I love your fireplace and like the one you posted. I think you just need a beefier mantel and one that has the sides.

I redid my old fireplace in my last house. I didn't change the wood or brick but painted the brick with a watered down paint and then stained the mantel a really dark color. I am just showing you mine bc I think a mantel similiar would look great in your room either stained or painted white.

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Good luck!!

Aktillery, thanks for responding. Your fireplace turned out great! Looks like such a cozy room. I almost wish we had left our brick.

I agree! The fireplace will look great after you build around it. don't think it necessary to go up to the ceiling.

My sister has a stone fireplace. Let me see if I can scrounge up a photo.

Thanks DF! I love your stone. I just had to stick with the brick bc it was there. I think yours will turn out fabulously! It looks great thus far. It is just the mantel throwing it off.

The mantel is way too small for the visual weight of the fireplace - it's jammed on there like a too-small hat. Adding a stone chimney would only make the problem worse.

Making a wider wood box and extending the mantel on either side would balance the two out.

I found a photo that I have posted before. Come to think about it, I have always thought this fireplace was strange because it had no trim on the sides, but I love the white trim.

Sorry this is all I have. I had to cut out family members. Don't like to post them on a public board.
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The mantel needs "legs" all the way down to the floor.

Do you think "Legs" that sit on top of the hearth or all the way down to the floor? Thanks for all the suggestions! I am starting to have hope that it can look good. Can I use the piece that is there or start from scratch? We didn't spend too much on the wood so it won't be a huge loss.

i don't know if "legs" would work due to the uneven stone sides. i think if you got a beefier---thicker and wider-- mantle on it, it would look more proportionate and much more pleasing to the eye!

I'm thinking the "legs" don't work well with the stone. Agree that a wider, beefier mantle would really work well. Beautiful fireplace! Much more interesting than brick.

Here is a similar fireplace to yours. This larger mantle might work once you add accessories. I think a large mirror, clock or painting would look great above it.

Forget the "legs" just do as Lazy says and make the mantle bigger. There is too much stone below the mantle, the mantle doesn't extend enough to the sides and the hearth should also extent beyond the stone. The proportions are off.
Print out the picture you posted and fix it with marker and see what you think.
Linda C

I was thinking maybe a stone mantle would look good. I agree with other posters that the mantle is what throws it off.

If you added a piece of wood to the top of mantel extending in front by several inches & both ends by about 10-12 in. I think that is all you need You would need to rout the edge. The stone is hefty so mantel is too small & won't allow for bold accents on it. Little stuff across it will look terrible. You need to make a statement here! Aktillery has right idea with her accessories, good balance! A teal large tall vase or deep yellow or light sage , something that gives some light around the mantel. Dark accessories won't do a thing for it. If fireplace screen has brass could add an interesting object in brass to tie whole thing together.

Also, there is too much distance between the top of the fire box and the bottom of the mantle...that mantle needs something on the bottom...or the screen/doors...in the fire box deed to coma above the actual opening.

I agree that you need a beefier mantle...and forget the legs. Lazygardens gave a great analogy...the current mantle is like a hat that is too small that someone has forced onto their head. Your FP will be smashing with that change...I also agree to forget the legs. Oh, and I do like the idea of a round mirror...with a wide frame...nothing very narrow.

Pretty stone! I like the idea of adding width to the top of the mantle more than adding "legs."

It's not necessary to run the stone up to the ceiling but I think it would also look nice. We just did our fireplace redo and replaced the existing ugly ceiling height cement block/river rock with stacked ledge stone up to our 8' ceilings.

Instead of beefing up the mantel, what about adding matching bookcases on either side of the FP at the same height as the mantel?

Or, you could find a large wood piece which matches the mantel to set on top of it, kind of like Craftman decorating.

Linda, I don't understand why you think there's too much distance between the top of the firebox and the bottom of the mantel. Bringing the mantel lower would just swallow up the rock and the rock is the stand out part of the fireplace. And if the FP will be used often, then it's better to have a taller mantel.

aktillery...your fireplace is beautiful!!! GREAT JOB.

dfzmom...I agree that building out the mantel would improve your fireplace...there is indeed hope...plus it is wonderful that folks have posted pictures similar to yours.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Juddgirl, do you have any pictures of your fireplace you can share?

