of the fireplace. This will eliminate the gap in the room left by a cold fireplace.
Find a decorative cover
Just like room dividers, tapestries, and other design pieces that can help to expand a room, a fireplace cover can be a great way to cover up a fireplace that is not in use and needs help to add to the room design. There are numerous options for a fireplace cover. Some of them are purely functional, while others can be just a nice as traditional pieces of art.
Place logs or candles
Just because a fireplace is not in use does not mean that it has to be empty for the entire season. You can fill a cold fireplace with attractive looking logs or candles so that it does not appear to be completely vacant. As an added bonus, by using logs you will already have a full fireplace for the first use of the next season!
There are many other options such as shelving, fireplace doors, and other ways that a fireplace can still look great during the off season. Experiment and find the best options for your design goals. Good luck and thanks for reading!