What can I do with this fireplace to make it nicer?

[milovany]

It's *okay*, but I don't know.  Kinda blah.  It's painted brick.  What would you do if this was yours?  I don't mean regarding the decorations, I already know what I want to do over the fireplace (I think); I mean with the fireplace itself.  Paint it something else?  Different mantle?  Different insert?  Something I'm not thinking of? 

 

[Wildcat]

Without seeing the rest of the room for scale, it's hard to say.

 

Off hand, however, I would probably put something on each side of the fireplace opening as it seems big and bare. Drill a hole & stick a screw in there and hang something from it. A nice open metal/iron-work thing, as those would be best suited for being near the fire (they are very popular now, so you can find them at Old Time Pottery, Kohl's, etc for not too much money). I'm all about symmetry, so they would be the same on each side, or at least a set with the same dimensions.  I would look for something that would hang from mid-way of the vents or from the very bottom of the vents to mid-way of the fireplace opening, but not longer.

 

You could always put something on the step on each side, but that might be 'clutter' (going back to not knowing anything else about the rest of the room). 

 

I have also seen some fantastic fireplace screens (they stand up in front of the actual fireplace). One, I believe, looked like a peacock's tail feathers. It was stunning. There are some pretty tall ones that might work in your space.

 

I can't wait to see what others suggest. I love decorating and seeing others' taste & style!!

[OrganicAnn]

Can you change the screen thing?  

 

The brick looks very bland.    I would paint it.   Make sure it is paint that works with brick and around heat.  

 

I would paint it a darker color.  

 

[gardenmom5]

the scale of the mantle is much too small for the size and mass of the hearth.  a larger one is called for, that is in the same proportions as the hearth. (height x depth. I wouldn't extend it past the brick on width as the hearth doesn't extend past the brick)  keep the lines simple.

if the brick is already painted, you could paint it a mottled gray?  or something that will go with, but contrast with your walls. 

I would also try and get the "mortar" lines to be a darker gray as opposed to white.

remove the insert - or get a fire rated black paint.

[milovany]

Thank you for the ideas.That's what I needed!!    Does it matter on increasing the bigness of the mantel that this room is small?  It's the living room to the right of the front door in a basic rancher.  The end of the 6.5' couch that you see is how long that back/side wall is. 

[Onceuponatime]

We removed our mantle, covered the brick with tiles, and put in a wood stove.

[Tammyla]

Consider making the mantle thicker/bigger by constructing a box over it and then trimming it.  You wouldn't have to remove it, and that can make do-it-yourself construction a bunch easier.  I would also consider a new paint color and flanking it on each side with bookshelves. 

[*Michelle*]

There are some really good ideas here: http://www.diynetwork.com/home-improvement/fireplace-makeovers-before-and-afters-from-house-crashers/pictures/index.html

 

(And some hideous ones, too.  Gah, paint!)  Here's another link also: http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/before-and-after-fireplace-makeovers/pictures/index.html

[Ravin]

My mom ripped out the brick in front of hers because it seemed to be a magnet for small children's heads. Definitely paint. A burnt umber or orange maybe, with a black grill, something to give it some drama.

[mamakim]

I painted ours with Annie Sloan chalk paint and spray painted my brass fireplace metal with Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze. I'm loving it still - post here if you want pic: http://shadyfifth.blogspot.com/2013/05/painting-fireplace.html

[MIch elle]

While we were having work done to our home, we sledge hammered the bottom so it was level with the floor and then had the floor and brick tiled (tile over the brick). Then the contractor custom built a fireplace frame.  We then put a wood burning insert into it.  I HATED the red brick before and LOVE it now.

 

It looks something like this.  We have a white wood frame with black marbled tile and a black wood insert.

 

http://www.tiffanyruda.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/fireplace-surround-from-blind-slats-13.jpg

[trulycrabby]

Actually, I think it looks very nice, just perhaps replace the screen. I do like the one with the chalk paint, though...

[Katy]

If you're in a midcentury modern and have it decorated that way, and live in the western half of the country where they are more appreciated, I might leave it.

