James’ Stunning Fireplace Tiles

Fireplace tiles are a growing trend and a great way to add interest to your fireplace, chimney, hearth or log burner. We absolutely love James’ stunning fireplace tiles, which have livened up his living room near Coventry a treat. We caught up with him to find out more about his project.

We moved into our new house (old house in the countryside) earlier this year. The first project was to completely gut the downstairs living space!

We wanted to restore the space back to brick, taking the ceilings down and putting them back together, along with opening up the chimney for a wood burner as well. We wanted to still keep a traditional look but also to introduce a little bit of a more modern, contemporary feel as well.

A wood-burning stove was installed into what was formerly a blocked-up chimney breast, paired with a beautiful black granite hearth from a local granite specialist.

When it came to fireplace tiles, we wanted split face porcelain tiles for the chimney breast and polished porcelain marble-effect tiles around the inside of the fireplace for contrast. We used Ordino Oyster Split Face Tiles on the outside of the chimney breast and Crash White Marble Effect Rectified Tiles on the inside. The tiles were both courtesy of Direct Tile Warehouse and the perfect choice. I did all the tiling myself, and I’m just a DIYer!

It’s all come back together as we had hoped and we are really happy with it. The tiles were lovely products and we are chuffed with the finish and outcome. The service from DTW could not have been better, and we will definitely use them again and recommend them to friends and family.

Thanks very much DTW!

How to use fireplace tiles

Using fireplace tiles is a wonderful way to add some personality to your fireplace, chimney, hearth or log burner. There are a few technical things to consider which we hope you find helpful.

Is it ok to use fireplace tiles?

Yes, if your fireplace has flat walls that can take the weight of your chosen tiles

Which fireplace tiles should I use?

Porcelain tiles are a great choice for fireplace tiles. They are manufactured at a very high temperature which makes them fireproof. They work in the same way as fire-resistant bricks as they absorb heat rather than transferring it to surrounding areas and won’t burn, produce smoke or any toxic fumes.

As a precaution, we recommend keeping porcelain tiles around 14cm away from the heat source to prevent cracking and discolouring. If your heat source is more than 20cm away you can use most types of tiles.

Have you got a tile tale to tell? Email info@directtilewarehouse.com or message us on social media, we’d love to share your story.