Our Favorite Fireplace Ideas and Inspiration

There’s nothing as cozy in the fall and winter months as relaxing by a crackling fireplace and enjoying the warm glow. Today, you have an unlimited number of styles and designs to choose from so all your fireplace fantasies can come true.

We’d like to share a few of our favorite fireplace ideas with you, showcasing recent fireplace trends in South Carolina in our custom homes. Because we just can’t get enough of seeing beautiful fireplaces and we have a hunch you can’t either.

Fireplace Designs

Some of the most popular fireplace trends we are seeing in our custom homes recently include design ideas like:

a shiplap fireplace wall, wood mantel, and painted brick hearth with custom window seats beside fireplace

Painted/unpainted brick hearth and shiplap fireplace wall with built-in window seats on each side of the fireplace.

A TV Above the Fireplace

Most of our clients want a TV above a fireplace so the family can enjoy the fire while watching TV at the same time and have one focal point area instead of multiple focal points. They prefer mounting the TV at eye level to make the viewing height just right.

A full-motion TV could be ideal if you would like to be able to angle the TV one way or another to view it from the kitchen or from a particular part of the living room.

Fireplace with brick fireplace surround, rustic beam wood mantel, shiplap fireplace wall, and built-in bookcases

Weathered brick fireplace surround, reclaimed wood beam mantel, and shiplap fireplace wall.

A Fireplace Surround with Character

The fireplace surround includes the mantel, the legs that go from the mantel to the hearth, the facing, and anything else on the exterior of the firebox inside of the fireplace.

Some clients like for the entire fireplace surround to match. Others prefer a sharp contrast between the exterior part of the surround and the inner part.

For a modern fireplace surround, we recommend choosing a stacked stone, wood, concrete, cast stone, granite, quartz, or marble fireplace surround.

For a rustic fireplace surround, we suggest using stacked stone, or brick fireplace surround. For the most rustic look with brick, choose brick that looks weathered and aged to get the greatest amount of personality and charm.

For a luxury fireplace surround, we recommend using a facing of ceramic tile, quartz, granite, or marble tile fireplace surround combined with a painted wood mantel and legs.

White mantle and legs with brick facing and brick hearth and shiplap fireplace wall and built-ins on each side of the fireplace

Brick hearth and white painted wood fireplace surround with shiplap fireplace wall and a huge wall of built-in shelves and cabinets on each side.

Built-in Bookcases on Each Side of the Fireplace

Floating shelves are a modern touch that make the space on either side of the fireplace a bit more airy and spacious.

Floor-to-ceiling bookcases make for a dramatic touch with plenty of space for displaying your treasured family heirlooms and books.

Accent lighting over the bookcases provides a sophisticated mood lighting effect to use alone or in combination with the ambient lighting of the room. (See picture below.)

Fireplace And Built In Bookshelves 1

Brick fireplace surround facing with stacked molding wood fireplace surround and mantel with board and batten detail.

Mantel Decor Ideas

You can involve an interior designer to get the perfect look for your mantel decor. Or you can check out our mantel decorating ideas:

  • If there is no wall-mounted TV above the fireplace, opt for a large piece of art to fill that empty space and draw the eye.
  • Place a vase with a tall, but narrow, floral or twig arrangement on each end of the mantel.
  • Group 3 different-sized wide candles on decorative candlestick holders on one side of the mantel and a lantern on the other for a farmhouse effect.
  • Place a few sculptures or treasured family heirlooms on each side of the mantel with different heights but an overall symmetrical effect.
  • For Christmas, of course, the mantel is the ideal place to hang stockings, garland, stringed lights, and showcase Christmas ceramics, floral arrangements, and other holiday treasures.

Outdoor Living Room Porch Fireplace Home Builder Sc

A white-painted brick fireplace on a spacious back porch with masonry wood storage cubbies.

A Second Fireplace on the Back Porch or Fire Pit on the Back Patio

The only thing better than a fireplace inside your home? Another fireplace outside!

Many of our clients want a fireplace in the great room or family room and an additional one on the back porch. Some choose to have a sunken fire pit in a custom patio, instead.

A large fireplace/fire pit outdoors is the perfect gathering place for family and friends for football games, movie night, and making magical memories together.

Stacked stone veneer fireplace surround with white crown molding mantel and built-in bookcases on each side of the fireplace with a shiplap fireplace wall

Stacked stone wood-burning fireplace and hearth with white crown molding wood mantel, shiplap wall above the fireplace and custom built-ins on each side.

Check out our fireplace gallery in this post for:

  • Fireplace mantel ideas: white custom wood mantels with crown molding or columns, or rustic wood mantels.
  • Stone fireplace ideas: stacked stone.
  • Fireplace surround ideas: painted white wood with trim, stone, brick, tile, or granite.
  • Fireplace wall ideas: painted drywall, shiplap, brick, painted brick, or board and batten.
  • Fireplace hearth ideas: round small tile, marble tile, granite, brick, or white painted brick.
  • Shiplap fireplace ideas: only the fireplace wall or extending to the built-in bookcases.
  • Built-ins on each side of the fireplace ideas: custom shelves, custom cabinets with shelves, floating shelves, or custom window seats.

board and batten trim around windows and board and batten accent wall above fireplace

A painted wood fireplace surround with granite facing and board and batten fireplace wall with wall-mounted TV above the fireplace.

Exposed Beams and rustic brick fireplace and fireplace wall

Masonry wood-burning fireplace and brick fireplace surround, brick fireplace wall, reclaimed wood rustic mantle, and floor-level brick hearth

White fireplace surround with columns and a crown molding shelf with an inner marble fireplace surround, and floor-level hearth and shiplap fireplace wall.

White painted wood fireplace surround with columns and a crown molding shelf with an inner marble fireplace surround, and floor-level hearth and shiplap fireplace wall.

Small round tile fireplace surround and granite hearth.

White painted wood fireplace surround with small round tile fireplace surround facing and granite hearth.

white fireplace surround with white tile facing, painted fireplace wall, and a built-in cabinet/bookshelf on one side.

White painted wood fireplace surround with white tile facing, painted fireplace wall, and a built-in cabinet/bookshelf on one side.

Living Space With Fireplace And Built In Cabinets

White wood fireplace surround, black granite fireplace surround facing, and tile hearth with built-in cabinets and floating shelves.

Shiplap fireplace wall, aged wood beam for a mantel, and marble tile fireplace surround facing.

Shiplap fireplace wall, aged wood beam for a mantel, and marble tile fireplace surround facing.

White Shiplap Fireplace Wall With White Mantel And Custom Built In Bookshelves And Cabinets On Each Side Of The Fireplace 1

White painted wood fireplace surround, shiplap fireplace wall, built-ins on each side of the fireplace, black granite fireplace surround facing, and black granite hearth.

Ready to Design the Custom Fireplace (and Home) of Your Dreams in Lexington, SC?

At Blythe Building Company, we craft luxury homes as individual as you are. Using the finest materials and designs, we help you bring your dream home to life.

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