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 forum so feel free to forward your questions to her at carole@carolehyder.com.
 

We have a fireplace in our study which we never, ever use. In fact, we're not sure it even works. We have no reason to believe there's anything wrong with it but we just don't light fires there. We've talked about removing it but it's pretty expensive, so we're now thinking of sheet-rocking over it to make it go away. Any suggestions?  

Dear Bill and Patty,

My question is why don't you use this fireplace? Too much effort? Don't use the study very often? Messy? There are rather inexpensive ways to convert it to a gas-burning fireplace (expensive as compared to removing it). You might find you'd appreciate having a feature that brings some warm fire into your space. Plus you wouldn't be reminded that you have something rather formidable in a room that seemingly has no purpose.

One other way to deal with this situation is to load up the opening with candles and, from time to time, light them all. I've seen candle holders you can purchase that are made for just this very use, holding 10-15 candles. You may find this intriguing enough that you would eventually want to light a real fire there.  

Definitely do not sheet-rock over it and pretend it's gone away, because it has not.