SFGate

decoenthusiaste If the bookcases werre not white I'd say rustic, but... How classic is the rest of your furniture. Are you cowboys or city slickers in your decor style?

Gabberts Design Studio A white mantle will tie in nicely with the built-ins. You can add rustic accessories to the mantle for variety and interest!

Candis Lacharite I would say we are neither.. cowboys or city slickers ? Its deceiving with all the Xmas decor around , its usually not so cluttered . This is a very small room and there are two brown leather club chairs and ottomans . The floor is honey coloured solid oak . The fireplace stone is slate . If we went white , should we attached to the built ins on either side or build a more traditional mantel ? ?

arlendau I would suggest a simple, black mantle - stop about 6-8" from the side.

Stanton Designs-online design services White would tie it all in. Here is a suggestion...first thing that popped out is the boldness of the white shelves and it over powered the beautiful slate fireplace. What if you pulled out a color from the slate...like a blue/gray maybe and paint the shelves that color. It will tied that all in so nicely and that fireplace will stand out more, and then you could do a rustic beam.