Planning on purchasing a custom home?
You’re in for a thrilling ride, that’s for sure! Your dreams are about to become a reality. The sky’s the limit when it comes to features and design options available for your home.
But with so many options, how do you decide where to begin? How do you make sure you’ve considered everything?
At Royal Homes, we’re here to help ensure you won’t leave a stone (or brick) unturned when building your dream custom home. And the topic we’re going to discuss today is one of our favourites: fireplaces.
Let’s explore custom fireplace design options for indoor and outdoor living spaces to bring a sense of warmth (obviously) and intimacy to your home while adding your own defining aesthetic touch!
5 Indoor and Outdoor Fireplace Design Options
Fireplaces provide warmth and ambiance to any space, whether it is an indoor or outdoor living area. They create the perfect environment for family gatherings and social events.
Indoor fireplaces are perfect for the chilly winter months and are great for providing a focal point or centrepiece that can be used to improve the design of any living space. Outdoor fireplaces are better suited for summer use, but a large outdoor fireplace can transform your patio into a year-round space!
1. Wood-Burning Fireplace
Nothing creates a warm and inviting atmosphere like a true wood-burning fireplace. It invokes the memories of holiday get-togethers and community campfires, encouraging everyone to gather together, swap jokes, and reminisce.
Stone and brick hearths are a natural fit for a wood-burning fireplace, with seemingly infinite options for finishing. You can add all the pomp, circumstance, and grandness in the world, or you can strip it down and keep it bare bones. It really comes down to your preference!
Design features such as brick and stone are readily available for this option. Plus, you can use brushed metal, Corten steel, etc., complimenting almost any and all decor. Wood fireplaces also have a lower environmental impact than their counterparts, gas or electric models!
2. Electric Fireplace (Indoor)
The benefits of an electric fireplace are clear: they offer a cozy, comfortable space to curl up next to when it’s cold outside, and unlike wood-burning fireplaces, they can be installed anywhere in your home.
With an electric fireplace, you have the choice of a traditional design that resembles a wood-burning fireplace or a sleek, modern aesthetic. Some designs even offer three open viewing sides, stretching along a feature wall!
Electric fireplaces also typically have glowing embers and flames that provide a spectacular visual appeal for guests and homeowners alike. Versatility wins the day with electric fireplaces, giving you a broad number of choices!
3. Gas Fireplace (Indoor)
Gas fireplaces are a great alternative to traditional wood burning fireplaces. They’re cleaner and easier to manage than wood-burning fireplaces, and they don’t require the constant upkeep that wood-burners do.
Another big advantage of gas fireplaces is that, like electric fireplaces, they don’t need to be connected to a chimney and you can install them almost anywhere in your home. In addition to heat, gas fireplaces also produce a soft glow, which makes them perfect for creating a relaxing atmosphere.
4. Peninsula Fireplace (Indoor)
Common at luxury hotels and restaurants, a high-end peninsula fireplace acts as a source of heat as well as a gorgeous border wall! This feature divides the space surrounding the fireplaces into separate areas while at the same time keeping everything intimate and connected.
The double-sided peninsula fireplace pictured above separates the living and dining areas in this stunning, open-concept prefabricated cottage.
5. Outdoor Fireplace
Now, this is a much broader section compared to the indoor options we’ve discussed, looking at the entire spectrum of patio fireplaces!
You’ve got a lot to choose from with an outdoor fireplace, starting with custom builds all the way to portable, more straightforward models.
Location is your first consideration with a patio fireplace, with safety requirements being your top priority. For instance, avoid placing any outdoor patio fireplace near low-hanging shrubbery, branches, or bushes. Furthermore, fire-resistant mats are non-negotiable for patio fireplaces.
Once you’ve decided on the safest location, convenience and your intended usage for the fireplace should then be top of mind. Here are some factors to consider:
- Is the fireplace a social gathering area for intimate discussions?
- Are you using it as a cooking and dining area?
- What number of guests will you host near the fireplace?
Upon weighing the above factors, you’ll know whether you want an adjacent fireplace to your house. You’ll then decide if you want your fireplace near or close to other cooking equipment. And you’ll have a good idea about your desired fireplace’s size and scope.
Ready to Start Looking into Fireplaces For Your Custom-Built Home?
The idea of this article was to inspire your search for indoor and outdoor fireplaces for your custom home. Truthfully, however, we’re only scratching the surface with the options we’ve discussed. You need to mull over a seemingly endless list of factors before making a final decision.
For instance, do you want a gas, wood-burning or electric fireplace? Both have their pros and cons. Either way, you want to make an informed purchasing decision based on your personal safety, the logistics of your home, and your particular tastes.
We’ve been designing custom homes for a long time at Royal Homes, so we are more than happy to answer your questions about indoor and outdoor fireplaces. Don’t be afraid to shoot us a phone call or email to ask us what we think, because we’re more than happy to help!