Two questions... First, have you considered painting the paneling? Then the wood becomes a non-issue. Second, is the hearth staying or being replaced with the chosen flooring? In any case, I prefer the sample on the left of the two you have paid out. But I think you'll have a lot more options depending on your answer to the questions.

Hi Kathryn. We are not painting the paneling, I will be painting the window trim just to lighten that wall of windows up a bit. As for the hearth my first inclination was not to replace it because they are super thick and then floor will be uneven there. I could try putting the planks over it once the carpet is off and make a decision based on that, but lets work with the assumption that that is staying.

I’m not going to vote for either. I think you can find better. A big no for the marble. So wrong. Your carpet looks to be fairly new and I think keeping it is the better choice for a basement. I know. Not what you wanted to hear.

Thanks Cheryl for the honest opinion! The reason for replacing the carpet is to unify all flooring on that level to one type. We have more rooms on that floor. Those other rooms are just plane drywall painted white. I need to replace the old vinyl on those other rooms because it is in horrific shape and I'm just trying to buy one floor, which means carpet needs to go on the fireplace room. Any advice on flooring you think could go well with the fireplace and wood panels? Thank you.

no on the marble. belongs in a bathroom.

consider doing a solid piece of stone for your hearth. a dark slate, cement or even black granite, would look better than those small red tiles. or, just remove it and tile up to the fp w/your new tile.

the other one, not the best tone w/the wood and your brick color.

would you like to stick w/a laminate?

for a tile, why not go w/something neutral and large? like 24x24 large with minimal grout lines?

this is a porcelain that resembles limestone. I think it's warm enough to work w/your wood and the brick

this deep charcoal tile would also look great. comes in 30x30 or 12x24, and it's on sale over at Tilebar. This is the Arkim Persian black. They will send you 5 samples for $5.

I also love this one. I got a sample of this in the dark and the soft gray color. it's really nice looking tile

https://tilebar.com/touchstone-charcoal-24x24-matte-porcelain-tile.html

something darker, more dramatic? porcelain metallic look tile

this warm brown would look great w/the red and the wood paneling . cost is a bit more.

https://tilebar.com/reznor-24x24-metallic-porcelain-tile.html

https://tilebar.com/carpeta-blanco-12x36-porcelain-tile.html

https://tilebar.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=porcelain+floor+tiles

Hi Beth, Thank you for all the suggestions. We are leaning laminate because we can do it ourselves (we did in a previous home) I love all of your tile options, but it may be hard for us to do tile. Do you think we should pick a dark wood instead? Thank you

can you do wood? or do you mean a wood laminate? it's just difficult to match up a wood (or laminate wood) that would look good next to your paneling. If you did decide to paint it, it would open up a lot more options for you.

Good call on leaving the paneling as it is. Only hillbillies paint paneling; everybody else removes it, patches the nail holes, and paints the walls properly.

I agree that the marble doesn't suit and with removing the red tile. Just make sure that the new floor and the new hearth end up at exactly the same level; you don't want a trip hazard sticking out on that corner.

I'm also not crazy about the wood plank (at least as it shows on my monitor). Anything else strike your fancy?

Beth wood laminate or wood as long as it has tong and groove we can do. My one concern with going dark something close to the current paneling is that it may make the room look dark. I think is clear I need to remove the small red tile just so that I can have something a tad better.

Tatts I would love to do tile, but we can't do tile ourselves (we have 700sqf to tile and a lot of obstacles and closets) and in our city every contractor is super expensive, tiling 700sqf will be close to 5k just labor.

A huge no on the marble. I personally detest fake wood in the form of tiles, too, (which among other things, I think is a fading trend that will soon date your space). What about marmoleum click? You could do that yourself and it comes in lots of colors and is nice underfoot.

have you looked at a floating wood floor? it's a tongue and groove laid w/a vapor barrier. very easy to click together as it just 'floats' on the surface.

check out this one. I like it w/your wood but I had to paint your brick white. sorry, but I think it looks better painted. and if you do the wood, then do a black stone hearth

https://www.uniquewoodfloor.com/9mile-sand-dune

https://www.uniquewoodfloor.com/blog/click-lock-floating-wood-floors-vs-tongue-and-groove-style-part-1/

their pecan looks kind of nice too.

my photo shop skills are lousy, so try to imagine that it won't look quite this chaotic

cavalli is nice too

You stated that you loved the tile look, have you given thought to using an LVT that looks like tile. I had tile in my last home and found that it was hard on the joints. I just purchased Downs H2O - Stone Plus from Flooring America.

