Help! We tore out our old fireplace (and the whole wall surrounding), hired a mason and ordered the stone, as well as a new insert. We thought we'd figure out a brilliant layout arrangement in the time it took for the materials to arrive. Eek! The time is now here and we still don't have a plan.

I am a graphic designer - so can make things look nice on computer screen and/or paper.
In 3D/life size - not so much.
My best effort is the second picture and we are still not liking it. My husband is extremely concerned that it's going to "look dumb" because the room is small. Putting cool sculptures in the layout didn't help any. The iron horse head in the middle is something I already have and I'd like to incorporate it if we can. The other two I just fudged from subject matter that we both like.

Room is 15' wide x 12' deep. Ceiling is 9' tall. The stackstone shown on the 2nd mockup is already ordered so we have to use that. I have access to all sizes of hand hewn barn beams. What I've mocked up here is about 9" thick - we are at an impasse as to whether that is TOO massive, or appropriate for this application.

Also, we want to use a steel plate in lieu of stone or tile for the hearth. So we're needing to figure out the best way to texture that and make it rustic looking. Want to incorporate matching brackets or other steel elements to tie it all together.

Any ideas? Comments?