6 Ways to Highlight Your Fireplace With Wallpaper!
Why use wallpaper to show off your fireplace?
There are almost endless wallpaper design options that can help you create a stunning room without taking up any floor space. But to ensure success, you’ll want to check that your fireplace has proper ventilation, choose a high-quality paper and work with a pro to install it correctly.
1. Wallpaper the facing. The immediate exterior walls surrounding your fireplace are the easiest place to start. When it comes to wallpaper, the cost can add up, which is why choosing to showcase a particular aspect of any room — a single wall, a nook or, in this case, the facing above a fireplace — makes a statement without having to deal with the cost of a wrapping the whole room in wallpaper.
2. Flank the fireplace. Consider your fireplace the art in the room and cover the walls on each side with wallpaper. By papering the walls on both sides of the chimney (but not the chimney itself), you make the entire fireplace wall stand out. In addition to the beauty of the wallpaper itself, you have the option of adding a paint color to the chimney to tie it together.
3. Use wallpaper panels. Keep the wallpaper confined to panels around the fireplace and the rest of the room. You can do this by papering sections of the wall and then separating them from one another with wooden moldings. This often will be a custom design, which allows you to frame your fireplace however you want. Panels are a good option if you feel that wallpapering your whole room might make your space look too busy.
4. Back the shelves. Using wallpaper in bookshelves is an idea you can use in any room, but it’s especially great to try around a fireplace. This option can elevate the shelving you already have without too much effort.
5. Add a backdrop. If you have a freestanding fireplace, you can quickly make it stand out by giving it a backdrop. Besides looking terrific, this design addition also addresses the challenge of what to put around the fireplace to complete the design, since many of these types of fireplaces need to be separated from other objects and pieces of furniture.
6. Wrap the whole room. For those who aren’t afraid of going big with wallpaper, you can wrap the room, including the fireplace facing, in your favorite paper. Opting for a full-room wallpaper wrap doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go bold. Monochromatic papers create a refined look that feels lush and luxurious while keeping an overall understated look in the space.
Installation considerations
If you move forward with wallpaper by the fireplace, it’s important to keep the following factors in mind to ensure that your paper doesn’t warp, bubble or come off the wall.
- Proper ventilation around your fireplace
- The necessary cover or doors on your fireplace
- Wipeable wallpaper, so soot can be removed with a damp cloth
- Expert installation, since the wall prep and adhesive are particularly important in this area of your home
Paper selection
Every home and fireplace situation is different, but, in general, if you have proper venting around your fireplace, you shouldn’t have any issues using wallpaper nearby. That said, a fireplace often emits heat and smoke. Because of that, the most important things are to purchase a high-quality wipeable paper and to prep the wall properly.