Fireplaces are perfect for keeping your main room warm and/or beautiful. You can have them even inside the apartment — sometimes you don’t need fire to warm up your home with a fireplace.
What matters the most in this kind of construction is the surround. A good surround fits your interior design perfectly and can even organize your space, providing extra storage for different appliances.
A good surround can completely change the way your room looks. Find your perfect type in the Ponoma online store: https://ponomasteel.com/collections/decorative-fireplace-surrounds.
Pick your material and style
There are a few options you can pick from when it comes to finding the most suitable material:
- Wood. Wood is relatively inexpensive to buy and install, looks good in general, and can be painted to match your room style. It can be a good choice for a period house, but if you’re choosing it for a real fireplace with fire and everything that comes with it, you have to be extra careful while installing the surround — make sure it’s far enough from the fire to avoid burning.
- Stone or marble. This option can give you both a modern and period look depending on how you will match the surround with everything else around it. These materials will cost you a lot, but the “wow-effect” is guaranteed. Also, you can use their surface to put on display some nice pictures or another type of decor. Of course, there are also some disadvantages: just like wood, stone dislikes high heat, it might even crack if exposed too close to the fire.
- Cast iron. Does it look cool? Yes, it does. Cast iron is a perfect option if you like a heavy antique style or solid and minimalistic surfaces. Iron can easily withstand fire, but it also absorbs the heat, making it impossible to touch the surround or put anything heat-sensitive on top of it.
Picking a surround for your fireplace
Some people style their houses according to specific historical period classics. That’s actually a great idea — not so many people these days can say they have regency-styled furniture or a Victorian dining room.
To find out which surround for a fireplace will suit you the best, remember the era the house was built in. It should be done not only for aesthetic purposes but also because the house plan for every period has its own strong and weak places.
Georgian and Regency era are known for their huge fireplaces, being the main attraction of the room. A typical example would be a big fireplace surrounded full of voluminous details and lots of decors, including family antics — medallions, family signs, or some other symbols and shapes.
Victorian designs have intricate features but a slightly less pompous look than the previous option. Nearing the end of the period, the style became more proportional and geometric.
Art Nouveau is always about flowers, plants, and pastel colors. Fireplaces from that era would be full of flower decor
Edwardian style is about simplicity: simple shapes, simple lines. There were some days when the iron cast was abandoned for fireplace surround building options, but mid-Edwardian era this trend was restored — but, with slightly simpler ornaments and shapes.
Modern fireplaces can look anything you’ll choose: you can follow centuries-long traditions and make your home look like a castle, or you can opt for modern designs.
But first, sizes. Most manufacturers use 55,5-60 inches width and a height around 41-51 inches. The best thing you can do to order a really fitting model is to make a specialist measure it for you.
Speaking of materials, stainless steel is still one of the best options. It’s effortless to clean, it won’t get broken after impact or long use. Other benefits of this material include:
- convenient to use;
- easy to clean;
- looks minimalistic and solid.
This way, stainless steel is your best option for fireplace surround if you’re looking for something stylish, easy in maintenance, and durable.
