How to Create a Rustic Style Fireplace for Spanish Home Decor

May 11, 2018 Rustico Tile Staff Blogroll, Mexican Tile, Terra Cotta Floor tile cantera stone, Interior Design, spanish tile Social Share

It’s glorious, right? Intricate, calculated, and grand, this rustic-style fireplace creates an unexpected focal point in a beautifully designed Spanish-style home. Not only does a rustic-style fireplace add warmth to a home, but it’s also a great way to punch up the style of choice. This home’s rustic and Spanish-style flavor comes to life due to schemed forethought.

Let me unpack how the various construction and design trades came together to create this masterpiece for intentional Spanish-style home décor.

Numbers don’t lie. It took 4 Men, 3 Weeks, 4 Tons of Stone, 4,500 Pieces of Stone, and 3 tear-downs to get to the perfect finished piece.

As with any rustic decor construction project, it starts with the foundation. For a wall to hold the weight of four tons of stone, the concrete foundation of this Spanish-style home must be solid—more than solid—unyielding.

Next, the framer tips his hat to the project. He must meet the challenge of erecting a structure from floor to ceiling that will bear the weight of this rustic-style fireplace vertically and horizontally. His team installs heat barriers appropriate to the foundation wall and fire code.

The design (completed months before construction begins) will finally be actualized. Four tons of sandstone native to the Hill Country of Central Texas are embedded into this stone fireplace. Upon delivery of the sandstone, each block is cut, chipped, and chopped into smaller pieces that eventually take residence in the wall. That’s right. 4,500 stones become embedded together piece by piece. These stones are mortared from behind, top, and bottom.

Progress for the rustic-style fireplace continues, and several pieces are placed over time. A step is taken back to evaluate. More pieces fasten in securely. Four skilled masons bore three tear-downs during this three-week process.

Have I ever mentioned how much I adore the craft of a good mason? These real artisans forge something beautiful out of raw earth materials. And it’s back-breaking, challenging work.  Hug a mason.

Decorative Spanish terracotta tiles accentuate the firebox, while a reclaimed antique Spanish wooden mantle anchors into place. The sandstone hearth completes the structure of this rustic-style fireplace. Top it off with the jewelry of accent lighting. The rustic-style light illuminates the entire wall and adds an inviting ambiance for those who will gather in the presence of this fireplace’s warmth.

You can create the same look for your Spanish-style home decor. For other Spanish-style fireplace ideas, check out our Cantera Stone fireplace designs.