Fireplace Suggestions That Instantly Elevate Your Home
Fireplaces can make any house feel cozier and more like a true home. Whether you’re purchasing a home with a fireplace, building one, or renovating to add a fireplace, exploring various fireplace suggestions and thinking through fireplace mantel ideas (or fireplace mantels themselves) can help you set the tone for the space.
A fireplace can make a big statement or blend more into the rest of the room, depending on the decisions you make when it comes to style, stone, mantel, and decor. We love using fireplaces as architectural anchors in many of the custom homes we build, and if you’re looking for ideas that feel elevated, timeless, and a bit more one-of-a-kind than your standard setup, this guide is here to help.
How a Fireplace Can Elevate Your Space
No matter whether you’re building a new home or searching for the perfect space for your next chapter, there are so many home features and decisions that’ll shape how your family lives each day. A fireplace can help ground the design style of your main living space (or spaces), influence the flow of the room and the way you plan the space, add architectural depth and interest, up the value and resale appeal of your home, and add emotional warmth (as well as physical warmth, of course).
Fireplaces can be stunning centerpieces, add that wow factor, and more, no matter where you place them in your home.
Some of Our Favorite Fireplace Suggestions Based on Design Style
Before you get into what you want your mantel to look like or how you want to style your fireplace and the areas around it, you’ll need to start with the basics. How do you want your home to feel and how can your fireplace support that overall look and feel? Once you determine that, you’ll be able to take a closer look at the design style (and decorative accents!) that might be right for you.
Classic, timeless, and more traditional
If you’re looking for a more traditional look and are mostly after an elegant (yet comfortable) look, here are some ideas you might want to consider:
Limestone surround fireplace with clean lines
Symmetrical built-ins alongside the fireplace
Molding details that tie into the home’s millwork
Subtle mantel detailing that’ll add depth and visual interest
Plaster, textured fireplace surround with wood mantel
These styles are often a good fit for homes with more European-style influences, brick exteriors, and the like.
Minimal and organic
More into warm, natural elements, organic materials, and a “less-is-more” approach? Here’s what you might be interested in:
Full plaster fireplace surrounds
Slab stone
A smooth, curved stucco
No mantel
Integrated shelf or mantel
These kinds of fireplace suggestions and fireplace mantel ideas are minimal and pared back while still adding lots of warmth to the room. Depending on the materials chosen, it can also add a connection between your indoor and outdoor spaces, or at least give that feel, particularly if your room has large windows.
A refined, rustic feel
A more rustic style can still be warm, refined, and elegant, particularly if your home is set in a more natural setting. You might want a fireplace featuring a variety of materials like:
Natural fieldstone
Reclaimed stone, brick, or wood (maybe something from old barns?)
A limewash finish
Custom metal brackets
If you’re going to lean into a more rustic aesthetic, you’ll want to make sure you strike the right balance between more raw-appearing textures and intentional design choices. You don’t want your space to look rough or unfinished.
What to Consider When It Comes to Fireplace Functionality
Whether you’re building from scratch, looking at a house with a fireplace, or considering a renovation, you’re going to want to put a little bit of thought into what you need and what you want from your fireplace in terms of functionality, convenience, care and upkeep, and the like.
Here’s some of what you’ll want to consider:
Gas-Burning Fireplace vs Wood-Burning Fireplace (Or Even Electric Fireplaces)
The biggest decision you’ll need to make when it comes to functionality is whether you’d like a gas fireplace or a wood-burning fireplace. They each have their own pros and cons, so thinking through the decision can help you make the right choice for your space and your lifestyle.
When it comes to a gas fireplace, it’s easy to use each and every day, convenient to use (often as simple as just flipping a switch or hitting a remote), and burns cleanly, so you don’t have to worry about your cozy fire making a mess.
Wood-burning setups are super cozy as well, with a sound and scent that feels nostalgic and homey. That being said, it doesn’t burn as cleanly as a fire in a gas fireplace and takes a bit more effort to get it lit and burning.
What to Know About Choosing the Right Fireplace Mantel
Now that you’ve thought through your overall design style, the feel of your home, and what kind of functionality you want, you’re ready to get more into the nitty gritty of your fireplace design. When it comes to the mantel, it’s not all about style or material, scale is super important as well. You want your fireplace mantel to feel substantial enough to anchor the fireplace and the room, be proportional to the scale of your space, and complement the surrounding woodwork and furniture or cabinetry.
