The Real Flame Silverton model! [Can't wait for it to get here, so excited I will have this in place well before Christmas and will have a mantel to decorate and real flames to admire on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!
If you take a look at the three finalist fireplaces in my prior post, you can spot some common themes: (1) all of them have faux pilasters or pillars on either side of the firebox; (2) all are the dark wood finish I love; (3) all of them have a form of "base" that would look good either sitting on a hearth or sitting on flooring or carpeting without a hearth.
The Silverton contains all three features. I liked its base best of all, because it has nice finish details on it. I thought that the style of the Sicilian Harvest model would collect a lot more dust than the Silverton. I liked that both the Silverton and Ashley fireplaces had fireboxes that are raised so one can see the fire better; the Scilian Harvest fireplace had its firebox lower, near the base of the fireplace mantel, and I didn't find that appealing.
I also liked the cleaner, somewhat sleeker lines of Silverton' styling and the cream faux travertine trim around the firebox nicely sets off both the black firebox and the wooden mantel. I thought the other two fireplace finalists looked dark and a little boring in comparison to that "pop" of contrasting color and material used in the Silverton to set off the firebox.
The price difference between the least expensive fireplace and the one I ultimately chose is $128. All things considered, I decided that $128 was not too great a price to pay for a fireplace that I really liked, as opposed to buying the least expensive option and then turning out not to like it so much at all. All of these fireplaces came with free shipping, a great deal as shipping could add $50 to $60 to the cost! Let me add that I also felt positive about buying a product from an American company based in my home state.
And so, after my broken heart because I was not able to buy the beautiful french-styled gel fuel fireplace that I had coveted for my mistress bedroom at the former Maison Newton back in January, that carton of gel fuel I bought and did not return when the fireplace deal fell apart (due to damage to the lone remaining fireplace, the seller did not want to ship it, and I did not want to buy a damaged fireplace, but it was sooooo pretty) will be put to use after all!
BTW, I ended up buying the Silverton model online at amazon.com, for a few dollars less than Wayfair.com was offering the same model. It pays to shop around, though. When I first saw the Sicilian Harvest model at amazon.com a few days ago, it was not priced anywhere near $297 and change. But yesterday, at Wayfair.com, it was! Then, when I checked last night at amazon.com, the price on the Sicilian Harvest model had dropped to match the price offered at Wayfair.com. The lesson remains pertinent -- it pays to shop around.
It's amazing how quickly things in one's life can change. In January, I was contemplating staying at the former Maison Newton through retirement, buying a fireplace, planning remodelling and redos! And now, here I am, 10 months later, in a different home, with entirely new sets of issues to face. Holy Hathor!
