SFGate

Denice Shuty Cover the 70's brick with a lighter colored veneer stone. Also, paint the ceiling beams to match the ceiling color, but use a satin finish for a subtle contrast. It will uplift the whole room.

mandola I would not hesitate to paint your brick fireplace. We had a similar one built in the 50s in our last home, it did not look good with our furniture. We painted it in a soft pale blue colour to match the furnishings it looked really good.
If I were you I would start off with a ligh soft colour to see if you like it. It will transform and lighten your room.

Dar Eckert It does appear very dark and covering it with stone veneer would update it dramatically. The other thing is that you have very small decorative items on it. They should be much larger. Perhaps a large print centered on the fireplace. Perhaps some floating shelves with art.

sstarr93 I would modernize it by removing the mantel, painting the brick a dark walnut brown, painting the ceiling beams two shades darker than the ceiling. In my opinion, painting the brick a light color will work against the architecture of the room.

A Kitchen That Works LLC I vote for cladding with a large format tile, it will really give it an updated look. If buget is a concern, my second vote is for painting the tile - the mantle could stay or go.

colleen77 You may not believe me, but this fireplace at my sister's house looked much like yours when it started. 70s - very dark brick, small mantle, hearth all along bottom with bookshelf on the left. They removed the hearth and the bookshelves and covered the existing brick with wood and moulding for the bead board effect. They used thin-bricks to cover the brick around fireplace and custom made the cherry mantle.

For your fireplace, I dont see any reason why you couldnt drywall over existing brick. That way you could define a smaller fireplace. Thin-brick over the hearth and the fireplace and add a mantle with legs that you like.

Keitha Here are some simple easy quick fixes. The scale of the mirror and lamps is wrong. The mirror should be twice its current height. Maybe replace the lamps on either side with topiaries about 2/3 the height of the mirror. The clock to the left of the mantel is too small for the space so for now I would suggest just removing it. A little facelift :)

Twisted Minds Custom Designs Could you be a little more specific about the love hate relationship, is it the brick, the layout, or the fireplace itself. Many options depending on your needs.

lefty47 HI -- The fireplace is good everything else is not.Where the TV is on the right - is that wainscotting ?? If it is -I would remove that and paint the wall behind the TV a darker color out of the brick colors.That should make that wall look more unified . Add a string of track lighting behind the beam (the fireplace side ) that should help with the darkness. Your decor items are too small . Find a bigger or fancy-er clock (retro starburst style) for the left side . Then have a big round mirror or a painting almost resting on the mantel then one interesting pottery vase (maybe with a twisty twig ) a little off from center in front of the mirror/painting. And that's all it really needs.