If you have 10-12 foot ceilings, you’ll want something that makes a bit of a statement and can hold up to the space. If you have an open floor plan or other wood in the space, consider selecting a mantel that mirrors the wood tones in your attached kitchen or dining space, coordinates with railings in your home, or goes well with the finish of ceiling beams. It’ll ultimately depend on what your home looks like and how it flows (as well as the feel of the room the fireplace is in), but these are a few things to consider that can help make it feel like your home is cohesively designed and the different rooms talk to each other.
Some of Our Favorite Ways to Style Your Fireplace Mantel
Once your home is complete and the fireplace and mantel are installed, it’s time to style it. You don’t have to be a design pro in order to put together something gorgeous. Here are some of our favorite timeless ways to style your fireplace mantel:
Layered art with varying heights
A large mirror with a woven basket or vase
Antique mirrors for warmth
A sculptural element for modern spaces
Seasonal greenery (like tree branches, evergreen boughs, and more) that evolves throughout the year
Pro tip: Don’t add too much. The architecture should lead, while styling should complement.
Where Fireplace Design Fits into the Rest of the Home
Fireplaces are more than just functional, they also connect to the overall architectural style of the home, flooring tone, cabinet finishes, ceiling beams, exterior masonry, color scheme, and other home features. Understanding how you plan to use the space with the fireplace, how frequently you’ll gather there, if you host or entertain often, and more will all help determine what your fireplace should look like and how it should be styled.
Whether you’re relocating or building a new home in the community in which you already live, the fireplace is just one example of how custom construction allows you to create a home that truly reflects your lifestyle.
Instead of adapting to someone else’s design choices, you get to make intentional decisions, from the fireplace mantels to the ceiling beams to the way your indoor and outdoor spaces connect.
And trust us, those details matter.
FAQs
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Generally speaking, we wouldn’t recommend focusing on what’s popular when deciding how you’d like your fireplace and fireplace mantel to look. Ultimately, it’s going to look best if it aligns with your home’s architecture and the way you live in the space.
That being said, some of the popular choices fireplace mantel ideas include:
Oversized white oak floating mantels
Cast stone or limestone surrounds with clean lines
Plaster fireplaces with integrated shelving
Reclaimed wood beams
Minimal, no-mantel modern designs
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Ultimately, the right fireplace for the height of your ceiling is going to be all about scale.
For rooms with 8-foot ceilings, you’ll probably want something simple and streamlined, while for 10-12 foot ceilings, you want a bit more presence. Maybe that means a bolder mantel, extended surround detail, or vertical elements that will pull the eye up.
When we’re working with clients, we always want to take ceiling height, window placement, any beams or other architectural elements into account before finalizing fireplace design.
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No! Your fireplace mantel doesn’t necessarily have to match, but it should complement the color palette of your space. If you have white oak floors, then you might want a warm wood mantel. If you have darker floors, maybe you want a stone mantel or something that will add a slight pop of color or make a bold statement. Ultimately, we’d recommend going with tones that talk to each other rather than materials that match exactly. It’ll feel more luxe and styled instead of falling a bit flat.
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If you want a stone fireplace, the best thing to do is to stick with more minimal, refined styles. Overly busy, super heavy stone can feel dated quickly, but there are ways to make a stone fireplace more current. Think through the fireplace design carefully with a design pro if you’re concerned about the overall aesthetic. If you’re working with a custom home builder like Zurich Homes, they’ll likely be able to help talk through these things or point you toward interior designers who can help.
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Generally speaking, a fireplace surround that goes up to the ceiling is going to look more intentional and incorporated into the design of your space. It’s going to feel more custom. Shorter fireplaces can feel more like inserts than truly part of the design.
A fireplace that goes to the ceiling will draw the eye up and create a focal point for the space. It’ll make a noticeable difference in your custom home.
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Generally speaking, you’re going to want the mantel to extend beyond the fireplace opening on both sides. You’ll also want it to extend from the surround a bit. If you’re building a custom home, work with your builder and their team to make sure every part of the design is thoughtful and intentional so that your living room (or whichever space your fireplace will be in) is balanced.
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