How to Order a Custom Fireplace Screen: A Designer's Guide

Ordering a custom fireplace screen is a conversation, not a transaction. The studio needs three things before we can quote a project, and the call goes best when a designer brings them in the right order: design direction first, measurements second, and the specific details about the fireplace itself third.

Start with design direction

Before measurements, finishes, or lead times, the first question is what the screen is supposed to do in the room. There are two broad directions a custom screen can take. It can carry more visual weight, as the Primrose Garden screen or the Butterfly does. Or it can be the quieter choice: a screen that nestles into the firebox and finishes the fireplace as a clean architectural layer.

Both are valid. They lead to different conversations. A more decorative screen carries part of the room's design direction; a quieter screen supports it. Knowing which one a project calls for before any measurements are taken is the difference between a productive first call and one that has to start over.

If a designer isn't sure, that's fine. We're designers too, and we weigh in on this often. Sometimes the right answer becomes obvious once we see a photograph of the room.

Then take the measurements

Width and height of the firebox. That's the foundation. Usually, it's enough.

The single most common mistake we see is transposing the width and height. It sounds small, but it's how an order goes sideways: we build the screen following those dimensions, and the proportions come out wrong. Check the notes twice before sending. Width is the horizontal opening, side to side. Height is the vertical opening, hearth to top of the firebox.

Beyond those two numbers, there are situations where the firebox has something going on that we need to know about. It may be elevated off the floor, or there may be an elevation change between the hearth and the surround. The stone hearth may have an irregular surface. Existing flashing or another architectural detail may affect how the screen needs to sit. None of these conditions are dealbreakers. All are easier to design for when we know about them up front.

Tell us about the fireplace itself

Gas log or wood burning? This question doesn't always come up in a designer's first inquiry, and it should. It can affect materials.

A gas log fireplace, which is what most contemporary residential fireboxes are, gives us more latitude in the screen's materials and finishes. A wood-burning fireplace generates significantly more heat. That can mean a different glass specification for a glass screen, and sometimes a powder-coated finish in place of our standard hand-applied finishes. Those finishes hold up beautifully in normal use; they're not designed for the extreme heat of an oversized wood-burning fireplace, like one you might find outdoors at a ranch.

Let us know if the circumstances require a closer look. Telling us which kind of fireplace you're designing for in the same message as the measurements saves a back-and-forth.

What a prepared designer brings

The shortest path from inquiry to quote starts with:

• A photograph of the fireplace
• Width and height of the firebox, labeled clearly
• Any special site conditions, including an elevation change or hearth-floor irregularity
• Whether the fireplace is gas log or wood burning
• The design direction, whether more decorative or quieter
• An approximate finished-screen size, if there's a strong preference
• A finish selection, or a request for finish recommendations

The photograph is the part most worth emphasizing. A single image lets us scan the site for details that don't always come through in written measurements. It's the fastest way for both sides to confirm we're working from the same understanding.

When a tight timeline changes the math

Custom-size fire screens run a 10 to 12 week lead time, which works for most projects but not all of them. When an install is moving quickly and a designer needs something in place sooner, we can usually find a solution in our in-stock inventory rather than starting a custom build.

This isn't a fallback. Our in-stock screens are designs we've made many times before, in sizes that fit a meaningful range of fireboxes. The studio knows which ones pair well with which interiors, and which sizes accommodate which firebox dimensions. A 20-minute call about an upcoming install can often produce a piece ready to ship in a fraction of the time a custom commission would take.

If a project is on a designer-led schedule with a defined install date, mention it in the first inquiry. We'd rather know up front whether a custom timeline works or whether we should be looking at the in-stock route.

What designers should walk away knowing

The studio takes real pride in working closely with designers. We do this every day, and we've seen many variations on the same handful of questions. Whether the right answer is a custom commission, an in-stock piece adapted to the project, or a different finish than the one a designer first had in mind, the conversation is the part that gets it right.

Bringing the design direction, measurements, photograph, and fireplace type in the first message is what makes that conversation productive on the first call instead of the third.

The rest, we'll handle from there.