Love the new doors. they're beautiful. I remember this place.

If it were my FP, I'd do the entire wall in thin brick or stone veneer (don't be fooled by the name. It's real brick and stone but thin so it's easy to work with). And that is something you can do yourself very easily.

Or, I'd do a brick surround and build the mantle out.

I really don't want to do the whole wall, I like being able to change paint, and the material cost would be much more. We're spending all out money on the kitchen and bathrooms! The brick looks nice but maybe not suitable for this more modern condo - it's a 1980s "no style mixed bag" so we are going with Ikea kitchen and more modern/transitional bathrooms... so the fireplace should probably be in tune with that.

We could change the mantel as well, I don't want a full wood surround though, I'd prefer it to look "lighter" than heavier.

Another thought - the hearth, should we eliminate the raised hearth and make that tile flush with the flooring with some kind of edging? We are expecting to have a baby in future so I was thinking it might be safer not to have a raised edge there.

This is similar to what I had in mind, but not so much fancy moulding as our house has simple 4" baseboards and no paneling or moulding.

I think a simpler surround might work with grey tile - like this one?

I don't really like rough stone around fireplaces, like that middle photo I want a cleaner smooth look I think. The bottom looks too modern. The slate tile looks pretty nice, but I haven't found any like that - the muted color and the shape - in stores, only the cheap square patio tile.

My son installed these faux stone panels around his fireplace -- many colors/styles to choose from. fauxpanels.com

you might find something you'd like. They can also send you samples.

I have to say that I agree with jlc712 above, I had that thought when I saw the tiles, also wondered if you'd held a sample of your wall paint color next to them, as in the photos, the two don't look like they would complement each other.

In the photos above, the ones that were posted as Rowzee Residence - Living Room, look like the color may better with your wall color.

Do you mean the tiles do not go with the mascarpone? It's white so will go with whatever. The ceiling is the same paint color. I mentioned that I am going to repaint the fireplace accent wall, not choose tile to match that red wall.

I'm going to look for some other tile options this week, but I don't see an issue with the grey and paint color. I do want to see if a subway or smaller tile would look better. What do you think of the surround I posted above?