Change of heart for the fireplace

After much debate for the last few days, I've decided against using tile for my fireplace. We have a gas insert fireplace that doesn't open at all. It was really meant for decorative purposes. There is real fire when turned on but no wood is required. The last few days, I've been doing research and even went as far as visiting local model homes to look at their fireplaces for inspiration. I am starting to see a nice trend of not using tiles and just having the wood surround. I like the plain white wood surround because its simple and allows the decor to stand out.

This was the fireplace from the model home that I visited today in Rancho Cucamonga. Its plain white, bulky, and I really like it. Its something that my dad can reproduce for me on a low budget. The picture doesn't do this fireplace justice because you can't see the fireplace as a whole with the house.

Here's another picture of a white wood surround fireplace from a friends house. This is a better picture because you can see that the fireplace allows the surrounding decorations to stand out. Although the layout of this house is way different from mines, I can see how important it is to have a low key fireplace so it doesn't compete with the television.

This is a picture from another website that I found. I love the look of this fireplace. Its nice and bulky with simple lines. It really allows the decorations to stand out. Notice how the walls are also very light. At first, I thought having light colored walls with a plain white fireplace would blend everything together but after looking at these inspirational pictures I have a change of heart.

I've finally decided on the basic design now. I returned all the marble tiles to Homedepot. Hopefully I can start on the fireplace project sometime tonight or tomorrow.