Wow! thanks LB and nwduck. Yes I knew there was something I had to do and forgot abt that cabinet on the left, I stuck it there when I was painting. LOL I will try the books for raising the finial or red vase, and switch. I had the candle stick with the others but moved it I agree. He may go back to the store.

You have received some amazing ideas above. Please take a look at some of my pictures and let me know what you like and maybe I can help you bring it to your home. Thank you.

Am curious what LB will suggest for the right hand side instead of the candle. I got nothin'.

Right side brick .. Maybe a large potted plant like in my drawing Living Room # 2.
Maybe a stack of various sized papered boxes. or hat boxes. (large)

I agree, a few tweaks. Try the green, yellow, and red on the bottom left next to the firebox. The green one might be wide enough to stand in front of the black fan. They are heavy pieces, visually too, and I think should be on the bottom. The three small photos should be placed together or at least two of them together, on top left, one slightly in front of the other with the smaller object from the top right to the right of them and next to the painting. The three chunky candlesticks on the lower right next to the firebox. Or just the two tallest ones. On the top right, the birdcage thingy that's already there and one of the small photos. Could we try it and tweak from there? I'm excited for you and would really like to see how you might like the different arrangements! Also, love that you put the chair there. I like the black candlestick but think it's still lonely. Great job picking accessories Maureen!

On right side brick, maybe travel trunks

Love those travel trunks!

Maureen, if you use LB's suggestion for boxes or trunks and put them on the left side and move the candlesticks to the right, then the boxes will disguise the black box for the fan, right?

What great suggestions! Thanks:) I am going to try everyone and take a picture and post. I am so excited!!! Thank You so much. nwduck I can't put in front of the fan there is only 7.5" in front. but I still will try because the fan is outta there soon:)

You're welcome Maureen. I'm as excited as you are!

I think you might consider painting your mantel a contrasting color. If you painted it a soft white it would be fine if the rest of your trim in your house is stained because it is a stand alone piece. Also put a large mirror or painting above the fireplace.

An improvement. I like the pottery. I would:

Remove the pieces on upper right----they are getting lost. There, I would put similar pieces as on the left, but shorter ones.

Remove all candles. Ones on left are fading into background and ones are right are too dinky. I don't like the look of candles next to a fireplace anyway.

On bottom, you need something very large and weighty. I am talking maybe 2 small bookcases. You need large visual weight there.

I love that chair!!

'cdr' has a point about the three candlesticks being subtle color contrast. I like them but spread out a 'little' bit farther from each other. I also suggest, lighten them up a bit, maybe a creamy beige wash. I like them a lot.

This is one suggestion.

Not an expert but I think that is a little too much wall after the items.....Everything is in the centre and there is a big blank after that on both sides

A large urn with tall branches in it could be added to the left side,closer to the left corner.

This is a very large fireplace. You need very large pieces. Now you have 4 vignettes, all separate, all close to the center and no connectivity.

If you use pottery, you need several pieces together, so that they become one large piece to the eye. No picture frames up there. They are small and just get lost. No candles. No wiry bird cages.

Placing a large chair on either side (as on the right side now), would help in filling up the bottom portion with something large visually.

Can you place another chair on the left side? Then, on the top I would do only a pottery collection....nothing else.....very clean looking.

I still like your original placements. It was great balance and contrast in the areas you had them.

Maureen, I love the items you've chosen and I know that the entire wall 'as is' requires very large accessories. I also know that very large accessories have a larger price tag and harder to find. In saying that, I'm still confident and feel strongly that you may need the molding to balance the somewhat smaller items.

I know you are trying to avoid extra money and extra work, but you have two choices.
1. No molding and very large accessories? ...or
2. Molding and smaller items like you have shopped? It 'is' a difficult choice.

P.S. I'm guessing again. I feel your personality through the items you chose!

Another thought, while shopping think 'light colors' to provide enough contrast to the green wall and brick. I don't think the two very small framed photos work. I feel too small and too dark.

I am just posting some of the suggestions at this time so those who do suggest other placement can see it . The last pic was a suggestion:)

Maureen, LB Interiors is correct. Her option 1 or option 2 sort of sums it up.

Your previous orignial placements were showing small framed photos also.
We love to see the suggestions in photos, so keep posting! Thanks!

I tweaked a little. Will get something for lower left. LB I hope the personality isn't a bad one,LOL. I raised the middle finial, and switched the red and green pottery. I also switched the candles to the right. I am going to white wash the sticks. I like the size and shape of them too.

