Fireplace ideas, unlike most pipe dreams (or even stovepipe dreams), don't have to go up in smoke. In fact, some fireplaces don't even allow smoke--or dangerous gas fumes, either. Electric appliances are great fireplace ideas: clean, easy to manage, and very efficient. Plug it in, turn it on, warm up, all in a matter of minutes.

In the old days, planning a fireplace was a crucial part of every house design. Where you put the fireplace determined everything else: where the venting went, which way the living room faced, where to put the chimney. Fireplace ideas today are much more flexible because you can have a moveable fireplace that is still the center of attention without being the center of the construction process.

Electric Fireplace Ideas: A Light Bulb above the Head

Here's a great idea: a fireplace that doesn't need to be connected to immobile venting systems, doesn't get rid of much-needed heat, and is easy to use. Impossible you say? Try again: electric fireplaces do all that and are more efficient than old-school burn-and-waste fireplaces. And with lifelike flames and glowing embers, they look like the real thing, but much more practical.

For instance, wood- and gas-burning fireplaces vent most of their heat (and toxic fumes) outside; an electric fireplace uses 100 percent of its energy in heating, not escaping. Or, if you don't want heat, you can turn it off: they have a full range of heating temperatures. Don't want it in the living room? Just unplug it and put it in the basement or wherever there's a standard outlet. Now those are great ideas for a fireplace.