I recommend going all the way to the ceiling with your stone fireplace. Best wishes!

It looks like you have enough space on that wall to mount the TV? I'd go all the way to the ceiling with the new stone.

One mor pic... top part of this wall will be eliminated, thus opening LR to kitchen which will be fully remodeled. Cabinets will be wood... considering Taj Mahal quartzite for countertops & peninsula

Jen: You've hijacked somebody's thread. Bad.

Start your own thread; this is about a fireplace re-do.

Don't use that ledgestone.........it's already dated and boring as fireplace facings go.

I would use something that actually appears to be stone. Your ledgestone is quartzite.

https://boxwoodavenue.com/blog/renovating-fireplace-stone-veneers

http://www.eldoradostone.com/products/roughcut/casa-blanca/

http://www.eldoradostone.com/products/roughcut/

Besides being "dated and boring", it's easy to see the joints that line up because they were installed in sheets. That wouldn't happen in a real stone wall, and it gives away the fact that it's fake.

The front of the Lululemon store in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia has panels like that, but the stones are installed vertically(!) and the seams are really prominent. Yuck.

Have you tried painting the brick white and doing a thick mantel? you have nothing to lose if you're redoing it. would look like this

or, here is your ledger stone, along w/some other quartzite colors.

this one is similar to what you've chosen. take it all the way up to the ceiling and do your wood mantel without corbels. (this mantel is wrong w/this stone). notice how they did the hearth. perhaps you can find a solid piece of limestone to match your quartzite stone.

another example w/your color choice. looks like they did larger travertine tiles for the hearth. hate the mantel w/the corbels. if you're going to mount a mantel, use lag bolts into the brick and drill in deep holes in your wood so it slides right on the bolts.

with no corbels I'd span the entire width with the mantel, as shown below:

Perfect wood mantel on ledger stone. I like this look.

For another alternative, you can stop the stone right at the mantel and do trim work around it like this:

use a solid piece of stone for the hearth, cut to fit. maybe a piece of black slate, or quartz remnant, etc.

You could also do the trim work above the mantel, and so solid stone for the box area.

just a before/after showing a stone veneer. the mantel is way too small. either to a properly sized wood mantel, or nothing.

white/gray quartzite ledger stone

solid white ledger stone with a quartz hearth. Again, this mantel is all wrong. Too thick and too short. everything else looks good though.

Stone veneer. I'd do a longer mantel, but the wood type is nice. the hearth looks like solid chunks of a lime stone or similar material.

solid piece of stone for hearth. go to a stone/rock place that sells these

I too would save the money and try paint on the current brick/stone first. I had black and purple marble to work with on our current home, so it had to go. I *wish* I'd had this stone to play with so I could use the money spent on other areas.

We agree with Beth. Why not try updating your current fireplace first? If you don't like how it looks why not try painting it white? We think that plus a nice thick mantle might do the trick.