A hygge spirit | Nordic cottage fireplace addition
When I was searching for a condo to buy in January 2020, I found “the one” the first day we went to look. It was two beds/baths, beautiful hardwoods, a renovated kitchen, sunroom and sat on a golf course (which basically feels like an exceptionally large, grassy backyard). The only problem – it was missing my absolute. A living room fireplace.
I’ve always heard about her prospective buyers’ “must have” lists. Before looking at places, I decided a fireplace would be my only nonnegotiable, in the spirit of coziness and warmth. Design wise, I also love the way a fireplace adds a visual focal point and can break up an awkwardly long living room wall. But when I found a near perfect home tucked into a woodsy neighborhood in the city for less than my budget, I negotiated.
I closed on the condo with a plan to add a fireplace as my biggest homeowner update. If you do most of the work yourself, adding a fireplace is a great way to increase a home’s resale value without spending a fraction of it on the project.
Building the frame
After measuring the living room wall and sketching out a frame, I chose an insert width/height I was comfortable with. I ordered 3-4 and returned them until I found one that didn’t remind me of the flames on a Hot Wheels toy car. I ultimately landed on the Feivel Electric Fireplace Insert by Winston Porter. I love the realistic look of the “logs” when its turned off, the customizable flame, color and brightness settings, and large heating coverage area that easily turns on with a remote.
I’ve worked with my dad and brother to sketch out and build custom furniture pieces for years. When I showed them my design for the frame, they were skeptical. Still, he agreed to build the wooden box with the knowledge of my nonnegotiable list.
We chose to caulk and attach it, but in theory, you could move this kind of frame from room-to-room (or house-to-house) if you wanted to switch up the wall in the future. I chose to bring the box almost to the top of the ceiling in order to add visual “height,” drawing the eye upward to make the room look taller. We stopped the frame about 6 inches from the top of the wall, though, to avoid any ceiling work.
Design vision: Selecting a finish
The fireplace goes beyond function and into a design feature when the finish and mantle complement the room.
I wanted something that would feel Scandinavian and minimal while still maintaining timeless coziness. The rest of the furniture and decor in my living room is pretty modern, so wanted a material that would offset this. I slept on – and sampled out – different finishes for months before deciding to go with a white pebble tile from Ivy Hill. (This often goes in and out of stock, so keep refreshing if you can’t find inventory). I loved the idea of the pebble tile because it gives instant English cottage vibes, adds texture to the room, provides warmth through beige and cream undertones and evokes a different, nearly century-old “era.”
One design principle is to combine looks and materials that appear as if they’re from different time periods to create a timeless feel. Example: balancing out contemporary furniture with rugged wood texture or a stunning vintage chandelier. Las Perelli does this incredibly well.
Fireplaces with concrete-like finishes are having a big moment right now. I leaned away from this after and deciding it would look too industrial and cold in my living room alongside all the other tones and contemporary details. This could also be harder for resale if it wasn’t a future owner’s style. Portola Paints has lovely Roman Clays, though, that achieve this look. See this tutorial from Angela Rose home.
Other simple finishes for this kind of frame could include zellige tile, shiplap for a farmhouse look, or painting it the same color as your walls for the most cost effective option. (Gallery below includes photos of the frame unfinished and painted to show how it looked without tile.)
I forewent a mantle to keep the lines continuous and align with the minimalist principle of less materials, colors and surfaces. I do think a thin, 2inch pine, oak or cedar mantle could work well with the shape.
Installation
We did all of the work for this ourselves, spread out over time. I wanted to live with the fireplace for a little while before deciding how to finish it.
I chose an arctic white non-sanded grout to balance out the warm, beige tones in the stone. I left the edges unfinished, connected only by grout along the corners. This gave the fireplace a beautifully imperfect wabi sabi look and intense texture. You can almost see our finger prints where we smoothed in the edges. (Photo in gallery below.) Subtle, but adds sentimental value that I love. There are also stones that are still slightly hidden in grout which adds to imperfection.
Kenny helped with the work. I’ve tiled and grouted before but completely underestimated a surface area of 50 sq. ft. of hundreds of small rocks. We had to break the stones into tiny pieces to create mosaics along the edges and felt like true masons when we finished (on night 5).
Over the lifecycle of a project like this, I go through waves of thinking it looks like the best idea in the world and tsunamis of doubtful fear that I’ll hate the end result. I rode my biggest wave after we laid tile but hadn’t yet grouted. With the rough, sharp edges only having shadows between them – the fireplace looked LOUD. Like, arresting texture that would scream at any guest and scare them away before getting through the front door. Trying to reassure me, Kenny googled “pebble tile Nordic fireplace” to find assuring photos of what the end result would look like. I was in an 11pm doubt spiral, onset by exhaustion and delirium. After 7 minutes of scrolling, he shared that he couldn’t find a single photo that captured what we were trying to do.
A few nights later, we finished the grout, added tv mounts and let the materials dry. The mess and risk was worth it.
Styling
It was important to me to have a Samsung Frame to avoid the look of two stacked black boxes that a tv over the fireplace usually creates. (If you’re not familiar with the Frame, it’s a lovely product that lets you chose from a number of magnetic border colors and display your own artwork or photos).
In most of these photos, the woman figure art is by Kristen Giorgi and the mantle is styled simply with greenery, a tray and a few dripless wax candlesticks. However, I also love the Frame as you can style it in a series of other framed pieces to further blend it on a wall (example to the right).
A bench and Christmas tree sit on either side of the fireplace, one of which will be replaced by a cozy oversized armchair in the new year. Rug is the Bryn Jute Rug by Lulu & Georgia (now on sale for 50% off). Print of the woman with frosting is Anthropologie. Bench is an old Ikea coffee table. Pillows are custom from NotPerfectLinen. Wall candle sconce is June Home Supply but can be found here. Wall paint color is White Flour by Sherwin Williams. Found the olive branches at our local Trader Joe’s. Love using a throw blanket as a tree skirt. White star “ornaments” are from an old World Market garland. Grey honeycomb ornaments found here. All unaffiliated, unbiased links. :)
If a fireplace build out isn’t in the cards for you – I also love this standalone electric fireplace stove that would add hygge to any space without breaking the bank.
Photos by Kenny Gamblin.
