I'm putting mine on the dining room, which has been referred to as an eating nook, it's all kind of open.

My uncle's house has a fireplace between his eating area and a sitting room. It's a cool setup in his house. In my area, the double sided fireplace has become so popular and trendy that builders have been putting them in the dumbest spots. Instead of a regular wall mounted FP, they stick it out into the room. Oooh, double sided! For that reason, I've started hating them.

But anyway, if you're not putting it too close to the prep area, it wouldn't be any different than a FP anywhere else. If you wanted it near the prep area, you'd have to question whether the surround material would be easy to clean.

And a double sided one is about 75% more than a standard fireplace.

I think it's less desirable to have a fireplace between the kitchen and living room. We're still in the trend of people wanting kitchens (with giant islands) that are completely open to their great room.

Personally, Iove a ranch style home with a beautiful fireplace. Trends change. If you've wanted this for years you absolutely should do it.

i'd love a fireplace in the kitchen the only one i've actually seen was not double sided, it was in the kitchen only we owned a home where a wall of the dining area (open to the kitchen) was the back brick wall of the living room fireplace, the dining room was too small to have a fireplace there...

I've seen pictures -- lovely pictures -- of kitchen eat-in areas with fireplaces.

If I were doing it personally, I think I'd consider going with a FAKE fireplace. By that, I mean a nice mantle -- perhaps an antique -- that could be filled with candles in winter and potted plants in the summer. This could be really nice; it'd also be both cheaper and more energy-efficient than a real fireplace. And I don't think it'd be comfortable to sit THAT CLOSE to a real fire at the table anyway.

Some things to consider....How open do you want the space between the kit and fr? And do you want to be able to sit and enjoy the fp? or do you want it to act as a room divider?

In the pics below, you'll notice a few things, e.g., they take up a lot of room as a room divider because they are thicker than a wall and require at least one but most likely two walkways to get around them. They also need enough space around the fp on either side to be comfortable to sit next to...unlike a wall, you can't back a sofa or something up against it. Because they have to be solid to the top, they do block a lot of light and view. Another point to consider, esp in the last photo below, is that from a kitchen area, you'd probably want the fp to be higher so you can see it, but from the FR area, you want it to be lower so you can sit next to it. (I'm presuming a gas fp...if a wood one, then that means wood storage and a lot more mess.)

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We had one in our last house. It had originally been built as doublesided -between the kitchen and the dining room - but they had a fire and subsequently closed up the dining room side. So all we had was the kitchen side.

It was elaborate with a very wide hearth at sitting height and it could easily seat three people. Kind of like Annie's 5th picture, only bigger. It was pretty, but we never burned anything in it. (It was wood-burning.) I just didn't want the mess in the kitchen.

So, for us, it was just a decorative bench, more or less. Quite a foolish waste, I thought.

Whichever one you choose - please check the fire safety guidelines for clearances between the fireplace and objects. Even for my electric fireplace, they stated minimum 3' from the fireplace as required.

I'm so curious to know what you decided on this...we are building a home and I totally want to do this too...I think it's very french country and makes the huge kitchen with large island facing a great room, that's equally as large, seem more cozy...there's some beautiful ones on Pinterest that are cased in beautifully and don't look ginormous!!! If you did it, can you share a pic or two? thank you!!!!

33a91dcd0ac697a24f8413ede4d04a5e.jpg

Well, in Colonial times the fireplace was the kitchen, so why not? Here's a good Colonial example:

Because they have to be solid to the top, they do block a lot of light and view.

Power vent gas fireplaces can be vented to the side and even to the bottom.

"modern" indoor plumbing

I seem to recall we had one of those pumps in a rural Ohio kitchen back when H. S Truman was Prez.

Q:Because they have to be solid to the top, they do block a lot of light and view.

Power vent gas fireplaces can be vented to the side and even to the bottom. /Q

I have to say, fireplaces that are obviously not vented out the top (because the wall doesn't go all the way up) are a pet peeve of mine. It screams fake to me. Unless it's an uber modern, sleek style that wouldn't have a traditional fireplace at all, it should look like a traditional fireplace.

I love fireplaces in kitchens and dining areas.

Virgil's example above is the *only* temptation I have for a fireplace! If I can't have something like that, in a logical/historically accurate place and style, then I don't want one at all. :-)

We are building currently.

We have a masonry heater between the living room and the kitchen.

On the kitchen side there is a white oven and the living room side is the fire box.

A masonry heater is a more efficient setup than a fireplace. It can heat the whole house on 2-3 cords of firewood/yr in a northern climate without having to feed the fire all day long. And you get a bake oven too.

A fireplace with a fire in it, burning merrily...how pretty! An empty grate with ashes...ick. A black hole with gas logs unlit...ick.

Yeah, I feel sorta the same way about "modern" units like the power vent gas "fireplaces", which are only marginally better than the DVD program which plays a cheery fireplace on your TV, IMO. Make it real or don't bother! :-)

power vent gas "fireplaces"... are only marginally better than the DVD program which plays a cheery fireplace on your TV

I'll take the 30,000 BTU put out by the "fake" power vent gas fireplaces any day over the typical smokey messy inefficient wood fireplace.

To even make the wood burners safe, when I last built them I was required to install them with an in-hearth air supply so as not to asphyxiate their users. Their contribution to home heating is about zero. Many municipalities have long banned woodburning fireplaces and stoves unless they meet strict environmental rules. (Montreal is the latest large city implementing restrictions.)

Ah, for the days when the little woman dressed modestly and toiled dusk till dawn as God intended!

A friend used to use her "genuine" fireplace to dispose of reno scrap. Nothing like seeing the lead paint curling in the friendly flames! Or the smell of burning garbage from neighbouring homes as they use their fireplaces as incinerators.

Here's one of the last wood-burning fireplaces I built--the 2,400 sf home had three wood-burning units and one gas fireplace. Since then, zero "real" fireplaces for me.

Ah, thank heavens for saving our planet from global warming and authentic wood burning fireplaces!

I'd say more, but I have to go reboot my computer so the wood burning fireplace image continues.

thank heavens for saving our planet from global warming

The contribution to global warming has rarely been even mentioned in the restrictions/banning of home fireplaces and stoves. The driving force has been concerns over pulmonary and cardiovascular health effectsfrom particulate, formaldehyde, benzene, dioxin and other emissions.

Since most posters here (claim to) live on distant rural acreages, remote bayous or mountaintops, feel free to burn, breathe deeply and enjoy!

******

If gas fireplaces seem architecturally inappropriate, consider that a century ago electric fireplaces imitating coal-burning fireplaces were a common feature in homes with middle-class aspirations. Architecture has a long history of materials imitations. I'm sticking with the latest and healthiest.

BTW, how many of those trusses and ceiling beams in the impressive kitchens posted above by Annie D. are "real"?

Worthy wrote, "...BTW, how many of those trusses and ceiling beams in the impressive kitchens posted above by Annie D. are "real"?..."

Well...the trusses look structural. Do they count?