Fireplace Tile Ideas

My week of gratitude continues! I can't believe how long it's taken me to post photos of this hearth. These lovelies arrived in my inbox several months ago, and apparently, I forgot to post them. This is why I challenged myself to post more installation photos thank usual this week. I don't want beautiful pictures like these to slip through the cracks. The client wanted to create the look of a vintage fireplace in her home, so she found an antique mantle to install, and filled it with handmade tiles made by me and Clay Squared to Infinity. She's clearly...

If you take a look at the decorations on this mantle, you can see how far behind I am on posting customer installation photos! Yes, those are Thanksgiving decorations and it is currently the end of June! Oops! Where does the time go? I remember working on this project very clearly because I was not feeling my best at the time. Last fall, I got bronchitis and covid almost back to back after attending the first two weddings I had been to since before the pandemic.  Fortunately, I was still able to work and I don't think the quality of...

Tile installation photos! Did I say it feels like Christmas whenever I get customer installation photos? It also feels like my birthday. And that was especially true when I received these lovely photos a couple of days ago, on my actual birthday. It is an especially fun coincidence because this hearth just happens to be decked out in a celebratory pompom garland! The tiles are glazed in watercolor blue, but the color is lighter than usual because the client requested a lighter version, which I was happily able to achieve by applying only a single coat of glaze instead of...

This tile installation has become a record a family's history, because every member of this family got to pick out a tile for the hearth! I especially love that the 4 and 5 year old granddaughters carefully selected the mermaid and unicorn tiles. Why not have a few magical creatures in the mix? It totally works! The homeowner told me that whenever they come to visit, they always go to the hearth find "their tile." How sweet! Here is a close up of some of the tiles before they were installed. Quite an assortment! Obviously this is a light-hearted family...

These fun installation pictures are from California. The original stone and brick hearth had some large, square holes in it that were left over from the blower for an old cast iron wood burning fireplace. The homeowners could have torn out the whole hearth and started over from scratch, but instead they decided to make the most of what they already had and turn the cutouts into focal points by filling them with art tiles in designs that have special significance for their family. They replaced the wood burner with a modern electric fireplace made by Dimplex, which looks pretty convincing...

So pleased that I get to see how great this installation turned out!! This project was a bit outside my comfort zone. This is the first time I have ever made custom tiles to match stained glass windows! The homeowner sent me a picture of one of the windows next to the fireplace and a drawing of what he wanted the tile to look like: And I got to work reproducing the design to the best of my ability. I am really happy with the results, and more importantly, so is the client! The homeowner did an impeccable job of...

Over the years, a few very special customers have installed my tiles in their homes, then moved, then ordered more tiles to install in their new homes! This installation belongs to one of those select few who have installed my work at more than one address. I don't seem to have to picture on file of the first installation, but my records tell me the glaze was autumn and the designs were mostly animals. This second installation is mostly plant designs glazed in celadon, with heart tile glazed in white for a focal point. The celadon glaze looks almost white...

No, the mantle isn't made of birch; the handmade subway tiles that surround the feature tiles are in a new glaze called "birch" which I am a bit smitten with at the moment. It is so yummy looking, it reminds me toast. Or maybe a toasted marshmallow? The feature tiles are glazed in "Autumn" which provides a nice contrast with the field tiles and also harmonizes nicely with the woodwork. above: close up of the "Birds on a Branch" set in autumn glaze This fireplace is part of a historic home right here in northeast Ohio, and the installation was...