i wouldnt paint it but if you want to replace it with something more modern.

Mary,

Paint it!









And best of all:
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/what-you-need-to-know-before-painting-brick-stsetivw-vs~4040365

Best of luck with your decorating and please let us know if we can be any assistance,

Elizabeth Cabell, ASID, CID
Cabell Design Studio

I think it's a very pretty fireplace! Please don't paint it.

Beautiful fireplace. But it would also look great in a nice shade of off white.

Thank you everyone for your input. Thanks for the photos of painted fireplaces, gives us a better idea of how it might look. My husband is a little leery about painting it. This should help.

I'd paint it in a heartbeat!

Paint it - of course. It isn't serving your needs - get a paint formulated for masonry. I'm going to suggest a mid tone gray - a pretty color, but neutral. You can always go to a trim color like white, but I'm hearing very modern gray cabinets and the way to make this brick profile (which is pretty traditional as is) more modern is to use a fresh neutral color on it - mask the mantle and don't paint it - instead, use a dove gray but only wash it once to tone the wood gray (yep, the stain tone is lighter but once the grain reads through it will contrast with your mid tone gray with some elements lighter and some darker) This will make your finished solution feel custom to your space.

ps. yes, you could reface for an even more modern look, but this is beyond the skills and abilities and budget of most homeowners, while paint is inexpensive and they can do the labor themselves. If your budget allows more, come back and search houzz for dream modern fireplaces.

Look at something like sw ellie gray http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW7650-ellie-gray/
it needs to be the same tone as your gray cabinets of course, so this is a good place to start and test others like it - take paint chips home to see against your cabinet colors, then test on a posterboard that you can leave on the mantel and look at through day and nighttime lighting.

Try using concrete stain which leaves a nice finish & texture to the brick and will look like white brick instead of painted brick. They have many colors in the concrete stain too. Going with a brush steel or pewter screen will also update the fireplace for a Contemporary look. Then adding new light fixtures to match the metals of the fire place screen. By simplifying you accessories on the fireplace to a large Mirror or Clock and large scaled 2-3 pieces on the mantel will give a modern finishing touch. With nothing else on the fireplace.

Thank you Kevin! Great idea. Just want I'm looking for.

Your Welcome ! I would try to leave the mantel as it is 1st before you paint it all out. The mantel would pop against the new painted brick. If you don't like it stain the mantle out too.

I'm with Kevin - will give a lovely finish I think !!

Paint it, but prep it first - see article referenced above. I painted inside brick and it absorbed a LOT of paint. That can be avoided if you pre-treat it.

That's why I love this site - paint it, don't paint it - everyone has a definite opinion:) Ultimately it's your opinion that counts. But if you decide to paint it, now you have guidance in what you need to do to make it easier.

If you decide to paint the brick, you have been given good suggestions.
I look at the design of the brick work and see "rustic" no matter what color one might paint it. (Kinda like dying a white wedding dress to make it an evening gown.) The pattern of the bricks does not say "modern."
I would be more inclined to encase it in a modern design Sheetrock facade, instead.

As noted above, the choice is ultimately yours.
Best wishes on this project.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I'm really torn about painting....if it doesn't look so good afterward it's hard to go back to the plain brick. I'd love to be able to "paint" the fireplace on my picture to have an idea of what it would look like but I can't find an app to do that. Does anyone have any info on something like this?

I think you should do it. We painted our red brick fireplace white years ago and are very happy with it. We also have one wall in our master bedroom that used to be the outside of our house. It was red brick but is now painted white. It looks great! If I can figure out how I'll post some pics when I get home.

Thank you....I'd love to see your pictures.

Here are the pics. The fireplace used to be boring red brick with dark red paneling on either side. The white paint &bookshelves are a big improvement. The bedroom was an addition on the side of the house. We painted the whole room white & everyone loves the one brick wall painted white!

The white brick looks great. Was there a lot of prep work? And what kind if paint did you use....semi-gloss?

I would highly recommend a flat paint and it's best to use a concrete stain not paint at all. It will cover better.

Remove all the clutter first and then look, really look at your fireplace wall. It will still be dark but you will be able to breathe. If you think paint is the answer, start small and use natural sponge to randomly add a coordinating, but much lighter paint color. Stop and look at it some more, then decide if you want even coverage. This will ease you into a big change for that room.

White wash it . You get the best of both worlds :)

The white wash looks nice. What's the process? Otherwise, I'd suggest starting with a stain first - graduate to paint if it doesn't look good. For that amount of coverage the cost difference should be negligible.

If you're not fully sure of painting, one thing to try first would be to change out the decor to more modern decor with accent colors and framing that matched the modern decor elsewhere. Perhaps a large piece of more modern art with gray matting and frame without the smaller decor items to see how that would look first as an option.

I would like to paint the inside of this fireplace black to give it a cleaner look. How can I do this?

White paint!

This is a question for Becca Darling. Becca: You mentioned painting the inside of your firebox. I'd like to do that, too, but several people say it will never hold up. Others say it's dangerous. However, I know there are paints formulated for very high heat (up to 800 degrees F.), so I don't really know who to trust. Could you please share your firsthand experience, especially now that some time has past? Thanks!

Re painting the firebox, we painted ours over 20 years ago when our house was new. I used high temp paint and have never had a problem with peeling or blistering. Still looks the same today and we build a lot of fires.

Thanks, Amy. Just to be clear: We're talking about the inside of the firebox, not any part of the surround, right? How did you prep the firebrick?

Nope didn't prep at all, and yes, inside box. I painted it flat black. We had just moved in and had only one fire before painting. I got the paint at a Home Depot, it might have been marked as grill paint but it definitely worked without any issues.

Funny, I'm painting the fireplace surround today. Not as thrilled with the results.