With such a major remodel, why not demolish the entire thing and do new thinstone or full bed ledgestone? There are so many incredible photos of natural stone fireplaces here on Houzz. You can do better than bricks.

Because there is no reason to demolish it. It doesn't simplify anything and it doesn't save money and it doesn't make the remodeling go faster and it doesn't look or perform any better.

It could be faced with bluestone just as it is (which would look great).

Thank you for your suggestions!

strategery, to demolish the fireplace would be very costly and that's not in the budget. Plus, it's a functional fireplace and the only heat in that room - refacing it should be fine, I just don't know what to reface it with : -)

tatts, I don't know what bluestone is but I'll google that!

Beth H. great suggestions! I like the idea of something different, although with it being tiled from floor to ceiling, I'm gun shy about doing anything too busy and having to coordinate other furnishings to a bold design. I especially love the tile in your second photo. It looks like Tabarka Tile, which I'm in love with, but I figured out the square footage and the tile alone would be about $2K and I don't think I can stretch the budget that far. I love Fireclay also but the lead time on their tile is about 8 weeks and I don't have that long. I think the blue herringbone tile is a good look - I wouldn't do blue, probably something more muted, but do you think that look would be OK from floor to ceiling without being too busy?

I actually just ordered a bunch of samples from them. here are some other colors (the smaller ones are from the Zelliege line. glazed terra cotta tiles)

and, these are only 18 a sf, which is pretty reasonable.

https://www.cletile.com/collections/brick-tile-glazed-glazed-thin-brick

Tilebar.com also carries similar tiles. called Credenza. check that site as well. 5 samples for $5!

btw,,,the bluestone is like a slate,,,,with a bluish black tone.

these are slate. black slate. Ostrich I believe

Thank you Beth - I'm on the Cle website right now and will order samples, I am leaning toward the brick tile. Now, I just have to figure out kitchen backsplash, bathroom shower tile, entry floor, cabinet hardware, paint colors........Yikes! It's been 25 years since I've done a remodel this extensive - I forgot how much work it is!

lol. if i can be assistance on the other tile choices,,,i'm here for ya! I spent over 6 months looking at everything under the son before I settled on my own for my bath redo (it's under my name) so I'm quite familiar w/just about everything out there!

So if I understand correctly you are just going to tile or put stone over top of the brick? If thats the case, maybe a dark ledgestone with a rustic live edge mantle would be nice. A black or charcoal to tie in with your counters would look great. We did a similar fireplace in our open concept new build in a dark ledgestone to tie in with our black island......absolutely love it! Also depends on your wall color and flooring, you don't want it to be too dark. If you do choose to go stone, there are so many different colors you can choose from if you don't want to go too dark.

spottedappy - your fireplace is beautiful! Yes, that's correct, I just want to put stone or tile over the existing brick. Mine isn't as tall as yours, maybe 10-11' at the highest point and, while I will have black kitchen countertops, I think I should go a little lighter on the fireplace since the room is small. Can you tell me what stone product you used to face yours and where did you get it?

Also, where did you get your mantle - that is just what I'm looking for - something rustic and substantial.

We used Eldorado Stone: http://www.eldoradostone.com/products/stacked-stone/
We live in B.C. Canada and got it thru a building supplier, but I'm sure you could find out where to get it on the website.
We used a fir beam cut to size and then had someone beat it up, use a blow torch to bring out the grain and then stain it. It didn't come with any character at all but we liked the size of it with the overall size of the fireplace. I know live edge can be pricey, so if you can find the size of wood piece you want to use, just take out all your frustrations on it and mark it up and you really can't go wrong!

jazzamina,,,to add to spottedappy,,,,,we did the same w/our beam. go to a lumberyard to even HD and get a 2x8 (or 4x8) Fir board. bring it home and beat it w/chains, gouge it, take a hatchet to it, whatever,, just beat it to hell and back. now stain it a deep, rich walnut tone. cost is about 30-40 bucks if you do this yourself.

LOL, ok! I'll take out my remodeling frustrations on it!

Thank you for the advice both of you and I'll look up El Dorado stone - thanks for the link.