Wit + Delight Fireplace Renovation

Kate Arends and her family were thrilled when they moved into their midcentury St. Paul, Minnesota, home in early 2020. There was one activity in particular that Arends envisioned very clearly: The ritual of building, tending to and basking in the glow of a wood-fueled fire. “Originally I thought we would just keep burning wood like in our old house,” she recalls. “We were accustomed to burning [wood-fueled fires] often and used to the upkeep.”

Arends—a self-described wood-burning fire “purist”—looked forward to continuing this tradition in the family’s new living room.

“It’s a space where we spend most of our time,” Arends says of the room, which is centrally located off the kitchen and features a large window looking out into the backyard. “It’s actually the room that sold us on the house when we bought it.”

There was one problem, though, and it was a big one: The fireplace’s chimney did not have a liner. Arends, who is creative director and founder of Wit & Delight, was heartbroken to learn that replacing the liner (the only way to ensure that carbon monoxide and other dangerous combustible chemicals would not infiltrate her home) would be an expense that she and her husband, Joe, had not budgeted for. And with small kids and pets in the house, it was especially important to make sure that the hearth was 100-percent safe before they even considered lighting a fire.

Arends was disheartened, but not deterred, and decided to find a workaround. “I took [the chimney liner being out of budget] as an opportunity to look for a more convenient way to use our fireplace, given that we have two small kids and two dogs running through the area at all hours of the day,” she explains.

Her first step was to contact her local Fireside Hearth & Home retailer to learn about her options for the existing hearth structure. Arends was pleased to finally get some good news: A technician could get her hearth working safely for less than the cost of a new chimney liner. However, in order to do so, she would have to transition her wood-burning fireplace to gas, which does not require a chimney to vent.

She was initially hesitant about switching from wood to gas, partly because of her fondness for the ritual of building and tending to a cozy fire as her family had done in their previous home. Arends also wondered if a new installation—which she envisioned possibly being ultramodern and possibly clashing with the home’s style—would distract from the 1956-built house’s features and carefully curated decor. While she had yet to come to a decision about her fireplace, she was clear on one thing: whatever choice she made, the hearth had to fit in with the living room’s traditional mid-1950s design, including an ornate mantel, herringbone wood floors and a cheerful peach wall color.

First, she researched gas log sets, a hearth solution that consists of several hand-painted, true-to-life cement “logs,” which often are molded from real wood in varying styles. However, this turned out not to be an ideal solution in a Minnesota home. “I wanted a gas log at first because I thought that would look the most natural,” Arends recalls. But, due to the venting required for a gas log set, Arends says she “discovered it wasn’t a great choice for our climate, because essentially you have hot or cold air blowing into your home all year round.

Arends and her husband then turned to plan B: gas fireplace inserts. Designed specifically to revamp dated, drafty fireplaces, an insert fits inside an existing hearth and works almost exactly like a gas fireplace, with an on-demand flame fueled by gas at the touch of a button.

“As we looked at our options for inserts, I was really pleased with how realistic they looked,” Arends says. “We found a size that looked natural and proportional to our existing fireplace.”

Impressed with both the functionality and aesthetics of gas inserts, Arends and her husband discussed the ongoing costs of their hearth. They had several conversations about “being practical about our lifestyle”—a topic that’s especially important in a 5,600-square-foot, 64-year-old Minnesota home where heating bills could become prohibitive in the middle of winter. Arends learned that not only would the gas insert installation be within her family’s budget, work with her existing fireplace and fit her design style, it was also energy-efficient and cost-beneficial. “When we looked at the energy savings [of gas inserts], my mind was made up,” she says.

Once the decision was made, a pro from Fireside Hearth & Home came to the house to take measurements, and within two weeks a sleek new Escape gas fireplace insert had arrived. Installation was quick and easy, with only one minor hiccup along the way that was easily remedied. “Our install did require some demo in our basement to reach the gas line, but the team was creative and quick and got it solved quickly,” says Arends. “All we had to do to prepare was clean out our space.”

Arends also felt safer knowing that professionals were handling the gas hookup and installation, and got added peace of mind as her city required an inspector to sign off on the hookups and ventilation before the final installation of the gas insert could be completed.

Now that her family has had a chance to enjoy their new hearth, Arends also appreciates the peace of mind she gets from gas-specific features that help keep her two young children and pets safe around the fireplace. “I love that the screen doesn’t get hot,” she notes. “We also use the thermostat setting all the time.”

She says her family now uses the hearth “every day, all day.” Unlike a wood-burning fireplace, which would require someone to actively tend to the fire—and may be relegated to “special occasion-only” status for that reason—Arends and her family fire up their gas fireplace insert with the touch of a button each morning and after dinner. “It’s so much easier—and cleaner” than a wood-burning fireplace, she says. “Nothing like pushing one button to have a roaring fire.”

“The kids love to warm up in front of it before getting dressed in the morning,” Arends says, adding that her favorite parts of using the insert are the warm light it gives off and how easy it is to use.

And while the gas fireplace insert is still rather new, the investment is already poised to pay off. Just six months into life in their new home, “We’re already using the fireplace to keep the house warm and our thermostats down,” Arends explains. “We just moved here so it’s hard to know what kind of savings we’re looking at, but I’m optimistic that we can keep the thermostat around 68° or 69° with the fireplace.”

The only thing she wishes that she’d done differently during the process was taking action sooner to find a solution to her liner-less chimney. “I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long to look into it!” she says, noting that her gas insert was “so easy to install.”

Arends adds that while doing your own research is a great starting point, she would advise anyone considering a fireplace upgrade or replacement to make sure to consult a professional and ask plenty of questions. “We spent so much time speculating about cost and how it would look. Get in front of a professional and learn what you can,” she says.

Ultimately, being open-minded and creative—and seeking guidance from a professional—helped Arends and her family find a hearth solution that fit their home, personal style and lifestyle “in every way, honestly,” she says. “It’s beautiful, safe for the kids, we have the roaring fire we want on a daily basis and we’re saving money. It's a win-win-win-win.”