jlw, tan couch is okay - you can use gray and tan together very well, and shifting only the bookcase makes this a feature, makes it more modern. Look for a fabric that has both like the first one I posted and you bring it all together with an accent pillow. you are closer than you think!

libradesigneye, you are awesome! I can totally envision what you are suggesting. Love that dreamsicle fabric!

The stone has a New England look. Can you add a white shelf and corbels. Rough up the brass doors and spray paint with high temp paint. Maybe instead of black try charcoal. Also keep a shelf at least 12" away from opening

I really like your fireplace stone. Before you paint it, try painting your gold fireplace surround and the flanking bookshelf in a complementary dark grey tone to make it all work together. I would paint darker rather than lighter and make it feel more modern. I can see it having a very nice warm feeling to your living space. Tie in the bookshelves color with a strong looking mantel along the front to give it some additional interest. Or cover up a large portion of the stone with a large mantel surround. Good luck
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The stone is stunning, beautiful, please do not destroy! Replace the fireplace doors, and adopt and embrace the style of the stone and your house will b e gorgeous!!

Agree with most comments. The stone wall is beautiful, don't destroy it. An indoor plant really stand out against this wall and will add a but if green to the room.

I think the days of hiding TVs in cumbersome units is over.So I think doors to cover it is impractical anyway.Lets face it with kids they are always open anyway.We live in a tech society that celebrates our TVs and I think if you put it over your fireplace it would be cool.It has to be wired in though which requires drilling into that gorgeous stone.Is there another wall where it could be relocated.You know you have real stone not the fake stuff they put in houses today and it would cost a fortune to put that in today.I say go with it.research mid century modern.It could be very cool and sophisticated.Like idea of painting white shelves grey .I would not worry about grey with beige furniture,just find art, drapes , pillows, fabric that combines these colors in a cool mid century modern fabric.

I have the same kind of fireplace, except it's grey brick (matches the house) and the previous owners left a big space in the middle to hang the family portrait. The hearth is the same and a bookcase on the left. I'm planning to sheetrock the top, put a mantle surround and maybe tile inset.

Replace the doors and add a mantle!

Love the stone. The brass has to go. A mantel is a must, otherwise it's just a wall of stone.

Gorgeous fireplace. Paint or replace screen. Repaint shelves to a grey shade as suggested to make it one with the fireplace. Loose the trees. Pops of colour in cushions, art.
I would definitely not put up a mantle nor hang the tv over the fireplace. I like the idea of a large plant to one side.

The white paint on the bookcase is making the grout stand out more than it really does. Enlist the kids to help clean the stone also...tooth paste works really well on brick (test on hearth first). Go with colors you love...no need for new couch; just paint, pillows and rug to tie orange, gray and beige together.

I love your fireplace! Your situation is very familiar to me. I have also recently moved into a mid century modern home. Built in 1954, owned by my husband's grandparents since 1968, with one very unfortunate redecoration done in 1980 that involved wallpapering most walls and ceilings with various floral patterns. We also have oddly shaped rooms that present furniture arrangement challenges. I totally sympathize with your budget situation. We spent quite a bit on replacing all the single glass, dry rotted original windows with new energy efficient models (an absolute necessity here in Michigan), added a small deck and patio, installed air conditioning (also a necessity in my opinion), replaced all the aqua blue/kelly green shag carpet in the basement walkout (circa 1968), had all the original asbestos tile we found underneath removed... Our last house was a 1990's colonial style, very traditional, so none of my furniture or accessories are appropriate here, but we LOVE the mid century modern style and are embracing the original intent of the house. Pic is my fireplace, in center of a big open area with front door to right, living area in front and dining area to left. Decided to just no have a tv in this room at all, and use a small den for tv watching. Still working on what furniture and how to place it, so I'm afraid I'm more commiserating that helping! We found the original knotty pine boards under wallpaper above the stone.

how about adding an simple, offset, black (to match the hearth) mantle that wraps around the corner and breaks up the vertical

The clean approach is to plaster it and add a simple wood beam reclaimed mantle . Then replace the doors with wrought iron doors.

It sounds like the real problems are: a long narrow room, lack of colors you like, and location of the TV. A view of the whole room and a drawing of the room with door and window placement noted would be super helpful. I agree, leave the fireplace alone, divide the room into areas, add some color and then see what you think. Start small.

