Stack in Style With a Creative Woodpile

With fall upon us, it’s time to start thinking about lighting a fire. And unless you have a gas or alternative-fuel firebox, where there’s smoke, there’s usually wood. Showing that necessity can be the mother of invention, homeowners and designers are taking the workaday fire log and making something interesting.

In some cases these woodpiles serve a strictly decorative purpose in a nonfunctioning or little-used fireplace. In others they’re simply chic and effective wood storage. Whatever the reason, the woodpile has never looked so intriguing.

1. Fill It Full

This home, by Jute Interiors, has a nonfunctioning fireplace. Nevertheless, designers brought the warmth of wood back to the focal point by filling it full of logs.


In this home small, round logs make a tidy pattern and balance the natural finish of the armoire.

See more of this 19th-century Belgian home


This Boston fireplace, by Marcus Gleysteen Architects, came to life with an asymmetrical log arrangement. At least some of the logs appear to be just pieces of curled bark, a great idea if you want to quickly remove the pieces and light a fire.


2. Stack Wood in Architectural Columns

Interior designer Catherine Kwong had this iron box made to store firewood and make an architectural statement in her living room.

Read about this house


A similar artistic statement is made by this Jenga-like stack in a living room by Designdock Lakberendezés.


Some companies have jumped on the trend and provide clean, dry, insect-free logs to use for decoration. Here is an installation made with such logs, from The Log Basket in the U.K.


A sense of symmetry is achieved with twin built-in columns that flank the fireplace here, by D’Apostrophe Design.


3. Pile Wood in Long, Horizontal Rows

Sometimes you need to emphasize a room’s horizontal nature. In that case a long and low woodpile is the way to go. Here a partial wood wall acts as a room divider.


Built-in horizontal wood storage grounds a floating firebox with texture and pattern in a room by LemonTree & Co. Interiors.


You can take the idea outside, the way Michael Tauber Architecture did in this California wine country home. A long line of logs makes an entrance beautiful and keeps firewood close at hand.


Stacks of half wine barrels in this project, by Carson Douglas Landscape Architecture, make a woodpile a graphic (and organized) statement.


4. Create a Wall of Wood

A Seattle shed makes a stacked statement with an arrangement that shows off the beauty of the wood.


5. Use Existing Architectural Features

Contrast can make a strong design statement. In this home the shelves that flank the fireplace are partially filled with firewood. They give the otherwise formal room a rustic nature.


The niche above the fireplace in this home, by Jessica Helgerson Interiors, might have been meant to hold art or decorative accessories. Filled with logs, it makes for a dramatic display.


The owners of this home smartly chose to line these shelves with tough, scuff-friendly plywood. As the logs slide in or out (as they will, since this woodstove clearly works), the material will just take on a rugged patina.


6. Try Something Different

In this Montana project, constructed by Highline Partners, the log-lined ceiling is a fantastic creation — proving that almost any surface can take inspiration from the woodpile.

Tell us: Do you use wood for warmth or good looks in fall and winter? We’d love to see your photo.

URL: Stack in Style With a Creative Woodpile http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-24742.html