What can be more welcoming to guests, or even family members for that matter, than a living room with a softly blazing fire to keep them warm and comfortable on a cold winter night. A fireplace mantel goes a long way in defining the overall décor of a room, and hence, it holds special importance in interior designing. Coming up with good mantel designs, is not that difficult if you come to think of it. All you need is some information on what kind of materials to use for the fireplace surround, and which one will suit the other furniture and look of the house. That's what we'll help you with in this article.
Brick
One of the most popular, and widely used ideas are brick fireplace designs. They are pretty to look at, they give your home that old-country feel, and apart from being strong and sturdy, also increase the aesthetic value of your fireplace. You can have all the bricks painted in a dark brown paint, and outlined with white paint. This will define each brick and the overall effect will be charming!
Wooden
Another very popular fireplace mantel and surround idea is a wooden one. Hardwood works best for this idea. It looks good in dark and deep tones, if the rest of your living room has a dull tone of a pastel color. And if your room is vibrant with colors, then you can go for a lighter shade of wood, which will bring out the contrasting effect magnificently. In designs, you can go for something plain like simple wooden panels around the fireplace, or you can opt for a more fancy one with embellished carvings on it. You can place a huge clear-glass vase on the mantel, fill it with water, keep some white carnations in it, and add a few drops of red ink to the water. The flower stalks will absorb the ink, and the flowers will get a light pinkish tinge.
Stone
My personal favorite when it comes to fireplace designs. There's nothing like antique fireplace mantels, carved and etched in stone. It gives a lofty effect to the fireplace. The cold stone counters the warmth of the fire beautifully, and displays a warm and tempting comfort, that not many can resist. In stone fireplaces, apart from the option mentioned above, another one you can try, is a plain stone one, without any carving or other work adorning the stone. Just keep it plain and simple. Polish the stones that you use for the fireplace, so that it does not look too shabby. You can decorate this plain one with an elaborately set wrought iron candle holder placed on top of it.
Those were some ideas on how you can transform fireplace mantels and surrounds, using simple and effective ways. Make sure you take fireplace safety very seriously. Take appropriate measures like keeping fire extinguishers close at hand, and enjoy the warmth of your fireplace!
