I picked a color off your stone. Then add an artwork about the width of the firebox.

Guessing the mantel is not wood, but something like Azek, a PVC , which has a two sided finish...ask him if he takes the mantel off and flips it will you see the smooth side.

I would paint it black like the firebox.

You have rustic stone and rustic wood. They work together. It was a mistake to paint the mantle. Better to have simply adjusted the stain color. Now the white paint sticks out like a sore thumb on top of the lovely stone FP. Do what P. Banos has suggested.

IMO the white was the wrong choice an dif the mantel is wood strip it bact to wood and stain it to work with the stone . I would take a way the corbels too thye are too much for this FP in fact I would not have done a mantel at all. Is this a wood burning FP ? If not remove the mantel and add a great piece of art instead

I think the corbels might be too oversized and I agree that white was the wrong choice here. It now looks plastic. Strip it back and mount it to float, without corbels.

Its definitely the white paint that is wrong. The mantle itself is ok. I agree, pick a color from the stone, and paint the mantle that color. Black would look good too, but, I have no idea if black goes in your house.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I really appreciate it!

IMHO, the corbels look no more oversized than the ledge itself and removing them I dont think would improve the situation. HOwever P Banos pic shows how getting the color more in sync with the stone (whether with paint or stripping back to wood) will vastly de-emphasize it and make fireplace + mantel read as more of a cohesive unit. Its the white paint that's making that mantel stick out like an oversized sore thumb and painting another high contrast color (like black) would only have the same effect.

It looks like the mantle color might be better one of the stone colors or a wall color. The white is too stark.

What did it look like before? It definitely should be stained, not painted.

Yes, very nice color now.

Much better!

I like the new mantel. It doesn't look too low to me and the color is just right.

I like the new mantle! Perfect.

Looks awesome!

I think it looks beautifil and the height seems perfect to me!

Looks great! The height is perfect... Art, not so much.

Thanks everyone! Raingirl, what about the art do you not like/what do you suggest?

Your old mantle was loo large, too high and looked like white plastic. The new mantle is correctly proportioned and placed. It is a great color and really enhances the fireplace and the space around it.

You have a beautiful fireplace, but the art piece should be larger, not sit centered over fireplace and be more dramatic. The things on the mantel are blah and are lost. The present painting?? is almost identical shape to fireplace opening.

The new one looks perfect. No need for clunky corbels underneath. I agree that the colors in the art clash too much with the surrounding colors and the size and shape seem off. I'd stick with a much larger piece with more neutral/nature colors, like a landscape, or a black and white abstract would look cool. Everything on the mantel is too small for such a massive fireplace.

The mantel does not appear too low and looks perfect on the fireplace wall. the art piece is too small and you need a much larger rectangular piece, woven fiber knotted piece, collection of masks just something that is proportionate to the height of the wall. By the way, fine art does not need to match your decor,but if purchasing something purely as

a decorative element, then by all means choose something that coordinates with your color scheme.

I love the new mantel! I looks great and I wouldn’t worry about having to move it. As for art or decor on it, go with what you love! Don’t worry if it’s the right color or size, choose pieces you love to see and play around with different configurations and placements until it feels right to you. You are the one looking at this everyday, so make it something that brings a smile to your face when you gaze upon it. People you invite into your home are there to visit you, not to critique your mantel display. 🙂

I actually like your art because it has some contrast to the fireplace. What's the point of putting anything up there if it's just going to blend in? You could go larger though.

The mantle looks great!! A larger piece of art would help better balance the entire look. Beautiful fireplace and mantle though!! 🙂

The mantle looks great and is the right height above the fireplace, Any higher and it would look disjointed from it.

Perfect color choice for mantel and I agree with others, the lower placement accords with the surroundings and the chimney proportions; the height of the mantel and the hearth together frame the fire place. Proportionally- I might give a temporary look at hanging the painting on the chimney rather than using the mantel as an easel, though it is fine and casual as photographed, the art may be even better ratio-wise if it is above rather than resting upon the mantel. and perhaps illuminated with a small lamp - a higher focal point above the fireplace.

It turned out great!

I agree that the new mantle looks great and is a vast improvement. Ironically two articles above your story are illustrated with fireplaces that have large landscapes. You might want to look at them to help visualize how a larger art piece would look in your case. The one for "How to organize your house ..." is very similar to yours.

