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Grey Aksent Panels in a Modern Fireplace Design
We’re huge fans of modern design with its open spaces, clean lines and hard surfaces, so we instantly fell in love with this fireplace project recently finished using our Aksent Rock Panels in the Ash Grey color. There’s so much to like about this space and the way the fireplace has been designed into it that we knew right away we’d be featuring it on a blog to share with our followers. So let’s get right into it and tell you what we love about this modern fireplace.
Before we even get to the stone veneer fireplace, you really have to appreciate the space this unit has been designed into. The high ceilings create a ton of volume in the space and the magnificent glass windows above the fireplace let in an amazing amount of natural light which really opens the space up. We’re not normally big fans of seeing shadows in photos, but in this particular case it all kind of comes together to create that “lofty” modern feel that is so desirable in design these days. The clean lines of the windows and doorways – no arches here – add to straightforward linear design this space does such a fantastic job creating.
Focusing on the fireplace itself, there’s just so much detail going on in a relatively little space that its hard to see it all without really looking hard at the design. First off, the Aksent 3D Panel in Grey is a very modern designed product, with its horizontal linear orientation is a perfect color selection to slightly contrast against the base white color palette of this space and also tie in nicely to the color of the built in shelving, storage, and counter top spaces flanking the fireplace. The long linear look of the Aksent 3D Panel is also a perfect fit with the long and skinny gas fireplace insert chosen for the fireplace.
From a product standpoint, there are two things that shine through about the design of the Aksent 3D Panel product that worked really well in this application. The first is the outside corners, which turn back from the face of the fireplace into the inserts on each side. Norstone has been making the best corner system on the stone veneer market for over a decade using our finger joint concept and building them with a high degree of calibration and a final hand test fit before they leave our factory. It’s projects like this, where the outside corner is super prominent for both the face of the fireplace as well as the functional inserts, where a super functional and perfect looking corner unit outshines the lower level dovetail and z-style corner concepts of some of our competitors.
The other thing that sticks out from a design standpoint how the design of this modern fireplace opted to extend the stone partially up the wall, above the height level of the inserts but not all the way up to the ceiling. From an application standpoint, this isn’t something you see very often, as designers tend to either keep the height of the stone at a specific level that’s tied to other features of the fireplace, such as mantel height, or take the stone veneer all the way to the ceiling. In this instance, stopping it at the height of the built ins and doorways would make the fireplace appear small in stature, and probably wouldn’t even cover the TV mounted on it. Taking it all the way to the ceiling isn’t an option either as the pattern of the windows would create an uneven break. Although we’ve never seen it done before, the Aksent Modern stone panel is a perfect product to take and stop mid wall like has been done here. The thin side profile of this modern panel doesn’t create too much bulk on the wall and the clean horizontal lines create a nice break point for the fireplace stone installation, midway between the top of the built ins and the windows.
If you’ve got a fireplace that needs a re-do and you like modern styled products, our Aksent 3D Panels are definitely worth taking a look at. Available in four colors ranging from dark to light, you’ll find a great fit for your next modern fireplace project. Contact us today to learn more about our contemporary stone veneer products, as well as our traditional stacked stone panel products that are a great option for more traditional looking designs.