Could something like this work? http://www.fireplacemantels.com/mantel-shelves/traditional-mantel-shelves/auburnmantelshelf.cfm

Do you all think this mirror could help balance things out, plus adding more to the mantel? Or is it too "heavy"?

Or this one, kind of mixing the rustic w/ contemporary. Maybe I should focus on getting the mantel squared away first.

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Thanks again.

Look again at the pictures of all the fireplaces you like. The distance from the top of the firebox to the bottom of the mantle is about half the height or the firebox. In the OP's pictures, the height of the stone between the firebox and the mantle is more like 2/3 the height of the firebox. Visually diminishing that space will make it more pleasing to the eye.
Linda C

lindac, I see your point. Right now the mantel is "sitting" on top of the stone so I guess it should come down more to cover part of it. I think one of the problems is that the stone was put over the old brick so inside corner pieces shrunk the opening of the firebox a bit.

Here's a really quick & crude attempt at a larger mantel and the round mirror. On each picture I lowered the mantel a bit more.I tried the contemporary mirror but it didn't look good because the pointy outside mirrors really competed with the stone shapes in the fireplace and it was way too busy.

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I am the dissenting vote!

I LIKE the fireplace mantle and I would take the stone up to the ceiling and put a big ole fat round mirror up in a simple and rustic round shape.

But then it also totally depends on the style that you want. I like a rustic simplicity and to me if you put legs on it then it will look more formal. If you are 'dressing' it up I like the pic that Newhomebuilder posted.

I see reclaimed or hand scraped wood.

Per ttodd's suggestion. Same mantel: first one has original size mantel, 2nd one it's widened to cover more of lower portion. Looks nice.

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I think there is too much competition for a focal point on this fireplace. IMHO, the fireplace needs not just a bigger mantle, but something significant above the mantle, I would look at period fireplaces, maybe Arts and Crafts/Mission with some sort of over-mantle piece or architectural feature that goes all the way to the ceiling. And you might also consider boxing the hearth in oak to match the mantle. Now I don't know anything about construction, but can you take two or even three courses of stone off of the fireplace so that it resembles the bottom picture posted by hilltop?

Or what about something like this:

I think even without the windows on either side of this fireplace, there is a beautiful balance here, from ceiling to floor, that most visually weighty fireplaces demand. The focal point is as it should be, the mantle area. We rebuilt a fireplace five years ago. I know how difficult re-designing a fireplace can be. It's worth making the effort to change it because the fireplace is the very heart of the room that it's in. In the long run, you have to adress this or you will not be pleased with the room, no matter what you put over or around the fireplace. First correct the architecture then the rest will flow.

I like the chunkier mantle in pic 2 that Hilltop was generous to mock - up.

Drooling over that fireplace that CupofKindness posted.

Deciding on your mantle and how far up to run the stone is just the beginning of 'filling' it out. However you choose to decorate on the sides will also help to either 'beef it up' of make it look wimpy.

I think the simplest trick to beef it up width wise are simple bookshelves that are the same depth as the fireplace and are as high as a traditionally styled Craftsman setup would be. Could be as cheap or as expensive as you want and as temporary or as permanent as you want while you figure it all out.

Can you get a stone slab mantel to match the other stones? I think that would look the best.

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If you don't like that idea, I agree that a larger and darker wooden mantel would look better.

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Adding a chunkier mantel will certainly help the problem OR perhaps consider adding bookcases/cabinets around the fireplace?

Jan

Loving all the feedback! We've been offered a slab of bluestone that is 4 inches thick or a big old piece of solid oak. The bluestone would probably be about the same size as the 1st photoshop that chicogoans did. Opinions on those 2 options?

LOVE number 2! Nice job!

The 4" thick bluestone would be fabulous, but I thing you need to take the stone down a couple of courses if that is possible. My fireplace has only three courses of brick (roughly 10") before the wood facing at the base of the mantle begins.

