Is the rest of this woodwork going to be white? If so, based in what else I can see I would go with a rustic mantle to add some interest and tie in the rest of the decor

Are you removing the entire surround? The ship lap makes no sense with it. I'd remove the entire area over the fire box, it was totally unnecessary to "box it out". . .

At that point, I'd paint the entire wall above the built ins to white, Lose the entire fire surround. add a stained mantel to match built in top. Not sure where you were going with the whole thing. sorry to say that.,

That picture shows exactly what I was going to suggest, sunflwrs321. I even like the decorative hardware (Iron?) and slab facing/hearth (slate? granite?) they’ve chosen.

I would suggest painting the fireplace surround (lower portion and upper portion) white and installing a thin wood mantle similar to what you are showing in the photo immediately above. Would suggest letting the mantle match the countertop of the adjacent cabinetry. Would also suggest instead of painting the topmost portion grey I would paint it white so that you don't have a big strip across it. Would also suggest trimming out the upper portion of the adjacent cabinetry so that they look a bit more substaintial. Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestions. Trim work is not complete. We are planning on painting and trimming out cabinetry, as well.

So I guess my true question is...can I get away with a rustic wood mantle?

What are you considering “rustic?” If it’s the wood mantel (not mantle, btw) in the inspiration pic you posted, that’s not rustic. What do your countertops look like up close? It’s hard to see from your picture whether they’re smooth — like the ones in the inspo pic — or more on the rough-hewn or rustic side. Regardless, I would have the mantel shelf echo the style of the countertops.

We think doing a thin rustic mantle might work well with what you already have. Note our design we included below for an idea of what it might look like.

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