How to Select the Right Quartz Fireplace Surrounds for Your Connecticut Home

You might have heard that quartz isn’t as heat-resistant as natural stone. While this is true, it can still withstand high temperatures, including the ambient heat from a fireplace. It also offers a slew of additional benefits; crushed quartz bonded with resins is not only strong and durable but also nonporous, and it never needs to be sealed, unlike natural stone varieties.

Quartz also comes in a range of styles, from looks that mimic natural stone to completely unique designs, and it tends to be more cost-effective than stone slabs for many home upgrade projects. In other words, it’s a great choice for fireplace surrounds, mantels, hearths, and more.

Once you’ve decided on quartz, the next step is choosing the perfect slab for your Connecticut home. Here are a few tips to put you on the right track when you’re updating your fireplace surround.

Step 1: Create a Mood Board

You have endless design options, so your first step is to narrow your focus. One easy way to get started is by creating a mood board. Pinterest is a great platform for this, as you can start a pinboard and add inspirational pics as you find them. You can also invite others, like members of your household or your interior designer, to participate.

Read our blog, “How to Use Pinterest for Kitchen Design Ideas”

As you add ideas to your Pinterest board, you may start to see themes emerging when it comes to preferred colors, patterns, or styles. Take note of these favorites. You can start to weed out options that aren’t going to work for you so that you can eventually choose the right quartz for your fireplace upgrade.

Step 2: Consider Your Home Style

Your home’s architectural style and your décor preferences will both factor into your choice of a quartz variety for your fireplace. The two main categories to consider are modern and traditional home styles, and you might be surprised to find that some quartz designs work well in both.

Marble, for example, can complement a traditional home or add sophistication to more contemporary styles. Consider this contemporary great room featuring tall ceilings, simple lines, and a minimalist aesthetic.

The white walls, pale wood flooring, and wall panels make for a calming but uninspired space. The addition of marble-look Cambria Brittanicca quartz for the fireplace wall creates an eye-catching focal surround for the ribbon fireplace while adding a dose of visual texture with chunky gray striations on a bright white background.

While a variety like this could also work in a traditional setting, particularly a colonial style, there might also be better options.

This mid-century living room, for example, also features a modern ribbon fireplace. In this case, it’s paired with a rich brown quartz that mimics the surrounding wood panels in stained, rift-sawn white oak. Even so, the fireplace stands out thanks to a glossy, polished finish that offsets the heavy-grained wood nicely.

Embrace Your Personal Aesthetic

While it’s important that your fireplace feels like part of your home, you also want to make sure that it represents your personal style preferences. For example, do you want your fireplace to recede and blend with other design elements, or would you rather it serve as a stunning focal point?

The two-story fireplace wall in this contemporary family room takes the latter approach, with a statement-making wall in white flanked by darker material that really makes it pop. The surface featured here is a sintered stone, but you can easily see how a statement quartz style would stand out.

Factor in Resale Value

Resale value should never be the first thing you think about when remodeling your home unless you’re planning to sell in the very near future. However, you should take it into consideration if you’re thinking about selling within the next five to ten years.

If you’ve found your forever home, do as you please; after all, most rooms will appear to need an upgrade or remodel every ten years or so.

How do you choose the right quartz if resale value is an important factor? Generally speaking, it’s best to go with something neutral and sedate without any bold colors or patterns that could turn off some buyers.

This contemporary bedroom fireplace wall is a good example. Although this wall is gray, polished granite, you could easily find something similar in quartz. It’s appealing because it doesn’t shout for attention, and it’s so versatile that it will go with practically any design choice.

Remember, if resale is your goal, you want potential buyers to see themselves living in the home. That’s easiest with a subtle design that allows house hunters to visualize their family and furniture in the space.

If you’re struggling to decide on the right quartz for your fireplace upgrade, it’s time to speak with the friendly and experienced professionals at Academy Marble & Granite. Visit our Connecticut showroom today to get your project underway.