I have a fireplace similiar to yours, but my grout was pink! To brighten the fireplace and make it coordinate with my color scheme, I purchased brick a new off the internet, a product made for painting brick fireplaces, but it doesn't looked painted, it looks as if you just changed the color. It is a faux paint technique of which I have no experience , but it came out great! My fireplace is not brick though it looks more like yours-slate like and this worked to my advantage because the stone made it easier to create highlights and shadows. I also have a long hearth just on one side of my fireplace so I had an upholsterer make a 93" cushion out of some fabric I had used to reupholster some chairs with and made a seating area with lots of pillows in fun colors. Good luck!!

I love your fireplace! I think you should clean the stone, spray paint the brass surround black or dark gray to match the stone and "disappear" and then add orange patterned curtains (if they have gray and beige in them all the better!) around the windows at the end of the room and by the fireplace. Then add orange pillows to your couch and paint the back of the book shelves in orange like you suggested. A beautiful, simple maple mantel to match the flooring (which looks very nice) could be added when you get money. Here are some great pictures using orange as an accent with gray (notice how much beige there is). How fun for you! The orange will warm up the room since gray tends to be a cool color and the fireplace is dominant (and will match your "fire"!!) https://www.houzz.com/photos/orange-and-gray-phbr0lbl-bl~l_41546

look at these great fabrics you could use (simple panel curtains, pillow covers). Pretty affordable price http://www.fabric.com/just-arrived-just-arrived-home-decorating-fabric-richloom-home-decor-fabrics-1-richloom-ikat-marlena-orange.aspx?cm_vc=756b1813-cbc1-43b3-84bd-29889bf8fb7b

Use matte black or gunmetal grey "engine paint" from the hardware store. It is heat resistant and comes in an easy to use spray can. My husband covered the brass on our fireplaces this way and it made a huge difference.

For probably $10 you can buy a can of fireplace black paint and spray the brass. Do that first. It will make you feel better. Then look for a really cool, really large canvas or framed pic and hang it. As everyone else has said, the stone isn't bad, you just need something nicer to focus your attention on. You could also find a big chunk of wood and get it mounted and then paint it either white or black so you can have a nice mantle.

Sorry about the quality of picture. This is from Smith and Nobles recent catalog.

Ok, I'm going against the crowd - paint the stone!

That was the before; this is the after!

Nancy I don't see the after photo?..everyone has such wonderful ideas..thank you so much!

Never mind Nancy the pic popped up when iI posted my comment..

Love the stone, very modern and cool. Just pick up new fireplace door in steel or brushed chrome. I don't even mind the grout.

I do like the t.v. on the brick,but I think I would have a mess of cords. 2 Game machines and the cable box are plugged into the t.v. ..we have HDMI cables to make it Less cords. What color do you think you put the brick like a red. I can't really tell from the pic. I do like that the full book shelf would be showing.

The stone is painted terra-cotta, fp surround in nickel, orange accent pillow, black mantle, burnished gold wall tree decor. Hire someone to drill into the stone, bury the cords, and bring them to a plug in the bookcase, close to the other tv-associated electronics.

Agree with the removal of the fireplace door. What about a mantel of wood...don't know the decor - but a large, mounted mantel would be great.

You could think of your living room as a living room plus library plus kids area, since it is so long. They house I lived in as a child had a similar size living room, but one end was a library with a baby grand piano and it worked out well. There are lots of inexpensive ideas in the comments I read so far that sound really good, like adding pillows to make the long part of the fireplace into seating and painting the inside of the bookcases a contrasting accent wall color. About the fireplace, for saftey make sure you get a qualified fireplace professional when you replace the old gas fireplace and make sure that they look at the damper and chimney liner, etc. and make sure that the previous renovations didn't do anything crazy that would make it unsafe.

Think you just need to add a mantle in white woodwork charming!

White wash

Please try painting the bookshelf in a dark grey first! I think you will be surprised what a difference it will make.

I would agree that painting the bookshelves to match the stone is a good idea, and give yourself the pop of color by painting the backs. You have your color but it isn't overwhelming. Definitely darken the grout to match the stone so the odd shapes don't scream at you. I know so many like the fireplace, but it seems you really don't, so I think making it monochromatic would help. I also like the idea of paining the stone, but would keep it neutral in color.

didn't read all the comments , but I love the stone, add an interesting mantel, mayble reclaimed corbels and a large print with the same tones as the stone, and get rid of the brass.

