Fireplace Surrounds (the trim surrounding a fireplace) serves to make a statement about the homeowner, the elegance or simplicity of the surround is entirely up to the individual taste of each person.

Fireplace surrounds, even elegant looking ones don't have to be expensive though. In the AutoCAD rendering (artwork) below, I designed a simple but very elegant looking surround.

The scale or size of the pieces used to make up the surround is very important in determining the overall look of the surround. For the example below, I wanted to know if the trim sizes of the late 1800's could be adopted for use in a room with an eight foot high ceiling commonly seen in homes today. What I found or what seems to be likely is that the typical fireplace surrounds of the late 1800's were actually much under scale considering that it was not uncommon for ceilings of that period to be 12 or 14 feet high.

Only three moulding profiles (styles) are used, a standard cove, a standard 3/4 X 3/4 and a dental moulding that can be made using a table saw and a router with a 1/4" rounding bit. I also designed some columns to flank the fireplace and used them above and below the mantle. The balance of pieces are 3/4" thick hardwood, the shelf and baseboards. The structural framing for the mantle is 3/4" cabinet grade plywood.

Any woodworking or millwork shop would have no trouble in manufacturing one and the cost would be very reasonable.