A traditional gas or wood burning fireplace is composed of hearth, mantel and surrounds. Most of the time homeowners give emphasis on the hearth and mantel because they think that these parts are the primary decorative features of a fireplace. However, it must also be considered that fireplace surrounds have the same design capacity as the hearth and mantel. If properly constructed with fire resistant materials, chances are, your surrounds could turn as the major decorative feature of your fireplace.
Traditional fireplace surrounds are made from hand carved wood. Currently though, more contemporary non-porous and fire resistant natural stone products like bricks, tiles, marbles and limestone serves as alternatives for wood surrounds. Many homeowners now make use of these materials because they are safer and are also visually enticing. Likewise, they are inexpensive alternatives to wood surrounds as these natural stones demands less design labor, unlike their wood counterparts that needs hand carved detailing which is to laborious to make.
If you want to update the appearance of your fireplace, you can simply start doing so by changing your fireplace surrounds. There are various design ideas that you could do to make use of any of the aforementioned materials. To achieve a rustic fireplace, using limestone surrounds could definitely accentuate this style most especially if you partner it with furniture pieces that are either green or earth tones. If your house is European inspired, you could further highlight this feature by using marble surrounds that are truly sophisticated especially if they are of darker tones.
If you have fireplace mantel surrounds, which is the combination of surrounds and mantel, the best materials to use to update its look are bricks. The fired color of bricks would definitely add a classic touch on your fireplace, which you could use to influence the overall interior design of your space. Similarly, the alternating courses of headers and stretchers that are often achieved by stacking bricks on top of each other are resonant of the beautiful and popular brick structures like the Chile house in Germany and the Thorbury Castle in England; so, if you use brick surrounds it would be like having your own famous brick landmark inside the comfort of your home. If you’re not into classical design though and would like to have a contemporary brick surrounds instead, what you can do is to paint the bricks with a darker hue that is of the same color family as your living room walls.
To give your fireplace mantel surrounds a softer feature, the best materials to use are tiles. By combining mosaic glass tiles or pebble tiles into an image or pattern, you could surely make your surrounds appear more representative of your personality. If you have enough funds laid out for your fireplace design though, you can opt for digital tile surrounds wherein printing techniques and digital manipulation would be used on the tiles to create a customized image or murals. The design possibilities of tiles are endless, all you have to do is to be imaginative about what design you want to incorporate on your surrounds.
Meanwhile, if you’re living in an urban area which won’t permit you to use traditional gas or wood burning fireplace, a quick fix for this issue is the faux electric fireplace. What’s really good about this fireplace is that it is easily detachable, which allows you to transfer it from one place to another. Some electric fireplace fixtures also come with mantel and surrounds that you can redecorate just like traditional wood or gas burning fireplace. All in all, with the design prowess of your surrounds, a simple material update can make your fireplace appear more appealing.
Nothing beats the power of fireplace during cold evenings. As the fireplace is the most functional and appealing fire feature we can have at home, its design needs should be properly attended. The appearance of your fireplace surrounds or fireplace mantel surrounds should be designed based on you personal preference when it comes to color and materials. If you have a faux electric fireplace, you can sustain its natural appeal by incorporating a minimalist style to its mantel and surrounds. So, you want to update the look of your fireplace? Then, it would be preferable to start your project by changing your fireplace surrounds or fireplace mantel surrounds. By using materials such as bricks, limestone, marbles or tiles you can definitely achieve a distinct look for your fireplace. As for a faux electric fireplace, you could improve its looks by placing a glass panel that would further highlight its simulated fire whenever it is in use.
- Wyatt Fisk
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