Fire places and options

We all love them but we don’t always love the look of the fire place that’s in the current house.  In many of my project the fireplace is one of the things we constantly update.  My current client in Southampton that I am doing design work for in the kitchen, home office and family room. They are switching from natural wood to gas fireplace.  Since they are already doing that they decided to update the currant fireplace surround that they don’t particularly like, to something they love and can live with for many years to come.  So now begins the search of what do we want this fireplace to look like and what material to choice.

There are lots of options available to use on the fireplace these days and they all produce a different look. The fireplace that I am designing is in the family room next to the kitchen.  Kitchen design is going to be transitional so our fireplace need to match the same look and feel. When exploring the options keep in mind the style of your house which should guide you to make the right decision for your new surround.

First of the many options is stacked stone which comes in variety of shapes in colors which is more of transitional/traditional look, the look is depend on the shape and texture that is chosen. Then there is ledger stone which comes in variety of width and colors as well. Some of the leger stone can be extremely modern do to its very linear and sharp edging.  Not all of ledger stone is contemporary some are more transitional with a wider stripes and softer edging.  Off course there is the grand stone option we can’t forget which is the full stone/quartz slab fireplace.  The choice of stone will dictate the modern to traditional approach. After the larger stone choices, you have tile, of course tile come as stone or stone look.  We the new modern tile sizing it can make a fireplace just as dramatic as using a whole slab of stone. 

So after choosing the material which dictate your look and feel of the room you have one more option to make.  Mantel or no mantel.  There is no law that every fireplace needs a mental.  It’s a very individual thing.  Some things to consider when choosing mental or not should be as follows. First one is will you have a TV on you fireplace, if yes do you have ceilings above 9’.  If you do not have high ceilings don’t do a mental you will create to many lines that will break up the linear visual which will make you fireplace feel shorter.  If you have an artwork that you want to hang you will have to have a mental so the artwork doesn’t get ruined, but my suggestion is never to put an expensive artwork on your fireplace unless you are willing to take it to a restorer after a few years of fireplace use.  Of course if you like knickknacks then mental is a must.  Remember this is your house and you make the rules.  The only rule of thumb you always need to consider is proportion.

Off course after we have chosen the stone and mental or not consider dose the fireplace screen need to updated to match the new beautiful fireplace you have just rebuild.  The devil is in the detail.  Happy shopping.