The same pattern is offered at the other flooring companies owned by CCA Global Partners. The flooring is made by Coretec specifically for CCA. CCA brands the flooring under different names for each of the companies they own. Price check all the local area stores. I saw the exact same flooring priced anywhere from $5.98 sf up to $9.24 sf. I bought at the $5.49 when they were offering an additional $500.00 off.

I picked this flooring because it had the quality I wanted and it was fairly monotoned in comparison to many other tiles. I did find a few others that weren't busy, but most had a texture that I thought would trap dirt. The tiles are 18x36.

While looking for LVT someone told me about their white LVT truning yellow in traffic areas. None of the stores mentioned this issue when I was looking at white/very light LVT, but with additional research and calling the manufacturers and specifically asking them about "Environmental Staining", none of them will warrantee against "Environmental Staining". Asphault/rubber/patroleum products are the culprit and can discolor any LVT or laminate flooring. Don't use rubber backed carpets unless they specifically state that they are safe for LVT flooring and remove shoes if you have walked on asphault unless the asphault was sealed with a latex sealant.

This can impact any LVT flooring, but all of the issues I found on the internet were about white/very light LVT. It seems that other colors just don't show the staining like very light colors do.

"Antioxidants used in the manufacture of rubber and petroleum from exterior asphalt sealants and/or spills tracked in on shoes and casters may cause permanent discoloration to any resilient floor. The stain gradually appears over time." ---Armstrong

Mohawk's Master Resilient Warranty: Exclusions: "Discoloration from underlayment panels, mold or mildew, rubber backed mats, asphalt or deicer tracking.""

I’d look for something that’s going to play well with the mid-century style of your home, like non-gray hardwood or bamboo. Don‘t try and make it into something it’s not by choosing super trendy flooring.

I'll take a look at some of the materials mentioned here. I'm also hearing regular hardwood may be the way to go, but instead of doing a light tone, we may want to do a medium to dark stain, that resembles more the actual paneling.

Right now the paneling is disturbing your entire colour scheme. The STRONG orange tones are 'killing' your ability to work with cool tones (like gray). If you are keeping the paneling (in its current colour = orange) you will need to work with orange/yellow tones. And yes, that means the unifying floor throughout the entire space will be yellow/orange.

if you want cool tones, then remove the ONE item that is stopping you = the orange paneling. I know you want to leave it...but realize that it is STOPPING you from having light/gray colours throughout the REST of the space.

This is a perfect example of an item from the PAST (orange paneling = 70's) dictating the FUTURE of your space. It would be like leaving orange shag carpet in the living room yet wishing you could have a light/bright/modern home. So long as the orange shag (ie. the orange paneling) is left in place) you will continue to have a space that is dedicated to the past.

Following

Alright, I think you guys have convinced me to paint the panel. Will try my best to convince the husband since he is against painting paneling. If I'm able to convince him, what color wood flooring do you think will go best with the existing colors of the fireplace? Want to keep the room light. Thank you.

Again, the idea of painting paneling is a contentious one. A REAL wood plank wall is very handsome when it is painted out. A fake wood (ie. 70's paneling) product that is painted can look, well, like fake painted wood.

Light/bright = white. When updating an interior with strong, yet highly dated architecture (red brick = architecture), it is common to paint it out. Yep. Paining out the brick (you choose a colour you want) will give you what you are looking for.

Removing the paneling (assuming this is paneling and not real wood-plank wall feature) is your best bet to update. Painted paneling can still look like you didn't want to take the time/effort/money to do the 'full' update.

Painting out a fireplace can be very handsome...whereas paneling can be quite ugly. It's your call.

It took us a very long time to put this room together. But just wanted to provide an update here. At the end we decided to keep both the paneling and the brick as is and instead lighten things up via the furnishings. We went with flooring similar to what one of you suggested. I know there is still room for improvement, but at the end I think the room looks quite cozy

looks very nice.

I'd like to suggest some artwork for over the mantle.

in fact, that brick is really nothing to write home about. I'd paint it. (white or black) and then do a nice wood beam for the mantle