Is the built-in the brown wooden section on the fireplace? If so, I would strip it and stain or paint it to blend in with the bricks. I'd have the bricks professionally cleaned and see if they are more appealling after the clean up. I'm sure they've accumulated a lot of grime since 1975. A great piece of art directly over the fireplace would be do dramatic. It should be vertical and large.

I wonder what the effect wood floors in the same color as the ceiling will have. I keep thinking of a dark sandwich. Are the floors concrete? You could do a wonderful contrete stain instead of wood. See: With a large area rug, it would look great.

This modern look is very popular now. It has such style.

thanks for the ideas! We were originally going with stained concrete but the floor is over the pier and beam part of the house and our inspector said that it would probably still crack over the years. (if you look closely between the fireplace and the stair railing there is some cracking occuring)
If there are any inspectors/architects who want to weigh-in on that thought, please feel-free, I think stained concrete is so beautiful!

I would talk to experts who do concrete floors. Many have been scored to relieve stress like this: Also:

Here's something that might interest you...

If not a backdrop for a flat panel, perhaps make it open display/book case.
I agree with a large piece of vertical artwork over the fire place.
Looks like a fun space, good luck!

I had a home in Dallas that had three brick fireplaces. I covered one in travertine and one in birch matrix panels. The other was in the master and I put in cast stone. That huge wall would look sweet in travertine. I took out the built in and recessed a big-screen TV in it. I don't have a picture worthy of houzz but I might have a low res one I could email you.
-Matt

Here is another beautiful floor: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/what-are-these-floors-made-of-dsvw-vd~71297

Here's a couple of pics of my above post

Good one Jamieson. I would use that picture as a guide. What if you just replaced the doors on that built in and added some horizontal beam details, like in the picture Jamieson posted. I think this minor addition would make the built-ins feel more intentional. Not sure how deep it is, but perhaps you can store your TV and any components inside.
I think your brick looks good, but white brick also looks striking...

If you replaced your doors on the built in and painted the brick white you can do a fun color on the new doors to contrast the brick or just paint out the doors white and add some wood details to the fireplace surround for an organic, 70's vibe...

Finally, you can remove the doors on the built-in and have open shelving with existing brick as is or painted...

Hope that helps, it's a great space. Keep us posted. Charmean Neithart

Thanks for the great ideas!
-Charmean, I love the shelves in the pic you posted.
What about taking off the doors, staining the wood slightly darker and putting a pop of color inside the shelving unit?

I also posted a question under the "color" discussion, so if anyone wants to help me decide on exterior paint, here's the link to the outside of our new home.
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/exterior-paint-options-for-a-1975-mid-century-modern-dsvw-vd~117500

Y'all are great, thanks again!

Yes, now you're talking. Great idea, I think that would look great. Keep us posted with pictures. Consider a burnt orange or chartreuse green for those shelves, two colors that work great for mid-century vibe. I'll go find your color question for the exterior. Good luck. Charmean

Challenges like your built in get my creative juices flowing. Simplest and least expensive would be to paint or treat the wood in your choice of colors/textures, then have mirror cut to fill each frame. Mirror tends to make something disappear. You can go straight mirror, antiqued, colored, alternate colors, unlimited choices. A bit more expensive would be to box colored led tubes around each mirror; a bit more expensive would be to add etched glass (your design is fine) to each frame lit from behind with colored LED's. Most expensive would be to have LED art in each frame or remove the frames and do one large one. If LED's are not your thing and you don't like the mirrors, the frames can be filled with paintings, fabric collection, a large scene broken into frames, different colors for each frame....soooo many translations depending on your style. As for the massive wall of brick, I would prefer to see you leave it as it is as paint will tend to flake and peel over the long haul. It is actually a beautiful backdrop for masses of art all over it. I think the room is so structured now that a large vertical painting would only add to the structure. I would ignore any relationship to the fireplace and start collecting art. You can mix styles. Given the room I suggest unframed canvases or simple wrap frames. If you are going traditional or classical you can use heavy and ornate frames. In either case hang them randomly with mixed sizes, unstructured. The massive brick wall then serves as a background or, in the case of canvases, a matte. I agree with Manon and houssaon that a dark floor is not the way to go. I think the dark ceiling is overbearing and brings the room down. I would have it whitewashed and pickled to an oatmeal taupy grey to reflect the brick and I would paint the walls the same color and install a cork floor in the same hue making the room a large relaxing and neutral background which will make colorful art, furnishings, a rug or two, and some large sculptures pop. I suggrst you not make the room the focal point, but what you put in it. Panels of glass instead of the stairrails would be most appropriate. I would not open the fireplace as the flue and chimney are built for what is there. and you could be asking for trouble, not to mention violating building codes if you alter it. I think you will appreciate a cork floor which is very low maintenance, so easy on the feet, insulates sound, and is environmentally friendly. It comes in many patterns and colors, though I would simply have the entire room like a big bowl of oatmeal waiting for you and your husband to begin collecting beautiful and colorful things with a story for each one! I am attaching 3 photos: 1 of an LED art piece by a famous LED artist whose name absolutely has escaped me. 2nd is an oatmeal colored room with one piece of colorful contemporary art and lots of coral furnishing to show you how the colors pop and your furnishings become the focal point. 3rd is an example of a pickled vaulted ceiling. Hope they will be of some use and inspiration. Congratulations on your new home; it is an excellent example of '70s architecture!

Ahh the built-in dilemma. Coming to this conversation late, but here is my two cents. I had a very similar problem on a project. The brick is beautiful, but that built-in really breaks the flow. Have you considered removing the doors and shelving inside, and perhaps putting a partial drywall facade across the bottom half leaving the brick on top? Mixing materials and texture works beautifully. The indent could be used and lit to display sculpture, or covered over. You could also do some cut outs in the drywall covering the old indent for interest. Here is the before and after of our project, though it is very modern, maybe will give you food for thought. The black boxes are actually 2 feet deep and are lit. We used the depth left from removing the old cabinets for architectural interest.

Hey, noticed this post again. Get anything figured out??

Haven't decided anything yet, we got distracted on more important parts of the remodel (like a working kitchen :-) we're still open to suggestions if you have any... Thanks for asking!