I would cover the brick with natural stone the room has great bones good luck

Wow Mark. That's awesome to give us a visual. I agree that painting would be an easy and dramatic improvement. Nice!

You could also buy a lot of inexpensive marble or slate and cover it to the ceiling it would require building a box to the ceiling. It would be fabulous to contemporize the space and give the illusion of height

Although I'm 100% in for keeping it inexpensive and easy (thank you Mark, that is beautiful idea), my fiance, likes the idea of covering the fireplace with some form of stone or as you said, inexpensive marble or slate, Sabrina. If I am go cover it, I am for sure going to take it to the ceiling. My question is do you have an on-line retailer that you recommend looking at?

Perhaps sharing a design from our portfolio will help inspire you?

I don't know where you live but there is always discount marble places that are looking to liquidate or sell inexpensively. You can try Build Direct they have reasonable prices and you probably will need less than 50 feet of stone and tile setter to go over the existing brick. Definitely a much better solution than painting. Here is a link to a discount tile supplier http://www.tileoutlets.com/by-product/marble/floor-tile.html

If you plan on covering the FP floor to ceiling with stone, I would recommend going only the length of the current hearth width. I think it will look out of scale with the wall length floor to ceiling if you extend past the hearth. More wall space equals more spacious feel too. Mark's budget friendly paint plan is great..if you replace the brick, go narrower. Don't "make do" because this feature is critical in a space.

The fireplace looks shallow. How far does it protrude into the room?

It doesn't. As close to flush with the wall as can be.

You might consider getting rid of the fireplace. It is probably costing quite a lot in added utility bills and the wall space i probably valuable. Perhaps even add a window. Builder grade fireplaces, which most are, are really a bad value. They pull conditioned air out of the house and replace it with cold air from outside, except in the summer when they leak hot air into the house. Even if they have a fresh air supply, they leak so much that they continue to be a great energy loss.

I would not remove the fireplace. they add tremendous value to your home. You can put in a gas insert if you would like however I still love a wood burning fireplace.

I agree. I will not be removing it. It is an old brick fireplace that was exceptionally built. I may be wrong, but I feel that there are ways to prevent heat from escaping during the winter, from the inside. Additionally, I would rather let someone else make the decision to replace it. As much as we want to make this home our own, it is a starter house and want to sell it for a profit in 5 years.

well all the more reason to just update the look, then which means just cladding the existing brick and put a large painting or a mirror above. It would finish the wall perfectly. A new fire screen would also update the brass design is a bit dated

First of all, think of the vibe you want. I can see the brick remaining but with a fresh coat of white, slate gray or black paint. I could also see the brick going and being replaced by black slate or cold pressed steel. No matter what you do I would get a new fireplace screen unless you're in love with it.

I am not attached to anything in this room, so I am open to replacing it. I will most certainly replacing screen. I'd like to thank everyone for the comments. They are greatly appreciated. With that said, I have a few other questions about the same room and house. Please see below.

Attached are four photos. The first two pictures are of the same, front living room. Pictured in the other two photos, however, is our back living space.

At this moment, we are trying to decide on how to utilize the spaces. Our dilemma seems to be which room will be our formal living room and which will be our family space for winding down and watching movies with our 4-year-old daughter?

Although we are a very active family, we do like to snuggle up and watch a movie as a family every now and again.

Which brings me to my question(s):

Which room do you think should serve said purposes?

If think one room should be the family space, where in that space would a 50" flat screen TV be hung?

Finally, does a sectional-sofa of sorts work in either of these rooms?

Again, this is my first home and I need all the help I can get. Thank you! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with loved ones.