I am contemplating a mantel as well. did you do the floating mantel? if so do you have a picture?

If you like the appearance of the fireplace floated up off the floor like it is in the photo above, a mantel shelf will often end up being so high off the floor so as to look awkward.

The negative space (nothingness) around the fireplace is the most important part of the composition.

Having said that, we've done a number of projects that used a mantel shelf over the top of a modern fireplace:
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Hi, No I decided I love the look without the floating mantle. One of these days I will post a pic. One of the tricks I often use, though I didn't for this project, is to simply take a picture, load it into photoshop and play around with it by adding what I want. You might want to give that a try.

Chandani & all - I'm interested to know what kind of stone you used for your project? I've been tirelessly searching for something like the stone in this pic or similar to the Sinatra house in Palm Springs. I'd be VERY grateful for any advice!

Hi- I didn't want a lot of texture but did want the linear effect. I searched in my area of a vein cut limestone/travertine that in a cool light tone without a yellow tone. This turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated and I wanted to keep the project on schedule, so I found a hone limestone with onyx. See image 1 for what I went with (I've changed the rug) and am quite happy with the decision. I think the material in the pics above might be angel stone. Here is something to get you started:
http://carolreeddesign.blogspot.ca/2009/09/fireplace-facelift-thin-stone-veneer.html