questions re fireplace and hanging curtains

I'm new to this list and just tried to post a message with my questions, but it didn't show up. Apologies in advance if it shows up twice. My husband and I have owned our Eichler for about twelve years. We bought it from my parents who were the original owners, so I grew up in this house. My parents did some very 70's updating in the '70's, and we've updated it since. Two problems I'm having --

(1) When we bought the house we were told (from an inspector) that the fireplace was unusable because the chimney was cracked. I would love to have a working, preferably gas, fireplace. Our fireplace is an interesting design in that two sides of it are built into the corner of the wall, and the other two sides are open, with only a wrought iron drape covering them. I talked to a few fireplace places and they only install pre-made gas inserts or gas logs. Of course, none of the pre made ones are two sided. Does anyone have any suggestions here? I'm looking to address the chimney issue (perhaps with some sort of insert, which I think would be less expensive than rebuilding the chimney), put in some sort of gas fireplace, and have some glass doors made for the sides and mounted on the masonry (I have small children, so the iron drape with a fire in the fireplace is not an option). Any help would be appreciated.

(2) I'm having trouble finding window coverings for the large windows (specifically, drapes as opposed to blinds or shades). I would like to get drapes of some sort, but there is no wood frame on which to attach a rod holder (the windows extend all the way to the next wall). I found a side mounted "socket" type holder that will work on the smaller windows in the bedrooms, but won't work on the large windows in the family/living room. How have others solved this problem?

Thanks. Elizabeth