I love the lower right section... the chair works well with the candle sticks and lightening them to give more contrast sounds right. I like the upper left as well. nice and chunky and enough colour to make it worth a look. Although I love the individual pieces of the upper right side I dont find there is enough contrast to make them visible.
But I do find the spacing more pleasing than the last version

Question...instead of Maureen looking for another decorative object for the hearth, wouldn't the tool set work if placed just a bit farther away and a smidge forward from the fireplace box? In her original photo there was also what looked like an antique bellows. If that were placed by the tools again and turned with the wide side forward, wouldn't that visually take the space? Or maybe you want to get a new fireplace set if you're going to the fireplace store, Maureen!?!

Sorry Maureen but the mini photos are too small. Things usually look best in groups of 3 or 5. Just my opinion, I like the birdcage in the middle of an arrangement. It's the largest. I like the top left group a lot. Perfect without the photo. 'Betty' is right more contrast for top right and no photos. The photos would be nice on smaller shelves or accent tables. They are way too short.

I feel the tools are good where they are. Hugging the firebox. but yes, 'nwduck' forward. Other groups of items used should show space separation. Maybe just uncrunch the closeness of the candlestick group (about 8" ) away from each other and staggered like you have them.

Hi Maureen - nice job on most recent tweak. If you feel like lower left too empty - that would be a nice place for a plant to give it a little softness. You could also had a nice basket for firewood on one side but I wouldnt add too much more than that. Your picture caught my eye because it is exactly like my niece's fireplace that they just updated for a pittance and no demolition. They didnt even have to remove the mantle. All they did was cover the brick and the wall above the mantle in 4" beadboard, finished it with moulding, caulked and painted. They left the hearth as is. They painted their fireplace insert black with a high-heat spray paint. Wish I had a picture to show you. . .

I do have a huge copper cauldron for the firewood. it's behind the chair on the hearth. Was thinking of maybe trying it on lower left. I won't replace the tools. They are heavy, well made, and work well. Although, not my taste, they were my husbands parents. The Bishop and Pope will find a new home, sorry cuz I have to find a new place for you:). I agree they are 5x7 and are just fillers at this point. The insert will be replaced in black. If the cauldron doesn't work, I've been looking at plants, sooo expensive what i found for plastic or silk. AC Moore here I come.

I had almost the exact fireplace in my house. We took out much of the brick on each side along with the extra long stoop. Sheet rocked the area where the brick was removed, built a surround around the remaining brick. This added a lot square footage on each side of the fireplace. Wasn't a huge expense but updated my entire room!

I did want to do just that years ago but never got around to it. I am sure it did add a lot of extra space too. At this time I am no longer toying with the idea. I knew I could make it work and with the help of everybody here and I did. What great ideas and suggestions. Thank You all so much for solving my problem monster:) I am almost there. A little tweak here and there.

It way be an everyday problem but I bet it is a godsend at Christmas!!

This was fun! Enjoy your new look.!!
My opinion, there is still a lot of vacant space on the left even with the cauldron. And too small candlesticks without somehting else. but not too much or will look wrong and clutterd. They should relate to each other. On the right maybe two more chunkier candlesticks. On the left, cauldron and large wood basket different size. May want to add a couple larger plants, one each side, to help fill in and have more weight at the bottom of the entire wall.
Good luck and post the final project please!.

Maureen. Good luck. I am glad you found what you wanted. I think you had a lot of good advice here, especially LB Interiors.

Thanks 'cdr', I appreciate it!

Ditto, cdrdesign. Really enjoyed this discussion!

I enjoyed it too. Thank You for all the great ideas that I could put together. It was great getting to know you and teaching me how to work with accessories. I had a lot of fun:) Will post final pic when finished or more questions. Thanks again.

LB you are the best. I can't begin to thank you enough:)

I'm sorry, but the paint color is dated from the 90's. Try a taupe color on the walls.

My sister had a new brick wall in her home and we took paint, in your case the taupe you painted the walls, and we painted the red bricks. If you look at your brick, you can see some of the bricks are painted a light color. You are just going to add a lot more of them. You don't completely cover the red, let some if the red bleed through. It works! It updates the look of new brick.

Maureen, I so appreciate it! Thanks so much. It means a lot!

Maureen I am so curious as to what your final (if it is finished) project looks like...............

Me too Maureen and Betty

Me three...

OK, I'm in for number 4.

cinco

Maureen, can you share any new developments with us?

MAUREEEENNNNNNNNN we miss you!!