In the early days of electric fireplaces, there were lots of options for you to purchase a ready-to-assemble electric fireplace with a mantel. Name brands like Dimplex created a variety of mantel styles and sizes in many finishes, to fit their electric fireplaces. At first, these consisted of a traditional electric fireplace with traditional mantel. As linear electric fireplaces emerged, there were mantels for those, as well. Before long, many of those electric fireplace mantels were designed to act as media cabinets. Today, there are not as many of these ready-made options available, thanks in part to a broader acceptance of electric fireplaces. Better electric fireplaces now look so good that more clients are willing to incorporate them into custom fireplace features. We still have many clients who would like to have an electric fireplace with a mantel in their homes, and now they are willing to have it custom-designed. For them, we have some tips for getting it right.

Which comes first, the fireplace or the mantel?

When we meet with clients in our Toronto-area showroom, they are various stages in their electric fireplace journey. Some have a mantel design and are looking for the perfect fireplace. Others need to choose the fireplace so their designer can design the mantel. There’s no right or wrong here, but we do have a few suggestions to avoid design snags:

• Know the amount of wall space you have available for the fireplace mantel. Without a mantel design, this will help us to steer you toward the best size for your electric fireplace. Then you can design the mantel around it.
• If you have design flexibility, and you haven’t yet looked at electric fireplaces, don’t commit to a mantel design until you’ve found a fireplace that you love. There is no such thing as a ‘standard’ electric fireplace size, although there may be similarities among brands. It’s better to pick your electric fireplace and then have a mantel designed around it, to avoid a lot of back and forth.
• If you have hard and fast limitations on the size of the electric fireplace with mantel, those will help to narrow down the fireplace size. For instance, if there are windows or other obstructions on the wall, that limit the width of the mantel, we need to know. If the room is narrow and you need to limit the depth of the fireplace feature, we need to know that, as well. If you have a design concept or drawing, bring it along. There’s no point in falling in love with an electric fireplace that just won’t fit the space.
• It’s okay to have a general concept, or an ‘inspiration’ photo. This will guide us toward the right style and shape for the electric fireplace to bring your mantel vision to life. Then you can zero in on the best size as you develop the design to fit your space.

Incorporating a TV or artwork into the fireplace mantel design

Whether you love it or hate it, the idea of putting a TV above the fireplace is here to stay. Because they have a gentler heat output than other fireplaces, electric fires have made it safe to have a TV above the fireplace. Plus, it’s just not possible for some rooms to be configured in such a way that the TV and fireplace can be on separate walls — it’s difficult to have seating oriented to 2 different focal points. If you have no intention of mounting the TV above the fireplace, then apply our tips to the installation of art above the fireplace.

Whenever you hang anything above the fireplace, size matters. Both the width and the height of the completed fireplace with mantel will affect how you view the wall, and the item above the fire. Whether you are hanging art or a TV above an electric fireplace, you need to balance out the size of the top item with the fireplace below. In the case of TVs, they will often be taller than the fireplace below, especially if you prefer a linear fireplace style. To compensate for the lack of height, we prefer to make the fireplace wider than the TV above. Fortunately, the heat output for electric fireplaces is not determined by the width of the fire, so there’s no excuse not to have the optimum fireplace size. In situations where the fireplace is going to have less width than the art or TV above, you can compensate with the mantel design, by making sure it is wider than the items above. In fact, this is one of the advantages of having an electric fireplace with mantel, rather than just a wall with no mantel.

If you prefer a more upright, traditional fireplace with mantel, then viewing height may be a concern for art or a TV above the fire. The taller the fireplace, the higher the mantel will be, and this may force your TV or art higher than is comfortable for optimal viewing. While TV’s may be mounted on brackets that can be tilted down to make them easier to view, this is not an option for artwork. Of course, viewing angles are different if you are seated vs standing. If your space is primarily used as a seating area, you need to bring the art or TV down to a level that is comfortable from a seated position. If your fireplace and artwork or TV are in an area in which folks are standing up (as in our showroom, for instance), then you want the items above the fire to be comfortably viewed from a standing position.

How does ceiling height affect fireplace mantel design?

We believe that the first priority when designing an electric fireplace with mantel is to be sure that the fireplace and TV/ artwork are able to be viewed comfortably, following the guidelines noted above. Within those parameters, you can adjust the height of your preferred electric fireplace to better suit the wall height. What we want to avoid is mounting the fireplace and TV/art higher on the wall just to fill space, at the expense of comfortable viewing. If you have very tall ceilings and there’s a lot of blank wall above the fireplace/TV/art, then add architectural elements, like millwork, to create interest. Conversely, if you are dealing with low ceilings, as in a basement, you will need to avoid extra-tall fireplaces if you want to have a mantel and you plan to have something on the wall above.