Christmas can be such a festive time of the year, which is why so many people like yourself choose to decorate their homes. While most people will put up a tree and a couple other decorations, a few will go all out until their homes rival the North Pole.
It doesn’t matter which group you fall into, because if you have a fireplace, you are probably going to decorate around it to make it look pretty and festive! This can be a problem if you are not careful, because decorating the wrong way can cause a fire or other accident that you do not want during this holiday season.
Here are 4 tips for how to safely decorate around the Christmas fireplace:
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Keep a Screen in Front of the Fireplace
When you have decorations anywhere near your fireplace, you are not going to want to move them every time you light a fire. These decorations can include anything up on the mantel, empty gift-wrapped boxes, pinecones, candles, and Christmas figures. Therefore, it is recommended that you take the time to place a screen to catch all the potential flying embers. That screen will help keep all your decorations as safe as possible.
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Don’t Put Your Christmas Tree Near the Fireplace
Yes, we can understand why your Christmas tree would look perfect next to a crackling fire, but trees do not belong near fire. This is especially true if you have a live tree, because the heat from the fire will dry your tree out much faster. It is recommended that you keep your Christmas tree a safe distance from your fireplace, as well as doorways and other areas where a lot of people normally gather and wander through.
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Don’t Let Items Dangle Over the Fireplace
We love seeing evergreens, or garland, up on the mantel of a fireplace, but it is very important to make sure that it doesn’t dangle over the edge. Any dangling materials can catch on fire easily, which means that if you hang up those stockings early, they need to come down before you start a fire.
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Keep Your Fireplace Clean
You can take all the precautions in the world, but if your fireplace and chimney is dirty, it will not be enough. If you didn’t take the time to have your chimney and fireplace cleaned and inspected prior to this time of the year, please have it completed before you put up your decorations. Extra creosote can cause your fire to get out of control, which can cause house fires. You should also make sure that you clean out extra ashes before too many accumulate in the bottom of your fireplace, as they can pose a problem too.
You don’t need to keep the area surrounding your fireplace boring around Christmastime, but you do need to take some precautions to ensure that you do not have a fire anywhere but inside the fireplace. The tips above will give you an idea of how you can safely decorate your fireplace for Christmas, so use them as you are starting to decorate yours this year.
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