A beautiful marble stone fireplace, but it needs something.  At the request of my clients, I attempted to come up with a solution.

Picture 1 of 7

Since the fireplace is so grand, I decided that the mantle piece needs to be quite large.  This is the beginnings of a 10 foot long mantle.

Picture 2 of 7

Solid oak raised panel construction with small raised panels on the ends.

Picture 3 of 7

I use pocket holes whenever possible.  My Kregg Pocket Hole Jig comes in very handy - the joint is so strong that I don't even use glue in most cases.  This allows me the flexibility to "undo" a joint whenever necessary.

Picture 4 of 7

I think that the mantle adds quite a lot of character to this fireplace.

Picture 5 of 7

These solid oak corbels are supporting the entire mantle.  I mounted them into the wall space behind the oak boards.

Picture 6 of 7

Overall, it turned out pretty nice.

Picture 7 of 7