Who Lives Here, the Pope?
When we bought our current house, one of the features I was most excited about was the fireplace. I’ve never had a fireplace! I want a fireplace! Look, this house has a fireplace! Sold! Who cares about the weird suspicious burning smell from the wall outlets! FIREPLACE! And I still love our fireplace. We use it almost every night in late fall through winter. I love the warm, crackly, festive glow, the look of our dog’s belly as she stretches out over the hearth, the flicker of flame reflected in a wine glass, the fact that there’s just something about a fire that makes everybody in our house extra cuddly. And yet, I hate our fireplace, or at least the look of it. It’s fitted with white and grey marble – a dumb choice, really, because marble? In a little suburban townhouse? Why not install a ton of marble columns while you’re at it? But also, white! Soot! Staining! Hideousness. I remember staring critically at the soot stains before we officially bought the house, and was quickly assure
