Check out our latest magazine... Read Online

Grate Accessories: Adding to your Fireplace

Tuesday, 15 September 2020 09:00

By Hanna Prince

September is the perfect time to customise your fireplace with a few stylish design tweaks

It’s easy to turn a fireplace from bare to brilliant with the addition of a few choice accessories. From candles and mirrors to vases and perfectly-placed pictures, custom additions can completely transform the look and feel of a fireplace. 

The best accessories are functional as well as attractive. If you have an open fire or a woodburning stove, invest in a stylish screen to protect rugs or carpets from excessive heat and instantly update your room at the same time.

With everything from tree sculptures to stained glass screens on offer, it’s a practical way to make a style statement.  

Fireside tool sets come in an equally diverse range of styles and materials. Antiqued copper, stainless steel, hand-forged iron – with so many modish options out there, it’s not hard to find something that appeals to your design sense.

Similarly, log baskets needn’t be traditional wicker tubs. Minimalist circular racks are increasingly popular, along with copper buckets, crates and inset wall storage.   

Once you have the practical elements in place, it’s time to get creative. Intersperse candle lanterns with vases, house plants and pictures on a mantelpiece, use vintage glass bottles and modern ornaments to style shelves either side of a fireplace, or create a super-cosy feel with sheepskin rugs, cushions and candles arranged on the floor beneath the chimney piece.

Just a few small design tweaks like these will keep your home feeling comfortable, inviting and stylish all through the colder months.

Share

More from Homes and Gardens

  • Blooming Times: Happy Faces

    Considering a New Year’s Resolution for your garden? Grow more pansies, says Flo Whitaker

  • Blooming Times: Winter Sparklers

    From designer florists to petrol station forecourts, cyclamen are everywhere at this time of year. They are uniquely different to other flowers – yet have become so ubiquitous, we’re in danger of forgetting how extraordinary they are, says Flo Whitaker

  • Homes Extra: Restore, Repair, Recycle

    Delve into the world of pre-loved furniture and upcycling projects with Sara Whatley, plus industry expert tips and advice from The Salvage Sister

  • Home Style: A Scandi Winter's Tale

    Sonja and Lucian Smithers transformed a sixties country house with Scandi style interiors and natural materials

  • Blooming Times: Winter Wonders

    Flowering in the coldest months may seem counter- intuitive, but from a plant’s perspective, there is a distinct advantage – a lack of competition. Flo Whitaker picks six of the best winter- scented shrubs

  • Home Style: Bold, Brave & Beautiful

    A colourful and creative home full of hidden surprises and cleverly up-cycled vintage pieces, this lovingly restored home is full of personality and passion

  • Blooming Times: The Answer Lies in the Soil

    Soil is the gardener’s greatest asset. Understand it, look after it – and many of your horticultural problems will resolve themselves, writes Flo Whitaker

  • Blooming Times: Heavenly Hyacinths

    Versatile, easy-going hyacinths bring colour and scent indoors and out, writes Flo Whitaker

  • Legendary Builds with Phoenix Construction Services

    Phoenix Construction Services has worked on everything from A-list homes to museum conversions – now the company is turning its attention to local projects. Hanna Prince meets director Mark Woods to find out more

  • Blooming Times: Know Your Enemy

    Plagued with Vine Weevils? Enraged by Lily Beetles? Despairing of Box Caterpillars? Flo Whitaker investigates three of the most troublesome gardening pests

  • Bespoke Dreams from Eridge Green Kitchens

    Rob Wheeler’s passion for inspired carpentry and woodwork is unmistakable and instigated the creation of Eridge Green Kitchens. With a new showroom on the way and business flourishing, Robert Veitch went to visit the workshop

  • 10 Hot Years: iFit Fires & Flues

    iFit Fires & Flues Ltd are celebrating 10 years of successful business. The warm and genuine couple behind the name, Paul and Jo, share the secrets of with Sara Whatley

  • Home Style: Bold Type

    Textile designer Zoe Davis and her husband James have transformed a Grade-II listed farmhouse with a vibrant pallet and vintage finds

  • Blooming Times: The Sky's the Limit

    The clematis family offers flowers in a wide array of colours and shapes, and there are varieties for nearly every month of the year, says Flo Whitaker

  • Home Style: A Better Way of Life

    When Catherine and her late husband Dr Brian Sack left London for a more rural lifestyle. They bought a 16th century cottage and created a home full of modern artwork and stylish vintage French finds

  • Homes Extra: Shed Space

    Are you thinking of a new shed, greenhouse or garden room? Sara Whatley gives you some food for thought on all three

  • Blooming Times: Top of the Pots

    How are your patio pots? Show-stopping, or lacklustre? Time to try some different planting combinations, suggests Flo Whitaker

  • Kids Zone: Get the Kids Growing

    Read on for some green fingered ideas to get the kids involved in the garden from Sara Whatley

  • Home Style: Pastures New

    The grass really was greener for this family, who left behind their recently remodelled London house for a new life in the country

  • Homes Extra: Let There Be Light

    Read on for the latest in home and garden lighting ideas for a bright and up to date space, says Sara Whatley

© Sussex Living and Aiir 2025 | Unit 4 Regent Business Centre, 6 Jubilee Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TL