Top Stone Fireplace Design Ideas To Personalize Your Fire Space!
The fireplace design ideas featured here show a multitude of ways to create a uniquely personal stone hearth for your home . . . . .
Photo Credit: Carl Vernlund
Regardless of whether your tastes and preferences are steeped in tradition or the latest in sleek and chic, ruggedly rustic or highly formal -- and everything in between -- you will discover a host of ideas to create a fireplace design that goes beyond merely ordinary . . . . . to EXTRAORDINARY!
Most of us take a great deal of pride in our homes - especially when we have an opportunity to personalize it with our own unique style. And for most of us, the more the design and decor transcends the ordinary, the more we treasure it!
After all, who truly wants the same thing that everyone else has?
Just as each of us is uniquely different from anyone else, we like our homes and furnishings to make a unique design statement. Surprisingly, you don't necessarily need an unlimited budget to make a uniquely personal design statement with your fireplace.
The examples of fireplace design ideas that follow encompass a wide range of budgets. What is important to understand is that each of the stone fireplace designs pictured below can be modified in a variety of ways that allow you to adjust your budget accordingly.
As an example, the striking polished sandstone fireplace design pictured di- rectly below can be modified while still retaining its design integrity and uniqueness. Even if it were just a "basic" or simple design, the stone type, color and finish -- alone -- would make it stand apart from the crowd, as it is not normally seen in a fireplace surround. Adding to its architectural and vi- sual interest is the placement and "layering" of the stones, including the large wedge-shaped stones, or
voussoirs,
lining the top of the arched firebox opening. An adjoining built-in storage area with an arched opening for fire- wood adds to the overall composition. Contrasting hearthstones feature chiseled edges, as does the stone shelf above the wood storage area. Con- versely, the smooth and simple mantel shelf above the fireplace opening is crafted from wood. It is stained and finished to complement the polished sandstone facing.
The following stone fireplace designs, though very different in style, also feature "layered" stone work for added visual appeal. The design pictured at right, by Stone Age Masonry in South- west Virginia, USA, has a recessed firebox and hearth. Echoing the arch of the firebox opening is a larger arch on the fireplace facing. Unlike the de- sign pictured above, the voussoirs framing the arched openings at right are long and narrow, giving the overall composition a much different -- albeit equally striking -- look and feel.
The handsome library fireplace mantel design pictured at right and below is by Hot Rock Masonry, based in East- sound, Washington, USA. Beautifully detailed, the stone work is also lay- ered and features a series of horizontal bands above the firebox opening that gradually recess or "step back" from one another. Framing the roughly tex- tured stone surround is richly paneled and finished millwork that adds con- trast and visual appeal.
The sleek and chic fireplace mantel design that follows is crafted from
trav- ertine,
the identical material that lines the wall behind it. Inspired by
Art Deco
styling, it features a series of vertical bands that "step back" from the fireplace facing to the wall on either end.
Fireplace design ideas that feature out- ward spreading or splayed "legs" are pic- tured at right and below. Though both are very distinctive, each of the fire- place designs has a unique look and feel that readily distinguishes it from the oth- er.
The stone detailing in the design at right, by Sharp Stone Work of Liberty, Missouri, USA, also includes a "layered look," with the splayed legs projecting slightly for- ward from the facing surrounding the firebox opening. Near the top of each splayed leg is a small, vertically oriented rectangular niche for added interest. Capping it all off is an elegant, richly finished wood mantel shelf.
The river rock
Arts and Crafts
fireplace that follows also features splayed "legs" -- though less pronounced or formal in appearance than those of the stone hearth pictured above, right. Designed by HartmanBaldwin Design Build in Claremont, California, USA, it is a striking present-day interpretation of the American
Craftsman Style.
Though relatively simple in design, note the ex- traordinary craftsmanship and detailing of the beautifully finished -- AND "layered" -- wood mantel shelves.
Among the multitude of distinctive fireplace design ideas is the practice of combining contrasting stone types, sizes, shapes, textures, colors and finishes to create a uniquely personal fireplace mantel or surround. The de- sign pictured at right, by Francois & Co. of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is one such example.
Pictured below -- though much more formal in appearance -- is another striking example of combining starkly contrasting stone types, sizes, shapes, textures, colors and finishes to create a highly distinctive and unusual fire- place design. Given the virtually limitless array of potential combinations, the sky is the limit for creative fireplace design ideas!
And if you're looking for fireplace design ideas that are so unique you can be vir- tually guaranteed that nobody else on Planet Earth has one, look no further than the examples which follow. Pic- tured at right is a stunning and highly unusual fireplace design by True Stone Enterprises, based in Deming, Washing- ton, USA. Crafted from columnar
basalt
-- a volcanic rock rarely seen in fire- place surrounds -- each of the stones is positioned vertically, somewhat similar to the way they are found in their nat- ural geologic formations. Needless to say, this is a truly unique, one of a kind fireplace design!
Another approach to the unique positioning of stones can be found in the two fireplace designs pictured below by Ancient Art Of Stone, located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Painstakingly created -- stone by stone -- each design is flowing and dynamic. The company's website sums it up best: "Every creative piece is one of a kind and naturally through its form is con- nected to the great spiral, the ebb and flow of life."
