ratherbesewing - Greetings! Just returned from an out-of-town family wedding...so nice to escape fireplaces for a few days!

Yes, the bricks are down & we're enjoying the light, open feeling in the room, despite the hole in the wall and the mess. :) We ordered our Heat and Glo fireplace and bought the floor model cast surround. It was 70% off retail price, which was a huge motivator, but not the only one...we really love it and think it will look nice in our family room. We opted to get the overmantel; think it will help keep the room bright and keep the fireplace as the focal point.

I collected several hearth material samples, and was leaning toward an ivory travertine, but in the end we ordered the cast hearth that matches the mantel. It simplifies things. Originally that wasn't an option, as our hearth area was larger than the cast hearth dimensions. But, after looking at our brown berber carpeting, we felt it was too big of a disconnect with the new mantel & hearth. So, we are biting the bullet and getting new flooring! Now I'm overwhelmed with all the flooring options! LOL!

I love bamboo, hardwood, & cork. Not a huge carpeting fan. But DH and the kids love carpeting in that room. If we go the hard surface route and then add an area rug, we're spending a lot on a floor that will mainly be covered up. Plus, it may make the room feel smaller. So, I will look at carpeting options and consider them. This project just seems to snowball! I'm also picking out a new paint color for the walls & want to add crown molding. And down the road...new furniture is calling!

The contractor needs to pull the old firebox & get everything ready for the fireplace folks to install the new unit. The flooring decision has to be made quickly, because that impacts the hearth position (directly on hardwood? fairly flush with carpeting? ).

I am hoping the end result looks good. A decorator who lives nearby gave me her thoughts; she thinks the new mantel will look great. DH & I like it, and that's all that really matters, but it was nice confirmation from someone who designs rooms for a living.

If anyone has any flooring advice, bring it on! Thx!

I have a tile floor(came with the house) throughout and although I wish it were travatine to reduce the grout, I love tile with an area rug for our family room. So much easier to keep clean than wall to wall would have been. Plus cheaper to replace an area rug if there were a child catastrophe like red paint or say nail polish spilled upon it! Just a thought!

CKGM - Thx for your input! Our decorator friend also suggested tile. To be honest, I've never been a huge tile fan...think it's too hard and cold. But the area rug would certainly help, and I do love the general idea of an area rug. To your point, easier to replace than entire carpeting. Also, I like the flexibility an area rug offers...so many to choose from...and easy to change up the look of a room with a different rug.

Hmmm...more to ponder!!