Your fireplace is magnificent but somewhat overpowering in the room. A mantle change or adding some built-ins on either side might balance the look a bit more. Check out these fireplaces from the Country Living website

I love both of them. I thought that I would have to have someone knock down the blocks and make a wooden enclosure with a mantle. It totally does overpower the room. That makes so much sense. Thanks so much.

no tv for now. We have a family room but that needs work. We bought the home and I then I lost my job so I am DIYing as much as possible. Most of the house is hard wood but please check out the floor in my family room it totally sucks. Any suggestions there?????????

Do you have an ikea nearby? They have really cheap (but pretty nice) large area rugs.

We bought a 9 x 12 100% solid color wool rug for my family room for $129! It would soften up the tile and pull the room together without a radical change.

I agree, a rug would warm up the space. I know we have avoided rugs with our pets, but something inexpensive until you can get more hardwood put it might do the trick. Maybe you can find a bamboo "rug" that won't attract pet hair. Good luck!

I purchased a great natural area rug at a great price for my dining room (8x10 was $99 with free shipping!)...it is woven mountaingrass. Can vacuum or just sweep - works great for heavy traffic, kids, and pets. And best of all, no nasty off-gassing. Highly recommend. Naturalarearugs.com

jak403 thank you so much. I went on the site and love the rugs. I wonder how pet friendly the rugs are.

Hi, I saw your post. I know what it means about rugs & pets, they don't get along too well. For me if you give color to the wall, you would achieve with a happy vibrant room. Try a light green color like pistachio, and to give a twist instead of using a paint brush use a sea sponge. Be sure to squizze the excess paint on the sponge & then stake out evenly (tapping it).
It's fun to do & and it comes out great.

pretty - I think my cat's hair comes up easier with vacuum on this kind of rug because the weaving of the fiber seems to trap it less than a regular rug would. Can't speak to dogs. Fast shipping too.

I like the idea of the wooden mantle, with a very large terracotta artwork above it

Get rid of those pictures and candles and stuff on the mantle piece! The fire place is stunning enough without being covered up with 'stuff' One picture or mirror is more than enough.....I think the walls need to change to something more neutral to tone in with the fireplace....whatever you do.....DON'T EVER THINK OF PAINTING THE STONE!! It is STUNNING and you are lucky to have a fire place like that!!!

I have a similar fireplace and mantle.I dont want to keep a full on country lodge look. I. Saw a fireplace like ours in a magazine with a chunky but simple white mantle ledge that totally modernized and cheered up the stone but didn't make it lose the charm. I haven't done it yet but its on the to do list.

I have a client with a similar stone fireplace and we actually painted it white (latex). I wasn't sure it would work, but it was worth the try and it worked great.
Only thing to note is that my client's house has a wood burning stove that they don't use very often, and you don't want to paint near the part that gets hot. I'd suggest talking to a fireplace company about heat-resistant paint. That said, if you don't want to paint it, I agree with @mnberg - builtins to balance it would help, and as much as you love the wall color, the contrast between the dark walls and the super-white ceiling make the ceilings look lower and the fireplace stand out. I'd consider painting the walls and ceiling all one color and going for something lighter and more muted (light enough to do on the ceiling as well) or do a color on the ceiling that 25% of the wall color.

I would do away with the mantle all together and let the stone speak for itself. It would also look great to have modern-looking fireplace version in a dark grey steel colour or something that echos the colours of the stone.
As for colour, I agree that the ceiling is too starkly white and would look better in a softer shade of cream. I would use a soft yellow on the walls to let in the "sun".

Thanks so much for all your advise. I haven't thought about the ceiling but your right about the ceiling and wall colors. I was thinking about painting the walls a linen white then soften the ceiling.

Linen white is an excellent choice for the walls and possibly for the ceiling too if you can get a matte finish in it to stop any reflection....good idea to paint walls and ceilings at the same time or the ceiling could look a little 'worn' if your walls are freshly painted. I like the suggestion of a painting the mantle white if you are to have one at all or maybe even the same colour as the walls. I would 'kill' for a fireplace like that but they are extremely uncommon in South Australia. Good luck! You have a beautiful room there.

Hi - although I like the wall color by itself, I don't think it is doing anything for the room. It seems like you are going towards a lighter cottage-style look (based on white cabinetry, light floral upholstery, etc.). You could go several different ways with the wall color: the first would be a cleaner, lighter yellow, but I think that this will still not be great with the stone; a neutral color with pink undertones, possibly similar to Benjamin Moore "Philadelphia Cream" or "Terra Bella"(must complement/blend well with upholstery backgrounds); a green could also work, similar to the second photo from mnberg - check out Ben.Moore "Celtic Folklore" or "Springhill Green". Just don't do white, or too light a color - it will just wash out the room and make the FP look even darker and more prominent. The most important thing to lighten up the fireplace is to do a nice, white chunky mantel on it; look at the 3rd one down on the left on this page http://www.dwellingsinc.net/index.cfm?action=ViewCategory&Category=34&ResetSRow=1. I would also consider adding crown molding around the room (white) - bringing it across the top of the FP would finish it off and ground it to the room. Basically, the walls should be the mid-tone in the room between the dark of the fireplace and the light of the furniture and casework/trim, if you add it.

For an inexpensive rug idea for your family room, you can also often find cotton dhurries or similar in a 4x6 size. Take 3 or so of these and whipstitch them together - voila! Big rug for possibly around $60.

