Small living room fireplace ideas

All the very best lounge schemes have a focus, one thing that pulls you in and the place the place your eyes land if you enter a room. Whereas having a hearth centre stage can create a superb point of interest, in the case of small lounge fire concepts, it could actually generally be a problem making it work.

Small dwelling rooms can simply look crowded if there’s an excessive amount of occurring and too many massive objects of furnishings or cumbersome items dominating the house. So in the case of fire options for small lounge concepts, placing the correct stability is vital. Whereas a central place could also be the very best spot for a fireside – and sometimes the one place obtainable in a small lounge – intelligent use of color, supplies and different fireplace encompass concepts can all assist a hearth to mix in higher when lack of house is in opposition to you.

Small lounge fire concepts

Placement of furnishings is one other massive consideration in the case of small lounge fire concepts. Whereas a hearth or point of interest function normally dictates the place furnishings goes, the seating association doesn’t essentially must face the hearth or the furnishings be pushed again in opposition to the partitions.

Designer and TV presenter Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s recommendation is that furnishings ought to ‘by no means’ be pushed in opposition to the wall. ‘It limits the sense of house and horizon, making the room look smaller,’ says Laurence. ‘Should you probably can – even when it’s just some inches – then make it possible for furnishings is away from the wall.’

Learn on for different methods and suggestions that may assist make your fire the star function in a small lounge.

1. Make your fire ‘pop’ with color

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Dominic Blackmore

Draw consideration to a shapely fireplace encompass by portray it a daring standout color. Including a shot of sunny yellow will give a cool, impartial scheme some heat. It additionally makes certain the hearth is the focus of the room, relatively than the small lounge TV concept.

Utilizing a pale color on partitions, teamed with light-coloured furnishings and mushy tones helps create a way of house in a compact lounge, the place the background colors don’t struggle for consideration. Stability a yellow fire with just some additional accents of yellow right here and there.

2. Go ‘darkish’ so as to add a way of house

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Dominic Blackmore

It’s a delusion that darkish colors all the time make an area really feel smaller. Used cleverly, darker colors can create the notion of depth in order that partitions seem to recede and make a small room truly really feel a lot greater. Particularly for those who good your small dwelling lighting concepts.

Paint an overly-large fireplace encompass to match your wall color in order that it doesn’t stand out and dominate the room an excessive amount of. Portray fittings and trims the identical color as partitions in darkish, tonal shades can have the impact of softening the sides and blurring the boundaries. With no harsh line breaks to interrupt the sightline, the house will really feel immediately greater.

3. Swap the hearth for a neat wooden burner

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Simon Whitmore

A chimney breast wall can eat right into a room’s footprint and take up beneficial house, in addition to being restrictive by way of structure. Think about when planning the place furnishings similar to couch concepts for small dwelling rooms will probably be positioned. You may exchange a standard fire for a neat, wood-burning range that may be positioned in a extra appropriate spot. Stoves will be positioned just about anyplace in a room so long as there’s a flue and all security necessities are met.

Make your range and flue a focus by portray the wall behind in a daring, distinction color. Think about a raised fireside space as an alternative of a standard fire, which will be styled-up with ornamental ins and outs and come in useful for log storage too. It’s going to should be topped with a heat-proof tile or slab, however will be painted to match the wall for a modern look.

4. Go rustic with a timber mantel

Picture credit score: Future PLC/David Brittain

Change a cumbersome fireplace encompass with a rustic-style timber mantel. Utilizing reclaimed wooden or an outdated timber beam will add luggage of character to a lounge and create a superb point of interest that can take up much less house than a standard fire.

With house on prime that may be styled with favorite ornaments or seasonal foliage, a timber mantel like this one is secured in place with hidden fittings, very like a floating shelf. Whereas a reclaimed timber mantel sits completely in a country-style scheme, modern polished wooden mantels are additionally an choice that might swimsuit a contemporary small lounge concept.

5. Stretch the house with a visible trick

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Dan Duchars

Make a fireplace encompass mix in with the backdrop by portray it the identical color because the wall. Wooden wall panelling concepts overlaying a whole wall will give a lounge a relaxed, country-style vibe. And including a shelf that spans the width of the wall will add additional storage and show house that may be jollied up with footage, ceramics and fairly floral shows.

Make a small lounge really feel greater by portray the wall in a half-and-half color therapy. Having a darker paint color on the underside part of wall helps to floor the room and offers a distinction backdrop for furnishings and vibrant mushy furnishings. A lighter color on the highest part of wall and ceiling helps to create a way of peak and make a small room really feel extra lofty.

6. Go for floor-to-ceiling tiles

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Colin Poole

Whereas paint or wallpaper is commonly the overlaying of alternative for a chimney breast wall, tiling the realm as an alternative presents the possibility to create a surprising point of interest lounge function wall concept. Flooring-to-ceiling tiles will even draw the attention upwards and is a intelligent manner of making a way of peak in a small or poky lounge.

