Types of Tuscan Fireplaces

Fireplace With Over-mantel

• Many Tuscan fireplaces feature an over-mantel which rises above the main horizontal mantel above the fireplace opening. The over-mantel may climb part of the way or all of the way to the ceiling. The over-mantel is at its widest point where it meets the mantel and graduates inward at an angle as it approaches the ceiling. Or your over-mantel may reach vertically to the ceiling. Purchase an over-mantel made of marble, stucco, stacked stone or a Tuscan-influenced mix of stone and brick. Your over-mantel can stand on its own as a design element, or you may wish to add a carved stone piece or a framed print of the rounded hills and cigarette-shaped cypresses of the Italian countryside.

Kitchen Fireplace

• The kitchen fireplaces of Tuscany are often placed at a height comfortable for cooking. The fireplace surround may encompass a full wall in the kitchen with a few other ovens set in the wall for bread, room heating or warming various types of food. Frequently, niches were crafted into the space below the open fireplace for log storage. A cast iron swinging arm attached inside the top part of the fireplace is added to hang large kettles on for soup and other repasts. Design your mantel to extend to one or both sides of your fireplace opening to allow room to display rustic iron candlesticks, Italian cookbooks or framed artwork depicting artwork of the Italian countryside.

Al Fresco Fireplace

• Add a stacked stone or stucco fireplace to your backyard patio to bring Tuscany to your landscape. Hire an artist to paint a mural of bell towers and olive groves around the fireplace opening. Massive,wrought-iron andirons (hardware that contains the logs in the fireplace), a tool set with simple lines or free standing Italianate columns bring the feel of a Mediterranean countryside to your landscape. Polish this look off with terracotta urns spilling over with bright-hued geraniums or ornamental lemon or olive trees in warmer climates