I like the fireplace, but it does need a beefier mantle. Perhaps painted white to match your woodwork color. Also, declutter the mantle of too many accessories. The picture and mirror is too much for the space, and are competing against one another. I would just use one print, with some simple acccessories own each end.
I think white painted bookcases on either side of the fireplace would be beautiful, but would require building a wall section to the right of the fireplace. It does need balance here.
I would add an area rug in front of the sofa to soften the space and paint the walls a nice linen color.

I took a look at the chunky mantel you suggested. The one with the cabinets around the fireplace is beautiful but can you suggest another white chunky mantle perhaps one that will just mount on the fireplace itself?

If you were referring to my link, I was trying to find a better representation of what I meant but couldn't find a photo! You could kind of go by the first photo nberg posted. If you want your mantel to be a little simpler it could be, but I think the scale of that one is nice. If I were you, though, I would seriously think about also doing a surround with the mantel. Again, if you look at that photo, I would have the surround come down on the front, but also turn and go back to the wall. I always think that this creates a really nice play between the rusticity of the stone and the refinement of the trim, plus it will lighten it considerably and ground it. This doesn't have to be expensive - if you have a carpenter build it, just have him use some paint-grade wood on the surround. I'll keep looking for a photo though!

This is just an electric fireplace, but it shows a simple matel and surround.
http://www.homegardenandpatio.com/cat.cgi?s=CF-23WM537WHT-0401&c=home_accents_fireplaces_white_mantle. Again, this could all be done with off-the-shelf trim from Home Depot

Have two built in benchs or cabinets in each side of the fireplace. Pretty picture or elegant mirror hung above the benchs will balance the fireplace. Warm color such as orange or yellow curtains will balance the green room. I DO LOVE the soothing green color you have right now. Don't need to change it.

I love the idea of the white fireplace mantle and surround. That will bring in the cottage feel while toning down the rustic stone of the FP.

I would paint the walls an off-white and go very modern with the furniture. I think a mid-century modern look would also look stunning with this fireplace. Since it is such a focal point in the space, I would get rid of the florals and overstuffed sofas and go very minimal. I think it would open up the space. I would also replace the fan with a more modern-looking fan and add some warm accent colors like orange or yellow or green. Also, a fun rug with a lot of texture but neutral colors would work well.

Wonderful ideas. I have to say that the paint color is definitely changing. Since I don't have direct sun in the room I am still thinking a light color for paint. Love the crown molding idea. Will add an area rug. I am going for cottage style and the furniture is staying. Although I would love to do some slip covers for the chairs. Any picture ideas for the fireplace?

The fireplace is a strong dark element in the room that needs balancing, but all of the light furnishings don't provide that balance. More medium to dark colored or patterned furniture, rug(s), pictures, etc. will provide that balance. A large oriental rug would be a possibility. Just be sure that you have something to create that balance in all parts of the room. Just one item probably won't do the trick.
I also agree that a mantle surround would do a nice job of softening the fireplace.

ok, thanks to all of the responces I have decided to look into the fireplace mantle surround. Dose the cabinet have to be as deep as the fireplace?

The depth of the cabinets on either side of the fireplace is pretty much up to you. Consider what you are wanting to get out of them. When I have a chance to put in some sort of shelving, cabinetry or storage I have found that if I don't go for the maximum amount possible I am always sorry later. But with the depth it looks like you have on either side of the fireplace you could come up with some really creative designs, like adding some sort of seating in it somewhere, or doing a "U" or "L" design with the cabinets on either side.
I think you will be very happy when you get done with this project. I had a large room with a fireplace on one wall with rectangular moldings on either side of the fireplace. The decorative moldings just made the room look extremely long and unappealing. I had cabinetry put on either side of the fireplace and made the room feel more normal and comfortable. Plus I love having more display and storage space.

Yes, if you are doing the surround, it should return to the wall. You COULD do just a mantel, but it definitely will not have the same effect as a surround. The other option would be to do something more like in nberg's first photo, where the mantel extends to the floor, but there is something about this that feels kind of pasted on. The cost would be MINIMAL to return the surround to the wall, and will make a big difference! Just tell your carpenter that you want something flat (no raised panels or anything) with maybe a 1x2 trim on the edge of the surround to give it a simple, cottagey look. The mantel can be flat with maybe some small corbels/brackets below (although this is more Arts & Crafts, per that link I gave you) or you could add some cove molding. Have your carpenter show you a little mock up of the moldings so you can see it ahead of time.

I think that I need to clarify a couple of things that may have caused some confusion. First, a mantel surround is the type of decorative molding or some other material that usually attaches to the horizontal mantel above the firebox, but also goes around 3 sides of the firebox; like the first picture mnberg showed. I should have told you that in my last reply, but realizing you were talking about cabinetry on either side of the fireplace I just responded to that. Both a fireplace surround and cabinetry on either side would soften the look of your fireplace.
Second, normally you would extend the cabinetry from wall to fireplace, coming out to the edge of the upper fireplace, unless you only put in bookcases. But as I said, your fireplace looks quite deep, so you could perhaps play with the L or U option with your cabinetry. Viviennevinyl's reminder to consult with your carpenter for ideas is good. When he actually sees the space he can advise you better than we can just from a picture.

The mustard blah with all the yellow in flooring. Fireplace stunning! Its the chair that looks dated and tired. Use fresh florals for that bright cheery look you want. Lose the chatchky stuff except for candles on left and remat pic in white or white frame. A nice seisal rug or a random pop of color that you can pull from artwork or from 'stuff' on dining floating shelves.

Updating the actual fireplace door will make a huge difference, you might get some ideas from our website at www.fireplacesafetyscreen.com. Here is one example.