Help Us Choose a Mantle

Our new home will have a fireplace! See on this first floor plan? I marked the fireplace with an arrow.

Jesse and I originally wanted to tabby the fireplace surround from floor to ceiling. (Tabby stucco is a light-gray stucco with oyster shells and sea shells mixed in. It has a rough texture. It's very Lowcountry.) However, we had a hard time finding someone to quote us for this, so we decided that adding tabby would be a project we will tackle in the future.

In the meantime, we are just going to sheetrock the fireplace, do a white-washed brick surround, and a chunky wooden mantle. I need to find a chunky wooden mantle.

The living room of the home opens up to our foyer, dining room, and kitchen. So, I need to consider the wood flooring (light to mid colored), white cabinets of the kitchen, dark-gray island of the kitchen, and the chocolate brown dining table I currently have. The wall paint will be a lighter shade of gray.

Do I get a white mantle? Chocolate brown? Wood to match the floors?

I was first envisioning a chunky, reclaimed wood'ish mantle. Our television will not hang above it. Jesse and I have our eyes on an original painting for above the fireplace. I will use the mantle to decorate seasonally.

I have a $500 budget for the mantle.

Here are some things I have found online that I could see working in the space:

Chunky Wooden Mantle. Would do a color similar to this.
This mantle was found on The Lettered Cottage. 

Reclaimed Wood Mantle found on Pinterest. I would find something to match the color of the floors.
This brick is similar to the bring I would like to surround the fireplace opening with. 

White, wooden, and distressed. I found this on Etsy.

HELP! What do you like? 

Or, do I go to a local woodworking friend and ask him to build me one?