A fireplace is a heating device that is considered by many in the UK a must-have implementation. With the cold and wet British climate, especially in autumn and winter, there’s nothing better than relaxing in the living room whilst the fireplace is on.
It enlightens the interior and brings even more cordiality to the pleasant atmosphere created by the family.
A fireplace is treated as a decorative element emphasizing the character of the interior and creating a warm and cosy space. It is a great choice for any living space and any home styles – whether it’s modern or traditional. The whole point is to create that enjoyable environment – a safe retreat for the family and friends.
Decorating your fire surrounds
If you’ve already got a fireplace, you’ve nailed the step one of bringing the level of cosiness from zero to eight. Now you can light a fire, sit back on the couch, put on a funny comedy and relax.
Getting to that level 10 of cosy would mean you’d have to decorate the new fireplace surrounds in the proper way. What do we mean by proper?
Well, you don’t just want a nice cladding on the focal point of the interior. Firstly, you want the cladding to make sense. If you own a traditional fireplace, then layering it with glass panels will not work. Meanwhile, if you have a stove in your modern interior, using the brickwork method might not suit the aesthetics either.
What’s the best fire surrounds material?
It is impossible to clearly define what the fireplace casing should be made of. It’s all a matter of style and preference. Some prefer simple forms and neutral colours, others prefer rich and expressive designs.
A fireplace should be enclosed in such a way that it fits into the style of the interior and is liked by the household members. It also needs to be safe, containing an air flow, chinmey and a heat output. That’s all that matters – as long as you avid tacky designs and cheap looking creations, then you’ve nailed step two of the cosy-home process.
Functionality and good fire surrounds investment
Choose durable materials that withstand high temperatures
An ideal fireplace casing should not only be aesthetic, but also durable. An ideal fire place should not be covered with materials that are easily damaged mechanically, but also not very resistant to household chemicals.
Remember that a fireplace is a thing that outlives generations. It’s more of a timeless concept, like a kitchen or living room are, rather than a product. It’s designed to outlive you, your children and their children – a source of heat and integrity that brings the family together. As such, the material cladding your fireplace should also be encased in durable fireplace surrounds.
The product which is resistant to high temperatures, damage and moisture is the one and only: natural stone. Glass will break, metal will scratch, paint will chip, plaster will flake, wood will burn, laminate will stain. These are inevitable scenarios of these inferior products. The only answer for fireplace surrounds cladding is either granite, marble, ceramic or quartz.
Stone is widely known to be a superior product. It’s one of the hardest materials on the planet and as such will grant you the longevity that you seek. Not only that, granite is resistant to extreme temperatures. Therefore if your wood log burner spews out hot ash or embers, neither granite, quartz or marble fireplaces will be affected.
Choose an easy-to-clean material
Applying wood, laminate or paint around the new fireplace could not only be hazardous, as the chance of combustion increases, it would also be difficult to clean that area.
Sleek granite and marble fireplace surrounds offer easy and effortless maintenance. Polished stone is very hard and virtually cannot be penetrated by dirt, grime or soot. So a single wipe with a damp cloth will clean natural stone. The quality, smooth surface, durability and anti-porous properties make stone the best product for your stone fireplaces surrounds.
How to buy stone fireplace surrounds and how to install it?
Purchasing the right stone for your fire surround is actually very simple. All you need to do is call the right company who deals with sale and manufacture of stone goods like granite worktops. It’s almost certain that such company will have kitchen worktop offcuts which you could buy for your granite fireplace surrounds.
In terms of installation of marble fireplace surrounds, we highly recommend you ask the same business that sells you the granite worktop offcuts to install the pieces. Stone can be very heavy, therefore to avoid injury or breaking of the marble or granite, you should request specialist help during installation process. Therefore before you even find & pick the offcut place, you need to consult with them the delivery, stock availability matters.
You should also confirm they are able to create mantels, natural stone fire inserts, back panel, stands, wood log basket and different custom marble fire surround creations. Once you get send them the rights sizes & parameters and confirm the pieces can be delivered and installed, feel free to request a quote.
If the price is right, feel free to request their help, choose a suitable hearth surround and await the end result to complete your cosy house décor.
When it comes to selecting the right granite business that could supply marble fireplace surround & stone fireplace surround, we recommend Polish Granite LTD. Not only do they deliver fireplace surrounds & marble fire surrounds across the whole of UK, but also carry out an immaculate job. And they have a large, beautiful range of granite offcut colours to choose from.
And yes, before you ask, they do have a fireplace warehouse and a marble & granite showroom that you can visit, containing all offcut stock and samples neatly displayed. Although you can browse their offcut web page, click the filters you like, sort through the digitalised offcut range, accept and pick the colour you like and request a quotation for your surround fireplace design.
Feel free to look them up, the reviews on Google speak for themselves!
