Nesting, An Ageless Urge - a story from a customer

Nesting, An Ageless Urge

A recent conversation with a friend reminded me that home nesting is a strong urge that can happen at any age.

Sarah’s parents were downsizing from their three-bedroom, suburban house to a smaller flat in the city. Comfortable in their retirement, James and Lucy realised that the beloved family home was turning into a bother.

“We all loved the old house. My sisters and I grew up there, but Mum and Dad have an active lifestyle with lots of travel. The house upkeep was becoming challenging, so they started looking at newer and smaller places near the centre,” said my friend.

Sarah explained that James and Lucy brainstormed the layout, furniture, and décor in a new house that would support their current busy retirement and a gradual slowdown due to age. A master bedroom with walk-in shower. An open kitchen with an island. An office converting to a second bedroom for the visiting grandson. One level and no stairs.

Additionally, James and Lucy wanted a wood-burning fireplace to complete their retirement nest.  Sarah knew that her parents enjoyed a roaring fire during family holidays and they would often build a fire for themselves.

“So many important family events happened with a crackling fireplace in the background, and my parents did not want to give that up.” Unfortunately, they had to scrap the idea after seeing several open houses. 

“Many newer developments or flats don’t offer the big, wood-burning fireplaces. They can be messy and smoky in smaller living rooms. We said goodbye to our old house and its fireplace.”

Despite that disappointment, Sarah said her mum settled into nesting mode as the new flat move-in construction neared completion. She relished creating a comfortable space that would support her and her husband’s active lifestyle.

“Everything was coming together nicely, and Mum was passionate about making this as reflective of their lives as possible. She felt, however, that something was missing in the living room along one wall. She and dad did not need a large entertainment system, since they are pretty comfortable with streaming stuff. And they did not want to build their new nest with a TV smack in the middle.”

So Lucy decided to research alternatives to wood-burning fireplaces in modern homes and discovered bio-ethanol fireplaces offered by Bio Fires company. Self-contained, real-flame fires burning from eco-friendly ethanol fuel, Bio Fires fireplaces require no gas connection or power supply. 
Sarah explained while some bio-ethanol fireplaces can be free-standing, her parents chose a model that hung on the bare wall in the living room, instantly making the house feel complete.  

Contemporary Living Room by London Fireplaces & Stoves Bio Fires

Traditional Living Room by London Fireplaces & Stoves Bio Fires

The low maintenance and self-containment of the Bio Fire fireplace were all attractive to Sarah’s parents, but the real fire flame sealed the deal.

James and Lucy also liked having an “on demand” fireplace easily lit with a long match, allowing them to recharge by the fire after a long flight home or at the end of a normal day.

“Mum and dad are healthy right now, but we know that over time carrying and lifting logs would become impossible. This kind of fireplace allows them to enjoy their nest regardless of their age. ”

My friend said her parents continue to enjoy the perfect final piece for their retirement nest.

Modern Living Room by Atlanta Architects & Building Designers Peace Design

Fireplaces – this time it’s personal. About a romance and homeliness of an open fire.

Fireplaces – this time it’s personal 

My partner, bless her, is always going on about the romance and homeliness of an open fire. We don’t have one, you see. What we do have is a gas fire that is fed by a pair of unsightly orange bottles that look like two unexploded 500lb bombs at the side of the house. We live in Northern Ireland. Mains gas is still a novelty and although it is slowly creeping out around the country, the first mains to be laid serviced the wealthy metropolitan areas, not out here in the wilds. Like most people around here, we rely on kerosene to fuel our central heating. When the wind is howling off the North Atlantic (next landfall North is Iceland!), you need it too. 

Her yearning for the open fire is based, I suppose, on memories of her Irish childhood, with the fire glowing peacefully in the grate, dogs lying comatose in front of it, the sweet pungency of turf smoke scenting the air. What she might have forgotten is that someone had to clean that fire out and lug buckets of filthy ash outside to be disposed of. Or that someone had to stagger in with a bucket of turf or coal and keep the blessed thing going. When you could get it going, that is. 

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Nonetheless, I understand her longing for a real flame, particularly now that we’re properly into winter (for those who don’t know it, the Northern Ireland calendar runs January, February, March, March, March, April, September, October, October, November, November, December …) and those longer nights are a bit nippy. The fireplace has always been the centre of the home, as I have pointed out in previous blogs, and she’s quite right to hanker after that special ambience and cosiness a real fire brings. Maybe she’s a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, who maintained strong view about the role of the hearth in the family home. 

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Ever since those earliest hearths, those first controlled flames that brought comfort to our ancestors, upkeep of the fireplace has been an important part of the domestic routine. Not just the gathering of combustible materials but keeping the fireplace clean and free of obstructions to maximise its effects. The benefits of the fireplace were obvious. The downside was the upkeep. As human beings congregated in towns and cities, the combined outpourings of so many domestic and industrial cities became a hazard in itself. But there was no alternative cleaning out the fire and lugging the ash out for disposal. It was a necessary evil. Unless you lived in Downton Abbey, of course, and had the downstairs staff attend to it while you shot some peasants. I mean pheasants. 

Well, joy of joys, there is a way to enjoy all the physical and spiritual comfort a real flame affords without the endless burden of fetching and cleaning. A Bio Fire gives you all the advantages without the mess and bother. Styles to match your living space décor, portable or permanent and no fuss. What could be nicer? 

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