Arts & Crafts / Craftsman fireplace mantels & surrounds

Honest materials, visible joinery and woodwork built into the room.

In a new interior, Arts & Crafts rewards restraint. Square proportions, flat or simply framed panels and a warm stained finish do most of the work, with ornament limited to a through-tenon, a corbel or a band of leaded glass.

The mantel is the focal point of most traditional rooms. Its form changes sharply from style to style: Georgian pilasters and overmantels, Federal reeding, Victorian carving, Craftsman tile and oak, and rustic stone with a timber shelf.