Tiling Your Fireplace with Handmade Ceramic Tiles
In the cold months of winter, fireplaces become places of haven and warmth. There are few things more evocative than the glow of a fire and its amber embers on a cold night. The heart is where the hearth is, and it deserves some consideration when designing your home.
Fireplaces offer all sorts of opportunities for tiling. It might be behind a wood-burning stove on a canal boat or surrounding a grand fireplace in a Scottish castle. Tiles can be used within the hearth, around the fireplace, or to create a decorative feature from a fireplace that is no longer in use.
Milagros handmade ceramic tiles are particularly suited to these spaces. Colour, pattern and the subtle variations of the handmade glaze bring another layer of warmth and character to a fireplace.
When considering tile formats, our small Inset tiles are particularly useful for smaller areas and work beautifully in simple chequerboard designs.
Here are some of our favourite fireplaces tiled with Milagros tiles.
Beatriz tiles used by artist and designer Suzy Broome
A Fireplace at the Heart of the Room
Chalk White Arrow used Milagros Ville Blue tiles to make a feature of the fireplace in her home. The room itself has been used as a setting for Farrow & Ball, and it is easy to see why.
Her design captures the essence of what a living room should be, combining comfort and style without feeling overly designed. The blue handmade tiles give the fireplace definition and make it a natural focal point within the room.
A Grand Scottish Fireplace
At the other end of the scale is this wonderfully grand fireplace in a hotel in Scotland.
Milagros honey tiles have been set alongside the intricately carved wooden surround. The glazed surface of the tiles adds a little shine and shimmer against the matt texture of the wood, allowing two very different materials to sit beautifully alongside one another.
It is a good example of how handmade ceramic tiles can feel completely at home within a historic interior.
A Wood-Burning Stove on a Canal Boat
Milagros ceramic tiles have also been used behind this wood-burning stove on a canal boat.
We love the juxtaposition of colours and patterns in the choice of tiles. Against the simplicity and solidity of the black stove, the decorative tiles provide a bright and joyful backdrop.
It also shows how even a very small area of tiling can have a significant impact, particularly in a compact space.
Inset Tiles for a Fireplace Hearth
This fireplace hearth uses Milagros Inset tiles in a simple chequerboard pattern, adding a lovely decorative detail without overwhelming the fireplace.
The smaller scale of the tiles makes them particularly well suited to hearths and other restricted spaces, where larger tiles can sometimes feel out of proportion. In this image by black and Mexican white inset tiles have been used
Milagros glazed ceramic tiles can be used on a hearth where they are not going to be walked or stood upon but please read our guide below to see if their application is suitable for your hearth.
Giving an Old Fireplace a New Life
A fireplace doesn't necessarily need a fire.
These fireplaces have been sealed, but rather than allowing the empty opening to disappear into the room, Milagros Lace blue and yellow patterned tiles have been used to turn it into a decorative focal point.
Where once there was fire, there is now colour and pattern.
It is a lovely way to acknowledge the original purpose and history of a fireplace while adapting it to the way we live today.
The Heart Is Where the Hearth Is
Whether you have a grand open fireplace, a small wood-burning stove or a fireplace that hasn't contained a fire for many years, it offers an opportunity to create something beautiful.
And when a fireplace is no longer functional, we think it is still worth celebrating. Making a feature of it acknowledges the history of the room and the generations for whom the fireplace really was the heart of the home.
With their colour, pattern, texture and gently irregular surfaces, handmade ceramic tiles are a natural companion to the warmth and character of a fireplace.
If you are thinking of using our tiles around your fireplace or hearth please check with your building professional and read the government guidance and read our advice here.
