This is what I'm working with. I finished off my wood furnace area over the summer to be a 60s living room. Before the carpet it was just the brick hearth that I made and some gym square mat things. Those got lots of burn spots in them. As a kid my parents always put an indoor outdoor runner in front of the fire place for this reason. That's my plan unless anyone has a better idea. Ive been thinking about making the hearth bigger but im not sure how I feel about since I've already made it bigger once.