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Many families realize how much daily time is spent on digital devices. This is why a lot of families have gone out of their way to spend some unplugged time together. This is purely family time, filled with various activities and with no phones, tablets, or computers allowed.

The atmosphere surrounding this family time can make a huge difference in the mood of everyone involved. One way to help increase the success of this family time is by introducing a key focal point into the room.

One of the more ideal options is a fireplace. A burning fireplace can provide a relaxing and ambient setting. The fireplace offers a great alternative to a screen and allows everyone to focus on each other rather than something else. When you make the fireplace the centerpiece, you can also choose relaxing family activities to associate with it.

Browse these various activities and see how an ambient fireplace can really make a difference.

Fire features can add functionality, beauty and resale value to your home’s outdoor living space. While most fire features intended for use outside can work for most backyards, choosing the ideal fire feature for your home may optimize the way that you, your family and your guests enjoy it.

In this blog, we compare three common outdoor fire feature options: fireplaces, fire pits and permanent grills.

When it comes to ensuring a cozy environment inside of your home, nothing blends ease and comfort quite as well as a gas fireplace. Compared to their wood burning kin, gas fireplaces are much easier to use, clean and maintain. However, just because these fireplaces are easy to use doesn’t mean that a gas fireplace won’t experience certain problems from time to time.

Unfortunately, many people fail to recognize the signs that something is going wrong with their gas fireplace. This can lead to more significant problems — problems that are both more expensive to have fixed and potentially more dangerous for you and your family.

If you would like to improve your gas fireplace troubleshooting skills, read on. This article will discuss three of the most frequently experienced problems.

You invested a lot of time and money into putting together your outdoor kitchen area, especially the grill. You love to use your grill for big get-togethers and your own specialty entree dishes, but you may not use the grill as much as you want to or thought you would when you bought it.

Knowing the extent of the creativity you can use when selecting food for the grill can help you integrate this piece of equipment more fully into your meal plans. However, it’s also important to know which foods cannot be grilled effectively.

In this blog, we share five foods that are great for grilling and three foods that you should always prepare on your indoor cooktop or in the oven instead.

As summer approaches, you may realize that your son or daughter is about to graduate from high school or college. You may even want to honor his or her achievements by celebrating with family and friends. But you probably don’t want to rent out an expensive venue or spend hours cleaning your house for guests.

Have you considered throwing an outdoor graduation party for your son or daughter? With the weather warming up, the outdoors can be a perfect setting for an upcoming celebration. Follow these steps for a simple yet unforgettable outdoor graduation party.

The best music in the world—according to many who play—is the random music heard around a fire in someone’s backyard. Nothing compares to the real life experience of a crackling outdoor fire and spontaneous live entertainment. The allure of the pairing is so strong, some big music festivals now add “campfire sessions” with the pro musicians to their lineups.

Informal settings encourage the entire group to sing along, keep the beat on a hand drum, or dance to the rhythm of the tunes. Outdoor sing-alongs are both ice-breaking and stress-relieving for all ages.

The most wonderful aspect of tiny-home living is how easy it is to heat up a small space on a freezing winter day. Start up the gas, pellet, or wood stove, and you have a cozy room in minutes.

Choosing which type of stove to use in your tiny home takes a bit longer. There are important safety and design issues to consider before selecting a final model of heater. Make a checklist of the following requirements to help you choose the heating stove that’s right for your tiny space.

If you have a fire pit or a fireplace out back, you may be looking forward to hot dogs and smores this summer. However, meat and sweets aren’t the only options for outdoor cooking—you can use your fire pit or outdoor fireplace to cook fruits and vegetables too.

If you need a break from the marshmallows, look for something new. For nutritious side dishes, or even main dishes if you want to go vegetarian, try these options this summer.

1. Corn on the Cob

If you’re joining the shift toward a green lifestyle, your home is the first place you start. You may start using cloth grocery sacks, install a few solar panels, and start your own garden. Many green-minded homeowners might wonder if it’s energy efficient and environmentally friendly to use a gas, pellet, or wood fireplace.

The truth is that utilizing a fireplace in your home can go either way. Here are some tips to keep your merry, warm hearth without significantly increasing your impact on your local environment.