Actually in New York state you can have a ventless gas fireplace in your bedroom. (Its possible NYC has a different code) I was just reading the code yesterday. Up to 10,000 btus. Must have an oxygen sensor. There is a requirement based on the size of the room (air mass, you have to do a calc). So unless your bedroom is super tiny yes you can have a ventless gas in your bedroom. I just googled and found zero news stories on a ventless gas fireplace causing death unless it was a suicide. I don't think they are the best way to go but if you follow code and use common sense I don't see a problem. If we get one we only plan to use it occasionally on cold nights for about 15 min before bed. The room is large and opens to other rooms. Our house is dry to the little added moisture would be welcome. We are still researching as it is difficult to find one that is only 10,000 btus.

What an absolutely spectacular home. I'm assuming you're talking about the fireplace in the blue room? I'm wondering if the mantle is original so all you'd need to do is recreate the firebox and tile surround?

Nice work! We're in the UK and have done several (mainly) DIY renovations - or restorations as I prefer to call them with them all being at least 100 years old - and have lived on site throughout, so understand how stressful it can be. Our quickest complete restoration took three years, so good on you for making such dramatic progress so swiftly :) Spurs me on to get a wiggle on with our current house! Raphaella x

There are three sizes there. Which one are you picking? The fireplace that will work well for you is a simple classical fireplace surround (entablature). The elegance will be achieved through punctuated proportions of the individual pieces. There are many ways to achieve it. Since you have a quite large space - a very wide wall with fairly high ceilings, you have the luxury of building a full entablature fireplace. 1. a mantel (shelf), 2. a fairly nice crown underneath, 3. a blank space (frieze), 4. a thin band of moulding under frieze (taenia) - have a look at the black and white picture on the right - this is a rough prototype of what is built on top of fireplaces (there are many styles, some simple, some elaborate, you can pick simpler ones for your house) 5. a smaller than frieze but quite wide nonetheless space (architrave) Look at this image and focus on proportions of the individual parts not the overall look at this point. http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Colonial_Mantel-450px.jpg Note the engaged columns on each side (those can be columns or pillars (square thingies) but do note that the sides are quite narrow in comparison to what is on top. The crown (the moulding right under the mantel shelf) in the picture is not the most elaborate but may be more elaborate than you seek. Now, the proportions between crown, frieze, and architrave matter. They are not random. And all that stuff together relates to the size of your columns/pillars/legs on the sides. More information here. Scroll to the bottom about mantels. I can walk you through what seems mystery upfront. Don't freak out. Read it. It won't make sense at first but as you design your fireplace, you will increasingly understand what is going on. http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2012/11/23/the-magical-entablature/ Have a look at the top Tuscan entablature. It is very simple and may satisfy your simple but elegant criteria. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Table_of_architecture%2C_Cyclopaedia%2C_1728%2C_volume_1.jpg/800px-Table_of_architecture%2C_Cyclopaedia%2C_1728%2C_volume_1.jpg