To me, you're going for a more modern/contemporary look with warm touches... If so, keep the brick grey. Nancy's before & after pictures are GREAT! But painting the bricks in the traditional oranges makes it feel more, well, traditional. And if you start by painting the bricks, you're locked in. I look at your fireplace & can see modern all over it. Grey stone face, slate hearth... Install a semi-chunky mantle painted in the same color/tone as the slate. Mount the TV so that it's above the mantle a couple inches. (Check on Amazon for mounting kits - make sure you have one that will support the size & weight! We bought one for my son out there - only about $100...) I like the idea of painting the bookshelf to match the brick with the back in the orange/red tone. Once your mantle is up, decorate both the mantle & the hearth with the orange/red tones. As for the doors, I'd go black/charcoal. If you're not going to use it as a fireplace, pile the inside with white stones/pebbles around white candles - maybe 1 sole red/orange candle in front of all the white... Being so unsure of what you really want for the room, I'd be careful not to do anything too drastic like painting the brick. You're in an absolutely BEAUTIFUL part of the country (I miss the PNW sooooooooooo much!!), bring the outdoors in somehow!

I would never do corbels on this brick. Its too modern looking...just a straight reclaimed wood mantle that is too scale. Don't muck it up with anything else!

NO CORBELS!! REALLY, NO MANTEL...BUT ADVICE ABOVE WOULD BE BARE MINIMUM.

I hear what other are saying about the stone, but sometime you just want a change. I had an old-fashioned red brick fireplace with a raised hearth, like yours. Some suggested getting rid of the hearth to make the room bigger and more contemporary looking. Ultimately I kept the hearth to sit on or put feet up on. I definitely recommend painting the inside of the fireplace black with the special fireplace paint. Makes a huge difference. If you are already wired for gas, I suggest getting rid of the logs and using fire glass. Very contemporary. I also covered up my stone with shiny black granite tile from Home Depot and used black grout.

IT IS AN AWESOME FIREPLACE ,YOU JUST NEED TO ADD A BULKY BLACK MANTLE.

Red brick fireplaces are common place and not cool at all -- but your fireplace is!!

DO NOT PAINT THE STONE. trust me. You really cannot go back from there once you do it. If you end up not liking the color, oh well, too bad. You can totally work with the stone as it is and your couches and make it look fabulous. I think a can of paint for the walls and perhaps a new insert would really bring the room together. It's relatively inexpensive and you can undo it if it's not quite right.

Here is what I did. Depending on your house style it may work. Bought 3 pc raw cherrywood mantle on line. Had 3 pc cherrywood hearth bottom made by wood shop, attached molding. Had local furniture repair shop stain. Drywalled directly over brick. Assemble. Saved about $1,000 vs having someone else do all

I hope you leave the fireplace and I like your tree decal on the side...it looks good with the black on the tan wall.
Agree with painting the bookcase and adding your orange color in (on inserts in the back of shelves) and with pillows, etc.
I think you can make this work for your family. Our homes need to be fun and livable so kids things are part of it for now.

I think it's beautiful stone! It just needs a good cleaning. Someone suggested changing the grout color to darker, & I think that would make the stone make it look more modern, too.
Can you seal the stone to make it sparkle a little more?
Also, paint the bookcase darker and add a floating shelf for a mantle

In sail.......thanks so much for saying you liked my tree on the wall..I love that tree..I hand painted it one day because I love birds..it isn't a decal I can just peel off the wall. It would kind of make me sad to get rid of it..thank you everyone!..since I am not sure what to do,I just am taking a step back and looking around the internet and pinning ideas. I moved onto my son's room. It was my craft room and now I am finally turning it into his room. He is almost 4 And needs to stop sleeping with mom and dad. I will miss him. Time he has his own space though.

The stone really isn't that bad at all... A outlet mid-century mod really. Replace the insert and a good cleaning to the stone....if you are still not warming up to it after a while consider the numerous options of 'ago.d's that can be applied on top of this stone to give you a completely different look. Good luck!

I had an artist faux paint it a different color! See below:

The stone is actually quite in style right now - look at all the long linear tiles you can buy! Do what others have said: clean it and stain the mortar darker.

Would your TV actually fit in the bookcase on a pull-out/swivel arm? Looks like it would be a close fit from the photos, but that would really clean up the look if it would.