If you’re looking for ways to spice up your living room, then your fireplace could be the place to go for inspiration.
Fireplaces serve a useful function in keeping the house warm, but they can also be a great anchor for all sorts of design ideas.
Living Room With Fireplace Décor Ideas
Whether you are designing a living space for your new home or renovating an older one, here are some fun and fanciful ideas to get your creativity flowing:
Cozy Carpets
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For rooms with tile or wooden flooring, some carpets laid out around the fireplace can bring that cozy feeling to your living space.
Pair this with a big window, a soft sofa, and a warm drink to feel complete during the winter months!
Neutral Tones
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Neutral colors, like grays and browns, don’t clutter up too much in visual design.
If you want to make your fireplace the focus of your living room, then using some of these colors could draw the eye to the crackling fire.
Wooden Décor
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A fire can’t burn without some tinder!
While you won’t burn any of your own furniture, some wooden accents or décor can make your fireplace feel more like a home-worthy hearth. Boho curtains would look amazing in here.
The Power of Open Space
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For those blessed with a large living space, letting that space breathe could be the best option.
A burning fire under the mantle can shine brighter when little else is around to draw the eye and take your attention away.
A Hideaway for Other Décor
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If you’d rather not worry about cleaning out your fireplace, then try using it for other decor!
Candles, blankets, and other sentimental items can look wonderful when framed by the stone or metal frame of your fireplace.
White and Stark
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As a bright, neutral color, white makes for a great complementary color for almost any modern design and décor choice.
If your home features a lot of white, use that to contrast against the reds and oranges of your fireplace when it’s in use.
Chic Shelves to Personalize With
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Shelves flanking the sides of your fireplace are a great place to place family photos, sentimental knick-knacks, and all sorts of other small items.
Use these to enhance your character and the character of your living space.
Don’t Forget the Entertainment!
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At the end of the day, your living room should be a place where you and your family can relax, have fun, and unwind in a shared space.
When you’re decorating this space, don’t forget to include the things your family might do together, like watch movies or play games together!
Treat Stonework as Your Canvas
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Some homes, especially modern ones, feature a lot of stone as part of their design.
Use this to your advantage by including decorations that can contrast against the stonework and breathe some life into the space, especially around the holidays.
The Hardwood Floor Advantage
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Hardwood floors are easy to pair with just about any design that you want to go with.
Modern, chic, even older, and traditional styles work with hardwood floors, making them a great partner to any fireplace design.
Big, Beautiful Windows
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While it might seem a little unintuitive, a large window near your fireplace can open up the living space and make it feel more comfortable.
Natural light means you don’t have to light a fire just to see inside, and the window makes for a wonderful stargazing sight at night.
A Stark Black Spectacle
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Much like the color white, black is a great color to create a contrast in home design.
When you combine this with some of the other tips on this list, you can create a stark or dramatic design for your living space.
Entertainment Above the Mantle
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Some fireplaces have a lot of open space on the wall above the mantle. You can use this space however you like, from adding extra decorations to mounting your TV above the fireplace.
Mounting the TV above the mantle lets you stay nice and warm during the winter while watching your favorite shows.
Dramatic Shelf Placement
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Instead of the standard vertical shelves that are nice and evenly spaced, you could instead use the shelf placement to create a dramatic view around your fireplace.
Whether you use metal, wood, or stone, you’re going to catch everyone’s eye with unorthodox shelving.
Lighting for More Than Just to See
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Lighting is going to play a large part in how your living space looks.
Rather than picking up a normal lamp or ceiling fixture, browse around for a lamp that creates a dramatic scene alongside your fireplace.
Metal Accents
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Thanks to its reflective nature, metal makes for a great accent in any living room with a fireplace.
The fireplace will give off a lovely amber glow while lit, and the metal accents of your furniture will catch and glint with the glow.
Cabinets and Storage
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If you find you need more storage, shelves near your fireplace may not be the best answer.
Instead, you could look to have cabinets installed next to your fireplace so that you have storage for things like coats, blankets, and games for the family.