Select a standout color so as to add the wow-factor to your tiling and go for Moroccan-style Zellige tiles to create a country, rough-and-ready look. Their irregular form and glaze imperfections provides extra of a handcrafted flavour, relatively than the uniform look created utilizing customary ceramic tiles.

7. Add nation attraction with panelling

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Simon Whitmore

Meting out with a hearth and slotting in a neat wooden burner concept is a good way of releasing up some additional house in a small lounge. However as an alternative of leaving the encompassing wall house empty, attempt a rustic-look cover-up that can deliver luggage of nation attraction.

Cladding the chimney breast wall with timber panelling is a beautiful manner of giving a small house an ornamental point of interest and is a intelligent manner of overlaying up less-than-perfect plaster or brickwork. Portray the panelling a dusky shade will assist to border a freestanding range and including a easy shelf will create an space for show. Think about distinction patterned wallpaper in adjoining alcoves to actually fairly up the house.

8. Make the house shine

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Dominic Blackmore

Improve the sensation of house in a small lounge by hanging a big lounge mirror concept above the hearth. Mirrors assist to bounce mild round a room and teamed with pale wall colors and muted mushy furnishings, will help to spice up pure mild ranges and make a small room really feel lighter, brighter and extra spacious.

Keep away from positioning a mirror too excessive above a hearth, in order that it doesn’t find yourself reflecting the ceiling, a naked wall or doorway and shedding its aesthetic attraction. Attempt hanging it just some inches or so above the mantel, excessive sufficient with the intention to see your self in it correctly, however low sufficient so that it’ll replicate again any ornamental items displayed alongside the mantel.

9. Use the mantel for show

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Dominic Blackmore

Whether or not you have got a superb fire that you simply wish to rejoice, or one which’s less-than-lovely that you simply’d favor to disguise, a mantel is a first-rate spot for a styled-up show space which may develop into a focus in its personal proper.

Create a extra thought of show by taking the color theme, room decor and elegance of fireside under consideration when selecting your show items. Then go for a mixture of objects in numerous shapes, sizes and hues to create variation. Have a look at lounge shelving concepts for show inspiration.

Begin with taller objects on the again, working your manner alongside the mantel and layering items, with smaller objects on the entrance. Attempt propping footage in opposition to the wall or inserting quick objects on a stack of books so as to add peak. Create mini vignettes right here and there, inserting related objects collectively in teams of three or 5 (odd numbers work higher than even) and remembering to depart a bit of free house to present your show room to breathe.

10. Go for space-saving ‘built-ins’

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Chris Snook

Making use of alcove concepts both facet of a hearth could be a useful space-saver in a small lounge. However whereas helpful for media storage and bookshelves, hearth alcoves do are typically non-standard widths and heights, so it may be tough discovering off-the-peg furnishings to suit.

Having storage constructed to fit in is a manner round the issue, with a carpenter in a position to construct bespoke cupboards and open shelving to suit the house precisely. For a less-pricey choice, attempt designing your personal made-to-measure furnishings by way of firms like Jali, who will create customised mdf furnishings that’s then assembled and DIY fitted at dwelling.

11. Mix in an unused fire

Picture credit score: Future PLC/Jo Henderson

When you have a non-working fire concept or an empty fireside that appears naked and darkish out of season, there are many methods you can jolly-up the house and make it really feel extra homely 12 months spherical.

Attempt faking it, by filling an empty fireside with a stack of logs so as to add a country nation vibe. Add a splash of color by portray the minimize ends of logs right here and there – use tester pots of paint to make use of up any leftovers.

Alternatively, fill an empty fireside with a show of flowers or greenery. Use a collection of vases or planters in numerous shapes and heights, positioning taller foliage on the again to fill the house. Utilizing a collection of pillar candles in assorted heights is one other beautiful manner of filling an empty fireside and they are often lit at night time time to create a comfy glow.

The place do you place a TV in a small lounge with a hearth?

‘One of many massive issues is that most individuals are inclined to have two very totally different focal factors in a lounge – the hearth and the TV,’ says Laurence, ‘and in some way we wish to accommodate each throughout the identical axis.’

Opinions are divided in the case of whether or not a TV ought to take centre stage or you must conceal a TV. One choice that’s well-liked with wide-screens is to place the TV centrally above a hearth, for optimum viewing pleasure. Selecting a TV measurement that’s in scale with the hearth beneath is a manner of making a extra balanced look. And though many are in opposition to having a TV in such a central spot, positioning it above the hearth implies that there aren’t two competing focal factors.

Alternatively, if house is tight, positioning the TV in a nook spot is another choice that works effectively and isn’t as ‘in your face’ as mounting it centrally above a hearth. Think about inserting the TV on a media unit slotted into a fireplace alcove, or alternatively mounting it on the wall by way of a bracket.