• Wood-burning stoves require wood for fuel, but wood is also a renewable resource.Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
  
  A wood-burning stove can change the look of your kitchen. You just have to find the right model to match your interior design scheme. Stoves come in many shapes and sizes, but some models are safer for homes. Look for a wood-burning stove product backed by a manufacturer's reputation for product safety, such as reducing the risk of home fires.
  
  

Cleaner Burning and More Efficient

• Some newer models of wood-burning stoves are desirable to introduce to your home design because they burn cleaner. A cleaner-burning stove has a reduced impact on the natural environment. It also does not contaminate the air you breathe inside your home. Choose a wood-burning stove with a product certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Compared to a stove from the 1970s, a 21st century stove is 30 percent more efficient, or it generates more heat from the same amount of wood burned as fuel.
  
  

Exterior Design

• Another consideration for a wood-burning stove concerns how it functions in its assigned space in your kitchen, living room or den. A stove performs the important job of heating your home. Look at the space it occupies and what its exterior design does to a room. If you choose a product with a natural looking exterior, it can almost double as a piece of furniture. For example, a stove finished in natural wood burnished to jade green perfection can match an Asian decor theme in your living room. A wood stove with a flat or round surface also creates a surface for a glass mosaic tile design. A stove can become a focal point in a minimalist room.
  
  

Dual Fuel Sources

• A wood-burning stove represents a form of technology that has been around for about one thousand years. Burning wood heats your home through radiant heat, and a room feels warmer than it might with a central heating system. In this century, equip an older stove to accommodate more than one energy source. If you buy an antique stove or a home equipped with an old stove, hire a crafts person or fire systems specialist to add a gas or an electricity supply. Ensure that alternative fuel sources are properly ventilated. Ash, fumes and other byproducts of fuel combustion should exit a home through piping, vents or hoods.