 

Personally, I'm more of a fan of traditional building so I would put *very carefully* tape up the glass work and brick and get the special spraypaint for hot surfaces and paint the insert (the brass part) black or oil rubbed bronze.  Next I would measure the insert, get some stone tiles and put a small amount of stone (or possibly mother of pearl) tiles right around the insert and on the hearth.  Finally I would box in the rest of it with wood and about $300 of trim, increasing the mantle size and possibly adding the wiring to put a flat screen TV on top of the mantle.  Then, depending on whether I was planning on selling the house in the next 3 years or if it was our forever home, I'd either do the trendy thing and paint it high gloss white (be careful NOT to use a poly sealer though, it will yellow), or do what our family likes and stain it a fairly dark cherry and possibly do a tiny bit of gold leafing on the most elaborate portions of the trim.  Note : I have access to a lot of wood tools and a lot of remodeling experience, so I'd do everything but the wiring myself, assuming I had no small children to care for at the time. What I'm explaining would probably cost $1,200-$5,000 to hire out, depending on options.

 

 

Edited to add:  if you're going to remodel, you might want to wait until lumber prices fall a bit.  The economy has picked back up, but the sawmills that shut down before haven't restarted production, so lumber prices are currently 2-3 times the prices they were a year ago.  Hopefully they will stabilize soon.

 

Also, to do it yourself you might want to research the golden ratio (anything designed with a 1:1.618 ratio will be a lot more pleasing to the eye), have a solid understanding of geometry, and enough tenacity to research, research, research and then power through when something inevitably goes wrong.  Also, even after you estimate everything exactly, plan on it costing at least twice as much and taking at least three times as long to finish as you think it will.

[kroe1]

Ooo, I want to play. The wall seems narrow for such a wide and low fireplace. I would take out everything including the brick and gold insert. Instead, I would go for a narrower facing around the fireplace either brick or tile. Those little glass tile accents are gorgeous in fireplaces. I would take the framing all the way to the ceiling to make elongate the wall. I would choose a more modern insert that fits your style.

 

How much money do we have to spend anyway?

[asta]

I painted ours with Annie Sloan chalk paint and spray painted my brass fireplace metal with Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze. I'm loving it still - post here if you want pic: http://shadyfifth.blogspot.com/2013/05/painting-fireplace.html

 

I pulled out my fugly brass insert & painted it with black matte BBQ grill paint (withstands all heat).  Then I put some things with "weight" to either side of it, and a VERY large print above it to mask the wimpy, shallow mantle.

 

Honestly, it would be less expensive to repaint the room than to do major repairs to the fireplace.  Vertical stripes on that wall in a shade one half off the existing shade would make the fireplace look less wide.  The flowers painted in a row next to it continue the horizontal line and make it look wider.

 

THAT SAID:

 

If the brass thing is an insert, new inserts are expensive - paint it.  If it isn't, and is just a screen - take it out and use an interesting, half-moon screen -- maybe with vines on it.

 

Unless you want to live perpetually in the past, don't scrape half the paint off.  Either keep it, decide on a new color (that isn't the color of the room), or have someone come in and paint a design on it. (yes, a design - like a tree thing going from one corner to the other or up and around the opening).

 

No one really pays attention to your mantle.  They'll notice if you have cr@p all over it or something really ugly, but if you have a lovely display of candles, it will look great.  You can also drape fire retardant vines and flowers across and down it - even having them fall in a cascade before the end of the mantle - thus truncating the width of the fire place.

 

No one really pays attention to your hearth, unless it is burned or broken.  It looks weird at the moment because there are books on it.  No one puts books on fireplaces: they burn.  If you had a big copper pot with kindling and one of those artful things that held wood, that would look normal.

 

 

A

[Parrothead]

Sandblast the paint off the brick. Clean or replace the brass doors.

[LisaKinVA]

You have lots of options here...various costs.

 

Least expensive option:  re-paint,  change out the mantle/screen.

Next would be sand-blasting, changing out the mantle/screen. 

 

Anything beyond that gets more expensive.

 

My favorite option would be ripping out the brick, and putting in something different as the surround.  If you click the link in my signature, you can see some of the projects we've done in our home...one of which is the fireplace in the family room.  The dry-stack stone is actually a 6x12 tile piece...it's available in many different colors (it is a natural stone, it's just glued together to create a tile...just in case anyone is wondering!).  But, then, I'm partial to my fireplace :D

 

It looks like your fireplace has a "heatilator?" or something that helps the heat vent out into the room...that could make the process of doing anything but a paint or removing the paint a bit more difficult as a DIY job (not impossible...just more difficult...you would need to create "spacers" out of wood scraps to stick in the holes to protect them from the thinset, and to help keep tile/stone in place).

[zoobie]

Is your house midcentury modern? I'd replace the insert and switch the mantle to a more substantial, squared off natural wood. Rule of threes for mantle decor, but I'd only do three.