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A fireplace sets the centre of a room whether or not it is lit, which is why choosing one is a design decision before it is a heating decision. The thirty fireplace designs below are grouped by the job they do: how the fire is contained, what surrounds it, where it sits in the plan, and what it is made of. Each entry says what the design suits and what it costs you in return, so you can narrow the field before speaking to a supplier.
Fireplace Designs by Fuel and Format
1. Open wood burning hearth. The traditional masonry opening, radiant and loud and visually unbeatable. It is also the least efficient option, sending most of its heat up the flue, and it needs a chimney, an ash routine and a fuel store.
2. Closed wood burning stove. A glazed firebox raises efficiency dramatically over an open hearth because combustion air is controlled. It reads as an object in the room rather than a hole in the wall, which suits rooms without an existing chimney breast.
3. Inset wood burner. The stove is recessed into the wall so the glass sits flush with the plaster. You get stove efficiency with the clean line of a built in opening, at the cost of a deeper structural opening.
4. Linear gas fire. A long, low ribbon of flame behind a single pane. Instant control, no ash, and a proportion that suits wide modern rooms where a square opening would look undersized.
5. Balanced flue gas fire. Sealed to the outside through a concentric flue, so it can go on an external wall with no chimney at all. It is the most practical retrofit for a flat or an extension.
6. Bioethanol burner. No flue, no chimney, no mains connection. It gives real flame in a room that could never take a fire, but output is modest and the fuel is a running cost rather than a one off.
7. Electric fire with realistic flame effect. Water vapour and LED systems have made these convincing enough to use in a main room. They matter most in apartments and listed buildings where any combustion is off the table.
8. Pellet stove. Automated feed from a hopper, thermostat control and a low emission burn. It behaves like a boiler and looks like a stove, which suits people who want fire without the routine.
Surrounds, Mantels and Framing
9. Carved timber mantel. The traditional period surround, and still the fastest way to give a plain room a focal point. Match the profile to the age of the house or the mismatch will read immediately.
10. Slim steel frame. A blackened or powder coated steel edge just a few millimetres thick, framing the opening and nothing more. It is the opposite argument to a mantel: draw the rectangle and stop.
11. Full height stone chimney breast. Stone carried from floor to ceiling turns the fireplace into the structure of the room. It anchors double height spaces where a normal breast would look lost.
12. Plaster or microcement monolith. A seamless render wraps opening, breast and hearth in one material and one colour. The softness of the arris is the whole point, so the workmanship has to be good.
13. Brick surround with a soldier course. Exposed brick, laid with a detail above the opening, is cheap, robust and reads as honest in a house that already has brick elsewhere.
14. Marble slip and hearth. A period move that survives in contemporary rooms because the veining does the decorating. Keep the surround narrow or it turns heavy.
15. Concealed opening with no surround. Plaster returns straight into the firebox, so the fire appears as a void. It is the most demanding detail on this list, because there is nothing to hide a tolerance behind.
16. Built in log store. Recessed niches either side of the opening, stacked with split logs. It solves storage and supplies pattern and texture at the same time.
Placement and Layout
17. Two sided see through fireplace. One firebox serving two rooms, glazed on both faces. It links a living room to a dining room or a bedroom to a bathroom while keeping the two spaces distinct.
18. Three sided peninsula fireplace. Glazed on three faces so the fire projects into the room from a return wall. It suits open plans where the fire needs to be visible from the kitchen as well as the sofa.
19. Island fireplace. Freestanding and visible from every side, usually with a suspended flue. It divides an open plan without a wall, which is its real function.
20. Suspended hanging fireplace. A spherical or conical firebox hung from the ceiling, often on a swivel. It frees the floor entirely and turns the fire into a sculptural object.
21. Corner fireplace. The pragmatic answer to a room with no spare wall. Angling the opening across the corner opens up the seating arrangement instead of pushing it flat.
22. Raised firebox at seated eye level. Lifting the opening 400 to 600 millimetres brings the flame into view from a sofa and keeps it away from small children. It also makes loading a wood fire far less of a crouch.
23. Fireplace with integrated seating ledge. A cantilevered stone or concrete bench running out from the breast. It gives the warmest seat in the house and doubles as a place to set things down. For the wider room, our notes on modern living room design cover how seating should sit around a focal point.
24. Fireplace and television on the same wall. Done badly this is a classic mistake, with the screen too high above the heat. Done well the two are offset rather than stacked, so neither compromises the other.
Materials and Finishes
25. Blackened steel plate. Hot rolled steel with a wax or oil finish. It moves and patinates with heat, which is either the appeal or the problem depending on your tolerance.
26. Rough hewn stone. Split face limestone or granite laid with deep joints gives shadow and weight. It carries a rustic room and, used sparingly, stops a minimal one from feeling clinical.
27. Handmade glazed tile. Zellige or similar irregular tiles around an opening catch firelight differently across every face. It is the cheapest way to get movement into a small surround.
28. Reclaimed timber beam mantel. A single salvaged beam, left with its checks and saw marks. Confirm the fire rating and the required clearance to combustibles before committing to the depth.
29. Polished concrete surround. Cast in situ or as precast slabs, concrete gives a continuous monolithic face with a cool grey that contrasts warm flame. It is heavy, so the structure has to be considered early, and the guide to concrete against timber and steel covers how the weight compares.
30. Outdoor fireplace or fire table. A masonry fireplace or gas fire table on a terrace extends the living season and gives the garden the same focal point the living room has. Weather rated materials and a wind sheltered position matter more than the style.
How to Choose the Right Fireplace for Your Home
Work through the constraints before the aesthetics. Decide the fuel first, because it dictates whether you need a chimney, a balanced flue or nothing at all. Measure the room and pick a proportion that matches it, since an undersized opening in a wide wall is the most common error. Check the ventilation requirement and the clearance to combustibles for your chosen appliance, confirm the hearth size your building regulations demand, and then price the running cost honestly: wood is cheap per hour but expensive in effort, electric is the reverse. Only after that does the surround material become the interesting question.
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