One of the most important things for the fireplace is the fireplace screen.  It assures you of keeping the kids away from danger.  And at the same time the fireplace screen also adds beauty to the hearth, where people gather to spend the good times together.  There are single panel fireplace screens and also folding panel ones.  For the single panel screens, the panel should overlap the fireplace opening by at least one to two inches on all sides to assure spark protection.  For the folding panels, it should be at least ten to 12 inches wider than the fireplace opening so that it does not tip over.  The height should be one to three inches taller that the opening.