Perfect!!!

If you don’t want to purchase a large landscape piece, do you have any nice landscape or other photos from vacations you have taken, etc., that you could have enlarged, printed, and framed to hang above the mantel? If you have one that could be enlarged enough, great, but if not perhaps you can do a gallery wall arrangement of multiple photos in matching frames. I agree with others both that your art should be what you like and what brings you joy, and at the same time, honestly, the piece you have up now does not work very well with the overall look of the fireplace and mantel.

And the mantel looks great now!

I would think through a paint wash on the brick, primarily to compliment the texture of the wood grain. Paint wash doesn't go on thick, and its not a smear. Do 1/3 paint to 2/3rds water. Put it in a spray bottle, spra and dab it off to allow the color of the brick to peek through the paint.

This doesn't even look like the same room... THAT'S how much of a difference the new, stained mantle makes! It looks so so great now!! That clunky white one with the corbels was trying too hard.

When at all possible (it's almost ALWAYS possible!) go with a pretty stain or leave the wood in its natural state; I'm hoping that the horrid "trend" of covering everything in paint (a la Joanna Gaines and Fixer Upper 🥴) is coming to an end!!!

mantle is much better.

but you really need a taller piece of art (and something that works better w/the colors)

not saying you have to use the bull here, but the black and whtie w/crisp greens/yellows would look really good

some stacked wood on either side would look good too

see the low wood stack here? maybe build some type of bench on either side, and stack the wood beneath it

this mantle appears to be proper height (but this box is also larger)

One more design option with your beautiful stone fireplace!

what if you warmed the tones up a bit and did something like this?

I gave you a small console in the same colors for that corner. the other side a fiddleleaf, or even the potted olive tree like in the next photo

I love the leather chair instead of that cooler tone blue.

here's the olive. you could do this on either side. look at the leather cut wood holder. It would be a nice design element

I'd also bring in a rug like this

Or even layering w/a hide rug on top.

For your sofa, try some of these pillow combos.

This rug and the warmer tone furniture/art that they have would go perfectly w/your stone

If you want to use a darker rug,, Looks good w/the leather. gave you a tall mirror

Beth H, great ideas! j

I know this is an old thread (and what OP ended up with looks pretty good) but I would have loved to have attacked that white painted mantel with a sander, to get a cerused look with white left in the grain. Just thought Id put that out there FWIW! In case someone else is in the same boat - sometimes happy accidents can be redeemed. Sometimes not....

Thank you all for your comments! Thank you Beth for the photos and inspiration as well! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for a larger art piece.

We had these lamps that used to be on each side of couch with matching large square end tables. (one not shown) I always felt it was too heavy and we just tried placing them by fireplace to fill the space. Whatcha think?

it's getting there.

the lamps are for light for you, not so much decorative accent pieces. (personally they aren't my cup of tea) To me it's a little silly having them over against the wall Unless you pushed back that chair and used it for reading or something? I still think a leather or golden tone chair would look better.

for the sofa, try some of these pillow options.

I do like your white chairs and the tv console, but that blue is a little too cool next to that stone. you need some wrmer elements to warm it up a bit.

for the tv console, you can try a few items like they show here

or this one.

new mantle is terrific . Lamps don't go in my opinion. want built in floating shelves or wood the tone of mantle or greenery near mantle/stone. Leave breathing space to enjoy the stone and meditate on the variations! What are the odd grey squares on either wall next to mantle?

In my opin the lamps don’t belong on either side of the fireplace.maybe use one by a reading chair and another room, maybe an office. the rest of the room looks well balanced

and ready for you to add your personal design touches such as plants, art and throw pillows. good job!

Get rid of the mantle completely and let the stone fireplace

In addition to getting rid of mantle I would consider floating shelves on either side

I like the new mantle. It looks very nice. Getting a new one, was an excellent choice.

I guess you're going for a French countryside look? Stain it to bring out the wood grain. Why hide it?

I’d keep the natural wood on the mantel, sand it down and stain it a brown shade. I personally do not like the white mantel. If you have other colors in the room, why not paint the mantel in a shade that is similar to stand out rather than the white?

I agree w the comment above mine. Wood grain is beautiful. Why cover it?