Fireplace Designs

For some reason I always find myself very drawn to and enchanted by fireplace designs in homes.  They could be gigantic traditional brick hearths like you see in English estates (or castles) or even sleek modern fireplace ideas like in this house.  Something about the combination of decor, architectural detailing, and pure flames just mesmerizes me in a way that no other area of the home does.  We actually have fireplaces in quite a few rooms in our home including the living area and master suite (a dual one in the bedroom and bath).  Even though our current home is very traditional in style, I actually think that the best fireplace designs are super artistic modern ones like this.

It took me awhile of scrolling through fireplace designs before I finally allowed myself to commit to this one.  I really don't know what it is that stumped me so much about fireplace ideas, but for some reason it was really hard for me to picture how they would look in our house.  We knew that we wanted to do something to reface the old unit in our family room because it is a large enough feature that it was really bringing down the overall style in the space.  Previously it was that orange red brick that was very common in homes built in the 1990s (like ours).  I tended to gravitate towards fireplace pictures that feature stacked stone designs similar to our final product, so that is the direction I decided to go.

I'm sure that looking up fireplace designs does not excite most people, but I have spent so many years yearning to actually build a house from the ground up that picking out every little detail is so fun for me.  Fireplace design ideas have been an interesting one to sort through because there is so much variety to them and you really have to be conscious of what type of architectural details and materials you have used throughout the rest of your design.  I mean in most cases, modern fireplace designs will not look right in a traditional home, just as ornate traditional fireplaces will look so out of place in a modern home. To me this stacked stone fireplace is the perfect balance between the two and will likely be the one the I go with for our house. 

It really surprised me how much new fireplace designs made a difference in our living room.  We have one of those older homes that the previous owner updated to a chicer and more contemporary style, but some of the original architectural elements still remained.  Our entire back wall was one of those retro brick fireplaces that, quite frankly, ruined the look of the rest of the space and would have never allowed us to have one of those Instagram-worthy beautiful living rooms of my dreams.  I actually found the concept on here to cover the bring in another material to give it a completely different and more contemporary California vibe.

It is funny how fireplace designs can be one of those things that completely make or break the entire look of a room if you let them.  For example, the gorgeous stacked stone fireplace in the center of large covered porch absolutely anchors the design and provides a focal point and inspiration for all of the other design elements.  Whereas an awful outdated brick fireplace can completely bring down an otherwise beautiful living area (not that all brick is bad of course). If you have a fireplace at your house, my advice is to strip all other decor away on focus on that single element.  Like it or not they usually become a design focal point in whatever room they are in.

Admittedly I have a little bit of an off beat style, but the fireplace designs in this home are so stunning to me.  I have spent a surprising (and perhaps embarrassing) amount of time on here looking for fireplace decorating ideas to make some sense out of our living room.  We have a large fireplace covering most of our back wall (one of those old style ones) so I really need some inspiration or guidance for how to integrate it into the rest of the decor in a way that truly enhances the space.  I really gravitated to this stone veneer fireplace because it is big and bold, but still fades into the background as needed.