OT- help selecting surround material for fireplace

15 years ago

Hello All, I know this off topic, but your taste is excellent so I wanted to see if you could help...

In our new build, the gas fireplace is installed and the painted white mantel is ordered. We have decided to go with a quarter sawn vertical oak wood floor finished in place. We won't select the stain until later, but for now, I need to select a granite or marble for the hearth/surround. We are not doing a raised hearth, but plan to do an in floor hearth in the same material as the surround. Should the granite be relatively light (like the floors) or is dark ok?

This fireplace will be in our great room which is open to the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen cabinets are white on the perimeter and maple with a glaze. All granite in the kitchen will be giallo ornamental.

I really want to use a granite on the fireplace that will blend with our furniture etc or if we decide to change our furniture later.

Please help! Any pics would be greatly appreciated! Below is a photo of our cabinets with one of the slabs of GO. Our doors are different but the colors are correct.

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Comments (5)

mtnrdredux_gw
15 years ago
FWIW, not so long ago we removed the granite surround from the DR fpl in our house and put in white carrera. Granite felt too cold to me, almost like an office building or something? Is your space modern? If so I may be all wrong.

There also so many wonderful tile options out there ...
nhbaskets
15 years ago
We used the same tile in our fireplace surround as in our backsplash. Our kitchen and family room are open to one another.
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nancyaustin
15 years ago
Our house sounds similar to yours. Our kitchen connects with our familyroom, too. Our kitchen cabinets are dark cherry & the granite is Giallo Ornamental. The floor in the kitchen & familyroom is white oak, finished in a medium brown. Our fireplace hearth is the same level as the floor. We used a brushed cream marble on the surround & hearth, so the finish is matte. The fireplace mantel and the wood around the fireplace are Navajo White---about the same color as the marble. We like the cream marble against the cream color wood. We considered using a brown marble for the surround & hearth but were concered that it would give the overall appearance of a big dark hole in the fireplace area.
CheriPatrice
15 years ago
My floors are a brown reclaimed pine (versus the yellow pine I see some places). My fireplace surround is painted BM Cloud White. I'm using Crema Marfil marble tile on my surround and on floor (same level as wood floor-no hearth). My neighbors used slate tiles (dark grey with some rust like sheen), but that was too dark for me.
brianadarnell
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you so much for your help! I'm glad to hear that my secret idea of crema marfil marble was not crazy! Any photos would still be appreciated. Thanks for your help! This girl is getting decisioned-out!