Holiday Cheers
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Central heating is pretty efficient at keeping the home toasty during the winter season, but fireplaces are evocative of holiday cheer.
Make your mantle a holiday décor anchor with holly, warm spices, and stacks of lumber to nail that Christmas vibe.
A Slot Instead of a Box
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When designing your living space around a fireplace, some folks want to go a different route for storing their logs for the fireplace.
If you have the space, a large slot carved out of the wall makes for a much different scene than just using a box or shelf.
Pops of Color for Personality
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Once you have the neutral tones figured out for your living room, it’s time to bring in the color!
Find a color scheme that works for your tastes and your furniture selection, and bring that character into your living space for everyone to enjoy.
Floral Patterns and Classic Furniture
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Sometimes, the best place to look for design ideas in the past is what folks back then used to use.
Floral patterns, white furniture, and brass decorations bring us back to a simpler time when we would go to grandma’s house for a fun visit.
Warm, Comfy Blankets
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While getting caught up in the possibilities of decorating with a fireplace, it’s easy to get caught up and forget that a fireplace’s job is to keep you warm.
Give your living space blankets to bring that function into your décor and to simply stay toasty at home.
A Nook for Your Wood
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Keeping the logs for your fireplace handy makes it so you don’t have to go far to get a fire going.
A spacious shelf with a nook underneath makes for a great way to store your lumber and add a fun accent to your interior at the same time.
Simple Curtains Focus the Design
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Many families hang curtains on their windows to control the light that enters the room and give themselves some privacy.
By choosing some simple curtains for windows near your fireplace, you can keep your fireplace the central focus of your room’s design.
Ceiling Accents
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When you’re creating the design for your living space, you have to think about all four walls, the floor, and the ceiling.
Wooden accents, recessed lighting, and raised or lowered sections will all add another layer of depth to your design.
Marble Mantles as a Statement
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Among all the options for stonework for your fireplace’s mantle, marble is tough to replace or replicate.
The textured colors of the stone, mixed with the smoothed finish, can add a sense of regality and uniqueness to an otherwise normal living space.
Leather Furniture for a Classy Look
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Dark and rich, leather furniture captures an older, fanciful look when paired with white walls and a lot of natural light.
Leather also has the benefit of pairing well with a fireplace by reflecting the light from the fire and staying warm from its heat.
A Winter Lodge in Your Home
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For those out there who want to feel like they’re in a ski lodge every day, natural stonework and tall, wooden supports evoke that feeling.
Combine this décor with a cold, starry night, and you’ll feel like you’re in the lodge lobby after a long day outside in the cold.
Paintings as the Centerpiece
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Artwork is a wonderful way to add some character and color to an otherwise normal living room.
By hanging a large statement piece above the mantle, you can finish off a colorful and comforting living space and make the space feel like your own.
A Little Bit of Everything
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This list has gone over all sorts of ways that you can add your personal touch to your fireplace and living room.
Go ahead and mix and match the elements you like to create something truly unique—just like this home has done!
Things to Consider
When you get down to the finer details of your living room and fireplace décor, here are some things to keep in mind to make the most of your choices:
- Use different shapes and sizes of décor items to keep things varied and interesting.
- Symmetry is a go-to design choice to make things feel complete or whole.
- Anchor the same décor items on opposite sides of the mantle for a touch of regality.
- Layer décor pieces so that nothing gets obscured or hidden by another item.
- When choosing décor items, find a piece that matches a certain theme and color palette.
- Accent pieces work for a reason, so don’t be afraid to try one out for yourself!
- Don’t clutter your space with décor pieces too much, or else you’ll give off a hoarder vibe instead of an intentional design one.
Like Our Living Room With Fireplace Ideas?
So there you have it—our favorite living rooms with fireplaces.
Whether it’s the design and look of the fireplace and mantle, the furniture of the room, or the room’s layout itself, you have a lot to keep track of.
Write down your design ideas as you get them so you don’t miss anything or over-design your living room!