Fuel and Electrical Fireplaces Are the Future. We Requested Design Professionals How one can Make Them Appear Actual.

WHEN FAMILIES COME TOGETHER Around the fire this holiday season, the odds are better than ever that actual kindling isn’t involved. Due to health and air quality concerns, regulations against wood-burning fireplaces and stoves have become increasingly strict — San Francisco, for example, bans them in new construction — and homeowners drawn to flames have turned to alternatives like gas and electricity. That doesn’t mean, however, that such adopters of new technologies are ready to give up the ghost of Christmas bygone. Fireplaces, even man-made ones, remain the core of a home’s decor.

“For generations, fire has been the center of the home,” says Julie Buckner, an interior designer in Petaluma, California, who often installs electric fireplaces instead of gas or wood. The flame is a projection, so it does not emit pollution and is safe for children and pets. “It’s a light show,” she said, “but once we commit to not burning wood, it becomes easier to accept that it doesn’t look entirely natural.”