My own fireplace resembles this one, except it is not at all ornate, but a lot of creamy picture frame molding and pale peachy beige bricks around the raised hearth fireplace opening. I do have fluted columns that support the mantle, and then above the mantle, the columns go up to the ceiling, and frame a picture frame molding, and we have a huge world map within that.
I don't have any french doors, hardwood floors, or lovely furniture in this room yet. Nor do I have sconces on either side of my fireplace (but I really wish I did!). I do have Fisher Price toys and Legos. But this is the closest thing I could find on the internet that suggests my new fireplace, which breathed a fresh, elegant feeling into a once rocky (my old fireplace was Austin limestone-no mantle and very ugly) great room.
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I really like those taller, wider mantles posted by hilltop!

Here's a picture of our in-progress fireplace redo - please excuse all the construction mess and cr*p on and around the fireplace. We're in the middle of installing our hardwood floors and everything's a mess (my pool table is in my kitchen!). This will NOT be our mantle decor, no matter how much my DH might like to display his collection of knick knacks there!

I was planning on posting before and after pictures once we install the hearth (or to get ideas for a hearth) but thought you might like to consider an antique beam like the one we used for a mantle. They come in all sizes and widths.

I think our mantle is relatively high in proportion to the firebox, but we were limited by the existing heading, which we did not want to rebuild.

Juddgirl2:

That is a beautiful fireplace, perfect mantle for the stone. Well done!

juddgirl - love your fireplace. I am jealous of your stone! What did you start with? Ours was brick spannining the whole wall, not floor to ceiling but horizontally.

Thank you! I do love this stacked stone. We have it in our backyard pool area and will also be using it for the planters in the front. The mantle is antique oak but they also had pine and chestnut beams available.

We started with what quite possibly was the ugliest fireplace I've ever seen. Lived with it for 10 years and hated it!

This is the only picture I can find right now but just picture ugly black and gray 70's style river rocks in the center with these cement blocks on the side and no mantle. Not pretty! When we tore out the rocks we realized the supporting bricks/concrete mix was falling apart so we basically rebuilt it.

I wouldn't go with a wood mantle. The straight lines of the wood mantle and the irregular lines of the fireplace edges just don't work together. I'd do something in stone for the mantle to keep the more consistent natural look.

I think the first photo that lydia posted with a more substantial wood mantle would do the trick. Adding wooden sides (legs) like the arts and craft photo that cupofkindness posted would be my first choice. However, I think a heftier mantle would make you happier and be the easiest fix.

Lowering the mantel will hide more of the stone. The stone is what makes the whold FP unique. Not that many people have stone FPs. Why lower the mantel so it will look like everyone else's FP? The more stone that shows the more beautiful it is, IMO.

I'm with ttodd, it's not the mantel or the stone, it's that it's naked and needs something (not a mirror) big above it and to the sides, like the bookshelf or cabinet idea.

I wouldn't change a thing to the FP except to add to the top and sides.

Maybe the mantel could stick out a few inches more? But I definitely would not enclose any more of the stone. The stone itself is a piece of art.

FWIW, since we built a rather large stone FP, I went to my inspiration pictures and looked at about 100 pictures on the net also, all stone fireplaces.

The majority of them have a large area between the top of the firebox and the bottom of the mantel.

If the FP were brick, then I'd probably agree the mantel bottom is too high.

Your stone is really nice and has a rustic look to it! (I'm not sure how to post these photos so have just posted a link)
Most of the stone fireplaces appear to have unpainted mantles. I notice your blinds are wood stain.
Your fireplace mantel and surround are really nice, but I don't think go that well with your beautiful stone!
Good Luck!
http://www.countryliving.com/cm/countryliving/images/Pv/fireplace6-de.jpg

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gribblemasonry.com/images/fireplaces/fireplace01_big.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www

I love the distance from box to mantle. Any lower and it would be too symetrical. Plus I think the distance gives height to the FP. The mantle size is what is clearly wrong. It needs to extend out on the sides and be a little thicker. But the rendition with the stone is really nice. If you can get the slab I think that is the way to go. The large mirror will look really nice.

Just another thought. There are code issues with the distance from box to mantle. Make sure you check that.

Also, the stone work is stunning change.