the fireplace is L-shaped but in the photo is facing the wall... when turned, the small window will be facing the entrance...

HI -- What an odd place for the fireplace ! Anyway, if the hole could just move a foot to the right, then you could have a brick or stone clad wall at end of the stairs that the vent pipe hides in and then have the stone on the whole wall and some on the floor for a hearth. But I still don't see how this spot is going to work - looks like it will be in the way.

I agree with the above comment. Look at the Houzz Photos of Fireplaces and tag some of your favorites. Then you can accurately describe what you like and some of the pros on the site will be able to help you with some design solutions.

Hope this helps.


Torry Manzo
Renaissance Kitchen and Home

Build a short wall from the edge of the last step back to the wall. Only make it high enough to get to the top of the stove 42"? From there take the naked pipe straight up to the ceiling which will keep the space open and make a natural seperation between the stairs and the room. You may need to relocate the ceiling opening for the pipe as the pipe needs to go straight up and not have a jog in it.

The only other thought is to do a direct vent out the back of the wall if possible and not have a pipe up to the ceiling. Of course if you are looking for modern, sell that thing on eBay and mount a spark type firebox on the wall.... ;-)

close it up and purchase a free standing contemporary one and put where youwant this does not work. welcome cement.

Yow, what a bad place to position a stairway, chimney & entry. You can still use the chimney & position a fireplace/freestanding stove unit further toward the right (toward the entry & away from the stairs), but you'll have to accept an angled flue from stove to chimney. It's possible, but you'll have to check your local building codes & the specs for your stove to see what possible angles are safe.

If this were anywhere else I'd suggest you could use a fireplace insert with an angled flue, and conceal the angle behind some fire-safe concrete board & sheetrock - but you have a stairway that drops down right on top of the stove area so that limits your options severely.

Personally, if this were my space, if I still wanted to use both the stairway AND the door to the right, I'd go for as sleek and small a unit as possible, mostly because anything you place in this location is going to make moving up & down those stairs feel very cramped. I'd ditch any sort of fireplace insert in favor of a contemporary design pellet stove; they're designed with a much smaller footprint & they're more efficient for heating anyway. For Euro-style stoves, look at RIKA. For US pellet stoves, study Lennox & Bella.

My only other alternative to designing a more comfortable space, would be to either discontinue using the door to the right, or the stairway to the left, so that I could make the fireplace area look less crammed-in to the available space.

If you can move that hole for the fireplace, I would do it.

Relocate the bottom few stairs so instead of coming straight towards the fireplace they turn towards the room, then the odd placement of fireplace will work better.

This is not a workable situation. I agree with someone else who suggested you forget the whole idea and install a different fireplace in a more logical place. This will never work.

It could work, you just have to be prepared to do a little demo. It appears that the steps go down into a walk out basement. If not, it still looks like you can access the outside through the fireplace wall. Put the fireplace in the center of the wall and vent out the middle, if at all possible. I'd check codes first. People totally renovate their entire houses, this is no different.
The hole right now is in a terrible position and would look out of place trying to make it work.

What is this room for, where do the stairs come from,what country are we in
will you use this fireplace or'is'this'just occassionally'how'much time and money do you want to'spend'doing'tnis, What is I said, yes of course you can, knock down 1/2 way up'the'stairs,have a landing and vring'the stairs out towards the camera'and'where you stood to take photo. Or,'why'have'stairs,'the'wall'should'be',longer amd'have'a'fireplace'surrou d,so put in a'hand'crank'elevator.
Or a circular stair'case'in another p
location. Anything is possible, but we have a tiny bit of information.
Enjoy life and keep it beautiful and simple.

Your second riser is your turning riser but I would make a landing at about the 5th and bring stairs into room. You could than place the firebox on a 45 degree angle so you see this when you come in from the door, but is also viewable from the room too. As for making a classic wood burner into contemporary, the only recommendation would be to try and keep it flush with a large chase to conceal the chimney pipe and cover with ledge stone or travertine etc.

Good luck

Hi gkleanthous, you can considered using tiles or stone as a backdrop for the free standing fireplace.