Outdoor Fireplace Ideas for Year-Round Coziness

What’s cozier than an outdoor fireplace? It sounds like a riddle, but it’s a simple fact that gathering around a fire in the open air brings on feelings of comfort and warmth.

And an outdoor stone fireplace levels up those cozy feelings with a solid, timeless look. Don’t have the bottomless budget to build a fireplace with notoriously expensive bricks or natural stones? No problem! To achieve a cost-effective yet impressive outdoor fireplace, stone veneer delivers the rustic look you crave at a budget-friendly price point with much lower environmental impact than quarried stones.

The stone-cold pros at Casa di Sassi have unique insight into stone veneer fireplace design. We’ve assembled this guide to help you create a gorgeous, functional stone veneer outdoor fireplace that elevates your entire property and makes every al fresco gathering more magical.

Find our tips for choosing the right type of fireplace for your space, deciding where to install stone veneer and where to avoid an outdoor fireplace, plus a few ideas for using stone veneer around your fireplace to make it a true standout feature.

WHY ADD AN OUTDOOR FIREPLACE TO YOUR HOME?

If you’re a homeowner looking to increase curb appeal, manufactured stone veneer is your reno BFF. This lightweight, durable material is the perfect choice for refreshing your home’s façade or adding the details that drive up resale value — like an outdoor fireplace. Many potential buyers have a wish list of amenities for houses they’ll consider bidding on, and outdoor living spaces often top those lists. Al fresco areas with luxurious stone accents are seen as an expansion of the overall usable space of a home, so they’re an easy way to amplify limited square footage.

And even if you’re not thinking of listing your home anytime soon, an outdoor stone veneer fireplace expands your family’s everyday enjoyment at home while providing a sumptuous space for year-round entertaining.

TYPES OF FIREPLACES FOR AL FRESCO SPACES

Perhaps your terrace or patio already includes a built-in fireplace. You lucky ducks can skip ahead to our Stone Veneer Outdoor Fireplace Ideas for beautifying or modernizing your fireside look. If you’re starting from scratch, though, you need to begin by choosing from three outdoor fireplace types: gas, wood burning and electric.

Consider your hometown climate and stone veneer’s durability to determine the best placement — typically under a roof or other covering is optimal, especially in colder areas — then choose your preferred fuel:

OUTDOOR FIREPLACE WOOD BURNING OPTIONS

This most time-honored and traditional outdoor fireplace option is also the messiest, smokiest and (potentially) the most dangerous. It must be installed atop a non-flammable surface like concrete or stone — never on a bare wooden deck without a fireproof pad underneath it — and it must include the proper chimney or venting system to direct the majority of the smoke and embers up rather than out the front. A fire screen should always be used to prevent embers from popping out onto rugs or furniture. Even with a screen in place, a wood fire should never be left unattended. You’ll need to gather or buy wood for burning, and you’ll need to regularly clean out leftover ash and debris between uses. But, oh, the gorgeous aroma of woodsmoke and hypnotic dance of genuine wood-borne flames!

OUTDOOR FIREPLACE GAS OPTIONS

A gas outdoor fireplace can be more convenient and cleaner than a wood-burning type, as it roars to life with the touch of a button, emits no smoke and leaves behind no ash. However, installing a gas fireplace can be tricky and is best outsourced to a professional who understands your local fire codes or ordinances and is familiar with the complicated process of running a gas line. Once properly installed, an outdoor fireplace powered by natural gas delivers cozy heat and the mesmerizing look of flames with little to no upkeep concerns.

OUTDOOR FIREPLACE ELECTRIC OPTIONS

An electric outdoor fireplace brings modern convenience to a primordial attraction! A few important things to know before investing in an outdoor electric fireplace include:

1. It must be weatherproof and specifically rated for outdoor use by the manufacturer.
2. It must be connected to a 120-volt electricity source, either via a weatherproof and grounded outdoor outlet or through hardwiring into your home’s circuit.
3. It should never be used with an extension cord, which can overheat from the high amount of energy needed to power the unit, potentially causing the insulated cord to melt and sparking a house fire.
4. It’s best to place an electric fireplace under a roof or other cover to avoid excessive moisture and prolong its lifespan.
5. It does not require any venting, so a chimney is purely decorative.

