A Warmth Like No Other
By Amelia Bell on
Ah, joy! A cosy sofa, snuggly blanket, hot chocolate and soft lighting from the crackling embers of an open fire – welcome to my happy place! I’m a sucker for a winter’s eve; I need no encouragement to get my favourite PJs on, my latest page-turner out and hunker down in front of our open fire for an hour or two of restorative calm, occasionally throwing on another log to prolong my own personal bliss. It’s luxury, it’s romance and it’s heavenly.
This is a new found bliss for me as it’s the first home I’ve had that has an open fire. We had to restore it but there was never any doubt we wanted to get it back to full working order.
It had none of the fireside accessories we needed such as the delightfully named companion set, scuttle or fire screen. I knew I would need buy these items as new because they have to do a job and it's not an easy task; damaged, eroded or cracked fireside equipment wasn’t going to effectively help me stoke the fire and I knew that we had a wide range of styles right here at B&G to suit my home interior. I hadn’t banked, though, on the feeling of history and romanticism they would introduce to my living room.
My very traditionally styled open fire was crying out for traditional accessories but I wanted to push the boundaries a little and see if I could find something suitable with a contemporary twist. I chose the 30cm Hanging 3 Piece companion set, it’s such a clever idea; I hadn’t seen a hanging set before and with its antique pewter colouring it felt modern and fresh. It’s a gorgeous vintage style finish with heart detailing on the handles that give me some real Jacobian vibes as well as complementing my tiled fire surround perfectly.
I would always suggest looking at your current fireplace style to try to complement the tools to it, bringing the whole thing together as one. For those with a darker fire surround, you may be drawn to the 41cm Duchess Companion Set in a matte black finish, it's ideal for those with limited space as it's a smaller set or if you’re looking for something in silver to create a real feature then our Stag's Head Hand Turned Companion Set in a contemporary polished nickel finish could be just the ticket!
Your coal scuttle and log bucket don’t have to match your companion set and can often have more visual impact if they are a stand-out piece on your hearth.
As it's a piece you'll likely use often throughout the colder months, you want it to be comfortable to carry and our selection of holders have a variety of different handles and finger holes so the practicalities of carrying heavy items is covered, no matter your preference; it’s just the styling you have to choose.
If you’ve got your heart set on a matching collection, take a look at the three piece sets containing logs, kindling and matchstick holders, they also come with forty extra long matches to get you started! The sets are available in black, copper, antique pewter and antique brass.
For my own fireplace, I chose the antique pewter finish to compliment my companion set, but I could just have easily picked the black version - it came down to an eeny-meeny-miny-mo moment!
An open fire is an engineering masterclass and the tools we use alongside it haven’t really changed for centuries - the icing on the fireside cake for me has to be the fire screen. When I think of traditional fires I picture pairs of Victorian ladies reading or sewing by the fire in the evening, with a magnificent screen stopping the hot embers jumping out and ruining their finery. It’s all very Little Women with a touch of Dickens and a scene I want to get fully involved in.
Because of this, I’m a fan of an ornate fireguard so I chose the Clearview Manor, adorned with decorative swirls and a close-knit metal mesh to stop rogue sparks escaping... I went full Dickensian glamour with zero regrets!
A fireplace really is the heart of the home so it’s worth investing time into finding the right pieces that not only compliment your hearth but add your personality and flair to it too.
A simple hearth tidy set can help add a hint of style whilst being a functional tool, the Prestwyck Place is one of our most popular sets... and it's not hard to see why, it's simple, a classic and fits in with most styles! As with all our fireside brushes, please only use the brushes on cool ash to avoid melting the brush hairs!
With somewhere like Brown and Ginger there is such a great variety of fireside accessories that you know you are getting a combination that’s almost totally unique to you and your home.
The year's shortest day may have slipped by fairly unnoticed, but with a fleeting flurry of snow in the air there's never a better time to upgrade your fireside and bring a warmth like no other to your home.
