Looking to design a stone fireplace? I’m sharing several stone fireplace ideas to consider!
A while back, I wrote about the transformation of our built in shelves next to our fireplace. We started off with a fireplace and bookcases that looked like this:
And after painting the bookcases and covering our once-brick fireplace with stone veneer, we transformed it into this stacked stone fireplace we love:
I thought that remodeling our fireplace would be as simple as walking into the showroom of the fireplace/stone veneer dealer, picking my stone, and scheduling the installation but this seemingly easy task quickly became pretty frustrating & time-consuming. It all could have been prevented if going into the project I had information about the choices I would need to make and a little guidance on how to make them.
My goal with this post is to make the process much easier for any of you jumping into a similar project. I’ve included five stone fireplace ideas to consider when designing a stone fireplace:
1. Manufactured vs. Natural Stone Veneer for Your Fireplace
One of the main decisions you’ll have to make is whether you want to use manufactured or natural stone. The pros of manufactured (also known as “cultured”) stone are that it is much less expensive than natural stone and because it’s lighter than natural stone, it’s also simpler and less expensive to install. The pro of natural stone is its beauty – there is variation in each and every stone and the end product is gorgeous.
If you have a large budget, natural stone is a great choice and may be the way for you to go but I chose manufactured stone veneer to stay within my budget. Considering the amount of money I saved and how close my manufactured stone veneer looks to the “real thing”, I’m very happy with my decision.
2. Choosing the Style and Color of Fireplace Stone
There are many different styles of stone to choose from including fieldstone, stacked stone like in this beautiful fireplace below that you can see more of {here}:
river rock, and many others. You can also use a combination of two different types of stone such as fieldstone and ledgestone. Each style of manufactured stone comes in several color options, making the range of choices mind-boggling. I ended up choosing a ledgestone (StoneCraft Industries’ Ledgestone) in warm shades of gray and tan (“Pennsylvania” color):
The best way to choose the style and color of stone is to visit a few showrooms that have fireplaces on display with various stone options. Once you’ve narrowed down your selections by taking into consideration the colors and style of your home, ask to borrow some sample boards so that you can see how the stone looks in your home. If the showroom doesn’t have sample boards that they loan out, ask if you can borrow several pieces of stone (get a good variety in size and color) for each of your possible options.
Also if you choose stacked stone, you need to decide whether you want “dry” stacked stone or stone with mortar showing between the stones. This pic shows both – stacked stone with mortar at the top and dry stacked stone at the bottom:
3. Consider Keystones or Other Stone Trim
The best way to decide whether to incorporate keystones or other stone trim into your fireplace design is to seek inspiration online and in fireplace showrooms. While I chose a basic layout without keystones or other stone trim, you could chose to do a keystone plus a row of accent stones above the fireplace opening,
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a simple arch design,
one long, single stone above the fireplace opening , or any other design/pattern of trim stone that you can dream up. My advice – keep it simple with either no keystones/trim or a simple design.
4. Mantel or No Mantel and, If So, What Type?
If you’d like to have a mantel, it is ideally installed in conjunction with the stone veneer so this decision should be made along with the selection of your stone. There are several different materials that can be used to create a mantel, such as stone, painted wood, or natural or stained wood. My fireplace obviously has no mantel and I go back and forth about whether that was the best decision or not. I already have so much shelving surrounding it that I didn’t need a mantel for displaying anything and I do like the more streamlined look but it definitely would be nice to have a mantel to decorate for the holidays!
5. Decide on the Design of Your Hearth
Most of the stone veneer manufacturers carry hearthstones designed to coordinate with your chosen stone veneer. However, beware – the hearthstones that were meant to go with the stone veneer that I chose were ugly and fake looking. The lesson here is to make sure you ask to see the coordinating hearthstones and not just assume that they will look just as good as the stone veneer you chose! If you don’t like what you see, shop around – I was able to find hearthstones that I liked from a different manufacturer:
Also consider how you want your hearthstones laid – you can lay them the typical way like I did or choose to have them broken up with mortar in between the pieces:
Another option to consider is using natural stone for the hearth even if you used manufactured stone veneer for the rest of the fireplace. When natural stone is used, it’s often in a large slab of a material such as bluestone. The natural stone costs more than manufactured hearthstones but for most fireplaces it’s not too large of an area so the difference in cost may be doable.
