An insert is energy efficient; the % of heat that actually heats the room is much higher than with gas logs, whose primary advantage is producing a nice flame, because with gas logs most of the heat goes up the chimney. I'm talking VENTED gas logs because the unvented kind are, in my opinion, out of the question. They adversely affect indoor air quality. You can read about that issue in Consumer Reports. The gas inserts are a sealed system that have 2 vents that go up the chimney (or in some models horizontally through an outside wall). One vent exhausts the fumes generated by the fire, and the other one brings in fresh air from the outside to feed the combustion. So you do not deplete the indoor air of oxygen or pollute it with fumes. Gas inserts come in a variety of sizes and heating capacities. You need first to measure the dimensions of your fire box to figure out what size insert will fit right. The insert is, after all, a fire box inside your existing firebox. All the gas insert manufacturers have websites with detailed information on their product specifications. So you can do your preliminary search on the web, and zero in on the one(s) that might work for you. Since the space you're looking to heat is small, you don't need a big or high capacity insert. That should keep the cost down. We got a gas insert installed into our 20-year old prefab fireplace in our living room a few weeks ago, and love it. Here in North Carolina, when it gets cold in winter, we use it every morning while we sip on a second cup of coffee. We converted for the same reasons you're thinking: we don't want to fuss with wood. But we really do need the gas insert because on those rare occasions when there's a power outage during an ice storm, it will work while our regular heating system will not. Another thing to think about: The inserts are complicated to install. Ours took more than a whole day, and it needed a special chimney cap put in. That added to the cost some. If you decide to do this, make sure you have a really good idea of what the thing will look like when it's finished. Our installation is still not complete because they forgot to take into account that we need a large plinth (that's the thing, usually cast iron that you need if your firebox is elevated above the hearth). We're supposed to get one soon, and we're a little nervous because we don't know what it will look like. I should have asked my merchant for a chance to look at installations he had done.

I'm not sure you're going to be able to do this. If you're building the wall yourself, the 2" is unnoticeable. I am here to tell 'ya, since I have 15 pocket doors made in all 2x6 walls. I have a metal and glass door between my mudroom and kitchen so my dogs can see in and I can see them at night. I used one of those great screen doors where it's glass on the bottom, screen on top and the glass on top moves up and down. It's fantastic. I think the thing is, one doesn't need a metal and glass on the interior, so a thin, interior door is fairly difficult to find. OTOH, you can find great exterior doors of a gudzillion styles in exterior doors. If it's the only 2x6 wall in your home, I promise you're not going to notice. Plus, the way my dogs jump? I don't think I'd want 1) a full view glass window, or 2) a skinny door. Christine

It will look fine. Here are some photos of my shower; the first was taken @ night & the second in the morning with only natural light. The shower fixtures are Delta brilliance stainless but the shower door handle is brushed nickel from the glass company that made the shower enclosure. Cabinet door pulls (not shown) are brushed nickel from Top Knobs & they all look good together. As you can see in the photos, even the Delta fixtures can look a bit different in tone from each other depending on how the light hits them, so I bet you'll never notice the difference. I also threw in some bright brass towel hooks, a vanity light with a bit of gold, and some gold-framed art to keep it from looking too sterile (third photo).

Paint will chip off the metal over time. Take the screws out of the metal standards so you can temporarily remove them. Then paint the cabinets and re-mount the standards. It will be less work, with a better, long-term result.