One of the major benefits of hiring professional stone veneer installers to tackle your outdoor electric fireplace project is that they tend to have experience with these units and can provide counsel on placement and proper use. After they’ve made sure all systems are go, you can enjoy instant heat and realistic-looking flames with the touch of a button.

STONE VENEER OUTDOOR FIREPLACE IDEAS

Now that you’ve decided on the type of outdoor fireplace that will work best in your space, it’s time for the fun part — decorating it! Using stone veneer around an outdoor fireplace allows you to achieve the most sweeping Insta-worthy effects, thanks to the cost advantage of manufactured stone veneer over other materials.

Here are four of our fave ideas for creating a traditional, rustic, vintage-inspired or modern stone veneer fireplace that suits your home’s aesthetic and your family’s lifestyle:

1. TUSCAN-INSPIRED PIZZA OVEN

Want to take family game nights to the next level? Looking for a unique dinner party idea that gets everyone involved in the cooking? Craving a way to bring your memories of that vacation in Italy alive at home? Use principles of Italian architecture and stone veneer to transform a simple wood-burning outdoor fireplace into a Tuscan-inspired pizza oven the whole family will love! Choose a rugged profile, like Limestone or Old World, in a rich hue that evokes the Mediterranean palette. Then go big with a chimney that soars above the rafters and arched details around the fireplace accented by authentic keystone accents.

2. RUSTIC FIRE PIT

Lean into the wildness of an outdoor stone fireplace by making yours a romantically rustic fire pit. The three elements you’ll need are built into manufactured stone veneer: texture, color and inspiration! First, go for ultimate texture with our Country Rubble profile that features irregularly shaped stones for a rugged feel. It’s available in three colors, so choose the warm, cool or neutral tones that complement your home’s exterior or your outdoor furnishings. Then get inspired by the natural world and design your fire pit in an organic shape that suits your space while welcoming friends and family to pull up an Adirondack chair and share the warmth.

3. MID CENTURY MODERN STONE VENEER FIREPLACE

The perfect complement to your home’s mid century modern architecture is a mortarless outdoor stone fireplace with a sleek mantel. The dry-stacked look of our Kwik Stack and EZ Ledge profiles evokes the clean lines and minimalist sensibilities of this timeless aesthetic. Pairing your choice with one of our sleek, fireproof wood grain mantels completes the vintage-inspired effect and demonstrates how stone veneer accessories level up any project! Best of all, you can achieve this installation on a gas, wood-burning or electric outdoor fireplace.

4. COZY CONTEMPORARY CREATIONS

In the mood for a more contemporary outdoor fireplace stone veneer look that warms up your al fresco entertaining without going old school? We’ve got our radar set to the manufactured stone veneer trends that keep your fireplace modern! Keep it crisp and clean with a symmetrical profile, like Brick or Yorkshire, in a fresh hue like Niveo for an up-to-date effect. Complete the look with layers of throw blankets, pillows and other textiles in neutral shades and a few pops of vibrant turquoise, orange or green to add a lively feel. Your modern stone veneer fireplace will be the centerpiece of cozy gatherings and the backdrop for seasonal décor all year.

CREATE YOUR OUTDOOR FIREPLACE WITH STONE VENEER FROM CASA DI SASSI

Ready to explore your own original outdoor fireplace ideas using Casa di Sassi manufactured stone veneer? The secret to buying stone veneer without regret is to opt for a U.S.-based manufacturer focused on handcrafted quality with a nationwide network of reliable distributors and a generous, transferable warranty. Find all that and more at Casa di Sassi!