Burning Wood

Ok ya'll, as many of you know, we moved to Texas in part because of the weather; we were sick and tired of winter on the East Coast and wanted milder winter months. For the most part, we've certainly gotten what we were looking for: While our friends and family have been dumped on in the north, we've had so many days when we could spend time outside in the sun. However, in early January, we were (un)lucky enough to get about an inch and a half of snow while staying at Oliver's parents' house and this last week in Austin has been BRUTAL for our what has quickly become our very thin skin! It even snowed last night here. It's supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow, but....WHAT?

Oliver's parents' backyard in the snow:

Note the boar skull I found nearby. I've aptly named him Boris (or Boar-is? You decide). He now resides in Austin, TX.

Lucky for us, Oliver's parents have a wood stove. We had that thing roaring for three days and nights:

COZY!!

Back to the present: after a weekend of jogging in shorts (SHORTS!) and bragging to Northerners about our mild winter, the temperatures haven't crept above freezing for a few days. We now live in a pier and beam home, which means the pipes are somewhat exposed. When temperatures are below freezing, we have to drip the faucets (inside and out) to prevent them from freezing and bursting - let's hope the water bill isn't in the four bazillions this month!

Our living room – ain't it grand?

Totally not our living room: 18th century fireplace at the MET

I know, my sad little complaints are falling on the deaf ears of friends and family in the North and Southeast, who have been pummeled by blizzards this year. Snowfall, especially when it's rare, makes kids happy; it makes cranky winter-haters like me sulky and unmotivated. The warmth of the wood stove made the cold bearable and it got me thinking about wood stoves as a design element. We've seen a million fire place and "winter interiors" images circling the 'net, but what about wood stoves? They are said to be more efficient at heating than fireplaces because they are closed and controlled, making for less heat loss. Wood stoves – especially antiques – have seen a resurgence of late. We don't have a fire source in our new house, but lets virtually warm my soul by taking a look at some deliciously cozy interiors with gorgeously chic wood stoves, shall we?

I can't get over this stunning wood stove in the home of Robin Petravic and Katherine Bailey, owners of  of Heath Ceramics:

Maybe we look at it from another angle for a sec:

Photos courtesy Heath Ceramics, via Design Sponge

Loving this antique!

Via Home-Shabby-Home

Achieve a more modern look with one of these fancy hanging wood stoves – it rotates, too!

Via lyring.com

The decor in this place is a total mess (plaid drap-y curtains? Flimsy wrought-iron chairs in the background? Randomly place seating?) and you'd need a lot of space for this bad boy, but it looks warm, so here you go:

Via Hometone

Forest fire, anyone?

Camino Steel tree by Paul Grassilli

I've secretly always loved fire orbs:

By Fireorb



Available through Focus

Woodstove in the fireplace? Sounds weird, but apparently it increases the efficiency of the stove.

By Charnwood

Neat-o porcelain wood stove:

Image via Between Spaces

Kind of beachy but probably warm:

Via Country Living

I like this one because storage was built right in, keeping everything neat and tidy – and chic!

Source unknown

Look at this little cutey-patooty chimney-free indoor stove with the glammy brass reflector! It burns ethanol, not wood, meaning no smoke and no soot. It's purdy.

Piet Indoor Stove by Fredrik Hylten-Cavallius

These are really more for use outdoors, when it's warm, but there's fire, it's compact, and right now anything with fire looks warm to me, so I'm including it:

Mini River Rock Fire Bowl, available at Restoration Hardware