A. Peltier Interiors Love the space for wood above the fireplace in the first photo. Just a really cool design idea!

bobbiecohen I have an indoor/outdoor gas fireplace - I only use it at night because you cannot see the flames indoors when it is sunny outside. Unexpected and disappointing!

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Bobbie perhaps you can have a metal sheet made to divide the fireplace unit? Or maybe some kind of screen outside to block the sun light?

Thanks for sharing that information I have never heard a comment like that before - put it makes perfect sense.

JW

bobbiecohen Thanks for your suggestion, JW - I'm now thinking of attaching exterior doors to the fireplace.

mcross I *love* the new gas fireplaces, which replace traditional wood burning (inefficient + polluting) with a cleaner burning, sleeker look.

(The NYT article "The love affair with the fireplace cools" really opened my eyes and prompted me to do more research. Wood smoke is a mixture of toxic gases and particles; I'm just not willing to expose my family and neighbors to smoke, especially as fireplaces are generally good-looking but inefficient heaters.)

Bobbiecohen-good look with the exterior doors. That sounds like it would work.

energised1 stacking wood above the fireplace ! Might be a nice design feature/idea but imagine doing that - very impractical

Samantha Schoech energised: I bet they leave those logs there for design and use wood from a different source (not shown because design photos never include the messy "real-life" stuff) for burning.

Rita Amir Hi, I have a 3 sided fire place between my living and dinning room but it just sits there! I want to open the top and ad a shelf to it but don't know how to find out where the fire places canal locate it, how I can find out what is inside the wall without opening it?

Planika Fire Line Automatic by Planika is open and can be remote-controlled :))). Sweet.

Planika and I'm not sure whether gas fireplace is so safe. I know it is popular thou. I prefer bioethanol fireplace. There is no smoke, no smell and it looks like a traditional flame. It's not blue-ish but standard orange, yellow flame.

vrusczyk I have an outdoor two sided fireplace. The first day we lit a fire, all the smoke blew through from the pool sideinto the outdoor living space! Even the smallest breeze caused a problem. We decided to add glass doors, so now one side can be shut, effectively make it a one sided fireplace that you can see through. We use it all the time now.

deedeelouise We opted for a triple sided FP to open up our living room/ breakfast area. What a nice difference it has made!

COASTROAD Hearth & Patio Thanks for including our work in this great article.

Several houzzers have commented on some of the technical issues associated with fireplaces, including not drawing properly or having difficulty seeing from one side or the other. The other most common complaint is that there isn't a way to control how much heat goes in each direction.

I love multi-sided fireplaces, but they can be difficult to live with if you don't know what you're getting into. As always, I suggest you talk with your local fireplace experts who have dealt with the issues in the past and can help you make good decisions on your project. Fireplace nerds like us love to give out free advice, but hate to deliver bad news when you've already done something impractical.

Jason Perkins Hoping I can get some help - I have a 3 sided fireplace with step shelving above it (3 tiers - see pic). Looking for ideas on sprucing it up and making it a true focal point in the room. Right now it's just drywalled with the same color as the walls. Should I tile the sides and then add wood bottom that would overhang an inch or two? How do you think that would look? Any other ideas? Thanks much.

COASTROAD Hearth & Patio Hi Jason - you'll get better input if you put your project over in the "Design Dilemma" section of the discussions. There are a lot of different things you can do . . . .

thelmalouisemom I also have a double sided fireplace to the outside. My problem,I have a window over the fireplace as well as one either side. I have never known exactly how to decorate the mantle.

mtmslg Sorry, I have always thought these double and triple sided fireplaces to look tacky.

mrsobbs Re: wood stored above fireplace (by by Helgerson Interior Design and commented on by A Peltier Interiors) - It's a nice visual but day-to-day rather impractical for (actual) use given how much bark, dust etc. is visited by firewood in the home. Notice it's split wood up above to maintain the visual (likely remains undisturbed/full for that reason and the mess), but Birch rounds in the f.p. grate? About the best solution I've ever seen is a two sided (indoor/outdoor) full-throw window seat drawer with some depth to it and located 'very' near the fireplace/woodstove. You stock the drawer from outside (where dust is irrelevant) and fetch wood from the drawer directly to fire so no mess per storage zone.
Just sayin'..

celebrategreen I know a lot of people might not like it but we designed a double sided fire place between our living room and master bedroom. It could be closed off with doors from the bedroom side. It's one of the things I really miss since moving from my dream home.

sweetsue13 I have a 3 sided gas fireplace that divides my living room and den, but I don't feel like I get enough heat from it. It has glass on all 3 sides. Someone suggested a fan, but I was wondering if I could just get metal grates? Any ideas would be helpful.

mrsobbs Sweetsue 13: I've experienced that and had a steel hearth fabricated and painted per my design. Placed on the floor in front of heat source and running the width of the adjacent stone it was a great fix. It captured warmth, becoming a welcome place to stand to warm toes, but even after the fire was out it returned heat to the room. My goal was to lend some continuity to a log home's black steel brackets, but the effect can either soften (yes, steel) or mimic the intended style. Best to you..

mrsobbs Here's an over & under example in stainless right here on Houzz (by Claudia Leccacorvi)

cvsharkey Fireplaces aside, that hanging lamp in the first panel is FABULOUS!!!

InterDesign Studio Raised hearth 2 sided fireplace tied the living rm with a wine tasting area for my project.

mrsobbs I think you nailed it Inter Design guru. A two-sided fireplace is most appealing/warmest visually when each side mixes it up - different elevations change the 'feel'.

The house where I raised my children had a floor level fireplace in the country dining room where it added color, movement and a glow as it warmed the room but it wasn't the focus - just an enhancement to a nice room. On the other side of the fireplace wall was a sunken living room where you could sit on a raised hearth to stoke the fire, warm your backside and when evening fell and the floor to ceiling windows/view was lost the fire became the focal point. Great drama, two entirely different senses-of-place for effect, but one fire.

Nicely done.

anerenberg in my shore house we have a double sided fireplace that seperates the living room and sunroom, Make a focal point in livingroom with mantel and tv on top using something differint other then just all stone or brick

pugsley7 My daughter recently purchase a new home. It has this fireplace that she wants to update. Can you help with some ideas.

COASTROAD Hearth & Patio @pugsley7, I'd suggest posting that cool fireplace in a separate "Design Dilemma" discussion so more folks will see it. There are a lot of cool things that can be done with that fireplace.