It’s holiday time, and what better to do at night than enjoy a warm, cozy fire with your family and loved ones.  Which then begs my next question – when it comes to fires and fireplaces, do you prefer gas or wood-burning?  Or do you prefer a mix of both, for example wood-burning in the family room and gas in the master bedroom?  These days I see this mix quite a bit in the newly-constructed or newly-renovated homes.

I am a wood-burning fire loyalist.  I love the smell and sounds of a real wood fire.  I also enjoy making a good fire – collecting the wood, crunching the newspaper, lighting the fire and continuing to tend to the fire until it catches. And I don’t mind cleaning the ashes every so often. (When I have the time, I must admit that I truly love the productive feeling I get from cleaning.)

And yet I understand the advantages of gas fires.  You get the look (though maybe not as authentic) and the warmth of a fire without the mess, smell (some people don’t like the fire/ash odor that can linger in a room, furniture, walls, etc.) and work – after all, you just turn a switch, and the fire is on.

So what are your thoughts and which is your preference?  As I mentioned, I just love the wood-burning fires and fireplaces.  But to me, either way you go, fires are just plain fabulous!