by Lucynda Rowen

Created on: September 21, 2008   Last Updated: September 25, 2008

Nothing makes a room quiet like a fireplace hearth and it's my personal belief that no home is truly a home unless it has one. I has lost count of the wonderful winters days and night I have spent snuggled up in front of a crackling, wood burning hearth sipping a cup of what ever I had brewing in the crock pot all day while the cold wind howled or the icy rain, snow, or both fell outside the windows. They an also be a life saver if your electricity goes out in the middle of winter and you have no other way to heat your home. When my family lost power for four straight days this past winter when the roads were covered in ice we lived in front of the fireplace in our family room and even learned to cook meals over its warm, crackling flames.

There are all kinds of fireplace hearths for a person to choose from. You have the old fashioned wood burning hearths which are my personal favorite. Although the logs burned in them can create a mess they also crackle and fill a room with the wonderful smell of wood smoke. Then you have gas log hearths that use natural gas, don't crackle, and don't give off a smell but do still put off plenty of heat. The wood stove hearths are the most energy efficient of hearths and although you can have the smell of burning wood and listen to the relaxing crackle they are not the most attractive way to bring fire into your home. They are not the most attractive though.

Hearths have all kind of accessories to dress them up. This includes more than just the standard tools as well.
Hearth rugs are a nice way to dress up a hearth a little bit while protecting your carpet at the same time or a good way to hide burn marks in the carpet if you didn't think to put one down in the first place. Hearth pads do the same thing but there not soft and comfortable to lie on like hearth rugs are and are usually not as decorative either. It's also a good idea to invest in a hearth gate as well. The purpose of the hearth gate is to help protect the carpet and anyone lying in front of the fireplace from sparks that may shoot out. These can also be very decorative. I have seen some that were covered in gorgeous patterns of stained glass.

When you do decide on what kind of hearth you want in your home be sure and purchase a hearth pad or a hearth rug to put in front of it to protect your carpet.

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