I watched an HGTV episode recently where they placed several layers of compound right over the brick; sanding and smoothing in between coats until they achieved the desired surface. They then built a surround with mulitple layers of MDF and built up a molding. Inside the surround they laid out a light colored stone... something like a flagstone. On either side they built white open shelving to house home theater equipment. Sounds a little like what you want. Now... I'm a HUGE fan of glass tile but once you do it... you're kind of married to it due to expense. The beauty of this "spackle" treatment... is you can change out the color, making it an accent wall or blend it in with the existing cabinetry giving it a real built in look. The episode was pretty cool because the chiseled out the stone to create a thick deep enough groove into which they laid tubing through which they ran the all the wires for the home theater equipment. So many ideas out there.....

The two looks you posted are very family room casual - is that where you are going? The mantel you have is pretty formal in design, so I am wondering if your decor and the rest of the woodwork in the space are equally formal? I don't see either one of those working in a more formal space. A wonderful textural slate could be terrific, though.

@Patricia Colwell @Beverly @Mark Bischak @Debbie and Ed Butler all great suggestions and comments. Agree should have gone with a linear fireplace. But it's too late. The builder explained why the bottom trim is there now and the portion we don't want will be removed. It had to do with painting, but regardless it will be removed. There is something about a wood stained floating mantel that I like. But I could opt for a painted traditional style mantel with supports/legs if that look would be better for my space. Our ceilings are 16' at the peak and the room is large, vaulted and a lot of light. The TV will be a decent height for viewing. The room is really large. 36' wide by 25', though will have the seating area focused around the fireplace. The kitchen and eating area are on the opposite wall of the fire place (behind me as I took the picture. Open concept. And I do agree I should have chosen base cabinets and then done floating shelves instead of the big shelving units. But that will be a project for several years from now when I really dislike the shelves. But I do have a lot of fun blown glass and neat pieces to display. Back to the fireplace. Here is a pic of one I like 0 screenshot it off Instagram so it's not a full pic and I don't have a hearth). A question I have is how far across does the mantel go? and should there be a gap between the tile and the wall edge and mantel or is it ok to have the wall below the mantel completely tiled?

I think your current mantle is too thin, short and dark. I replaced it w/something like this I put a throw in the basket for some more texture. take away the other flower pot next to the tools. in the season where you aren't using the tools, remove it, replace w/something like this. this is one of my favorites, but only if you have something interesting to reflect I like this too. this mantle is similar to yours but it goes all the way across. try copying what they've done here, only not as much (yours is a smaller length) gave you logs in the basket. btw, have you thought about doing a charcoal color on the walls (the top two here match great w/your mortar on the FP) they are grays that have yellow undertones, so they'd work perfectly w/the stones.