Ordering a custom fireplace screen goes best when the first conversation is specific. The studio needs to understand the room, the firebox, and the way the fireplace is used before we can recommend a size, material, finish, or route forward.
For interior designers, that first inquiry usually happens in the middle of a larger project. There may be drawings in progress, an install date on the calendar, a client decision pending, or a fireplace that needs to be solved without slowing down the room. For an informed homeowner, the questions are similar. What size should the screen be? What material makes sense? What happens if the fireplace burns wood instead of gas?
The answer starts with three things, in this order: design direction, measurements, and fireplace type.
Start With Design Direction
Before measurements, finishes, or lead times, the first question is what the fireplace screen needs to do in the room.
Some projects call for a screen with more visual presence, as the Primrose Garden screen or the Butterfly does. These pieces bring hand-shaped metalwork into the composition of the room. The botanical elements, forged branches, or hand-formed butterflies are part of the design language.
Other projects call for restraint. A custom fire screen may need to sit close to the firebox, finish the fireplace cleanly, and let the mantel, stone, art, or surrounding architecture lead.
Both directions are valid. They simply lead to different design decisions. A more decorative screen may need extra breathing room, a different frame proportion, or a finish that connects to other metalwork in the space. A quieter screen may depend more on exact fit, mesh choice, frame depth, and how the feet meet the hearth.
If the direction is not clear yet, send a photograph of the room. We are often able to tell from the fireplace, mantel, surrounding materials, and furniture plan whether the project wants more movement or more restraint.
Measure the Firebox First
The foundation is simple: width and height of the firebox opening.
Width: horizontal opening, side to side
Height: vertical opening, hearth to top of firebox
The most common measurement mistake is transposing those two numbers. It sounds small, but it changes the entire proportion of the screen. A custom-size fireplace screen is built from the dimensions provided, so a reversed width and height can send the piece in the wrong direction from the start.
Check the notes twice before sending. Label both measurements clearly.
Note the Site Conditions
Most fireplaces only need width and height, but some fireboxes have conditions that affect how the screen should sit.
Tell us if the firebox is raised off the floor, if the hearth and surround meet at different heights, or if the stone hearth has an irregular surface. Existing flashing, a raised lip, uneven stone, shallow depth, or an unusual firebox shape can also matter.
These details are not problems. They are design information. When we know about them up front, we can adjust the frame, feet, depth, or overall sizing before the piece goes into fabrication.
This is one reason a photograph is so useful. A single image lets the studio see details that written measurements may not capture.
Tell Us Whether the Fireplace Is Gas Log or Wood Burning
Gas log or wood burning is not a small detail. It can affect the material recommendation.
Most contemporary residential fireplaces we see are gas log. Those usually give the studio more latitude with screen style, frame detail, mesh, glass, and hand-applied finish.
A wood-burning fireplace generates more heat. If the project calls for a glass screen, the glass specification may need to change. In some high-heat conditions, a powder-coated finish may be more appropriate than one of our standard hand-applied finishes.
Our hand-applied finishes are made for normal residential use. They are not meant for extreme heat from an oversized wood-burning fireplace, especially in outdoor or ranch settings where the fire may be larger and more sustained. If the fireplace sits in that category, tell us early. The right finish conversation is much easier before a quote is written.
What to Send in the First Inquiry
The most useful first inquiry includes:
- A photograph of the fireplace
- Width and height of the firebox opening, labeled clearly
- Any site conditions, including elevation changes, irregular stone, shallow depth, flashing, or a raised hearth lip
- Whether the fireplace is gas log or wood burning
- The design direction, if known
- An approximate finished-screen size, if there is a strong preference
- A finish direction, or a request for finish recommendations
- The project timeline, especially if there is a defined install date
The photograph matters as much as the measurements. It helps the studio understand scale, proportion, surrounding materials, and the way the fireplace sits in the room.
When the Timeline Is Tight
Custom fire screens run a 10 to 12 week lead time, which works for many projects but not every install schedule.
If the room needs a screen sooner, the studio can often look at in-stock inventory first. These are not second-choice pieces. They are designs the studio has made many times before, in sizes that work for a meaningful range of residential fireboxes.
A designer with a defined install date should include that timing in the first message. Sometimes a custom commission is the right route. Sometimes an in-stock screen, selected carefully for the firebox and room, solves the project faster.
What Happens Next
Once the studio has the design direction, measurements, site photograph, fireplace type, and timeline, we can determine the right path: a custom commission, an in-stock piece that fits the project, or a finish or material adjustment based on how the fireplace will be used.
Each screen is made in the Claire Crowe Collection studio in Dallas, where the team works in forged iron, hand-finished metal, mesh, glass, and hand-applied patina. The same material knowledge carries through the studio's lighting, wall sculpture, mirrors, and other custom metalwork.
The first inquiry does not need to answer every design question. It needs to give the studio enough information to begin with judgment.
Review our custom design process, or reach the studio for tear sheets and to discuss a custom commission.