For those of you embarking on a stone fireplace remodel project, I hope you found this post to be helpful. If you have a fireplace with shelving on both sides of it like mine, another post you might find to be helpful is my post on how to decorate a bookshelf.
Jen says
What color paint did you use on the walls of the room? The fireplace remodel is really beautiful.
Annie says
Can you tell me the dimensions for all the parts of your fireplace? i.e the width of the stone on either side of the fireplace, the width of the fireplace, the height, width, depth of the hearth seat. Thank you!
Kris Jarrett says
Sorry – this was in our previous home and I don’t have detailed measurements of our fireplace from when we lived there.
jeanne says
Your fireplace is gorgeous!
What kind of hearth stone did you get? I have been looking, & see many photos online, but no one says what it is.
Thanks,
Jeanne
Lori says
Check out Riverside Stone Veneer in Riverside California they have been around for over 40 years and have a great selection of stone veneer. It is the only female ran and owne stone veneer company in the world Riversidestoneveneer.com
Phone 951-689-2901
Michael Coppola says
Is your hearthstone real or manufactured?
Kris Jarrett says
My hearthstones are manufactured – the brand is Dutch Quality Stone (I’m unsure of the name of the color)
Mini says
I’m so glad I came across your Pinterest accout! We have been agonizing for months on how to upgrade our fireplace. Thanks so much for sharing.
Pattie says
Hi my name is Pattie, you posted a fireplace pic on Pinterest with a large statement black mantel. Loved it. Would you be able to tell me the name of the stone or venere and the color.
Sara says
We have a natural stone fireplace which is awesome, but made a mistake with the screen. It does not fit flat against the stone. If we were to do it again, we should have picked the fireplace screen before building the stone.
Donna says
Thank you for the suggestions and comparison of real Stone to cultured. I will work on my mantel choice now, as you suggested
marti jo bridges says
Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!! So very helpful!!! Thank you! I am doing something similar, and trying to figure out how to adhere or mortar my hearth stones to my painted brick hearth!
Todd says
Kris, I love what you did and I am amazed at how similar it is to what I am in the middle of. Thanks for sharing. Could you answer a question for me please? I see that your lower cabinets extend part of the way out along the hearth – mine are the same. I see you stoned the front of the hearth to match the upper stone but what did you do on the sides of the hearth that are in front of the cabinets? Did you wrap the stone there? Thanks!
Kris Jarrett says
Yes, the sides are wrapped in stone too!
Jenny says
Hi Kris,
I love how your fireplace turned out. Our fireplace looks identical to your old version with the white latex paint covering the brick. We plan to re-do ours like yours. How long did this project take?
Thanks Jenny
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Jenny – adding the stone veneer over the brick was done in a single day!
Laura says
What was the cost to do this?? Did you hire a mason to do the job?
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Laura – while I would be more than happy to share info of cost, we did this over five years ago and it was lumped in as part of a larger renovation so unfortunately I simply don’t remember. The people who installed the stone veneer were contracted through the company that we bought the stone from. If you contact a stone veneer dealer and give them the size of your fireplace, they should be able to provide you with an estimate for the cost of stone plus installation. Good luck with your project!
Vicki says
We’re having stacked stone veneer put in next month and want a mantel. How should we plan for that ahead of time? Do we leave a gap and mount the mantel first orintall it over the stone?
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Vicki! Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to your question since I decided not to have a mantel on mine. Definitely something I’d ask your stone installers!
Lori moran says
You have a stone fireplace shown 4th from the top. It’s a field stone and I would love to know the name and mfg if you know it please? I am struggling with this choice. Thanks so much.
Kris Jarrett says
Sorry Lori, unfortunately I don’t have any information about the stone on that fireplace. Wish I could help!
Sue says
Can you tell me what stone company and style/color the river rock is from – for the picture of the stone fireplace with a chair on either side of the fireplace, and the room has vaulted ceilings.
Thank you so much!
Kris @ Driven by Decor says
Hi Sue,
Just click on the link under the photo that says “via” and it will take you to the website of the stone manufacturer!
Sue says
Sorry – first time visitor:) Thanks so much!