That's a good question, auntthelma! Our contractor gave me the impression that it would be difficult to remove, and perhaps he suggested painting it to save us money. (We're trying to be as cost conscious as possible.) I'm not 100% sure, to be honest. I will ask him about the option of removing it, for sure. Maybe the brick beneath the faux stone will also look terrible. I don't know if there's a way to clean up the bricks, or if painting is the better option.

Is the upper part real stone, just thin? It doesn't look bad if you want the room to be rustic?? What flooring are you going to be putting in? You need to consider the style you are going for in this room, so you can effectively bring everything together.

If you do decide to keep it, consider white stain not paint. You might also need to do something with hearth stone? Here is fireplace wall stained for inspiration.

I think the stone looks good, much better than painted. I think you should leave it.

Thanks, Flo Magnan! The photo that I took doesn't show it well, but the faux stone looks a little bit cheesy; It kind of has some deep, warm tones that just look so dated to me. (We also had that faux stone all around the lower-portion of the room, which I never cared for, so maybe I'm biased against it because of that fact. I've added some "before" photos so that you can see what I mean and get a better sense of the entire space.) I do think that it could be made to look nicer with the white stain that you recommended. I do like the rustic look of it, and I like the photo that you posted for inspiration. That room looks really nice. Maybe white stain over both the faux stone and brick will keep it looking rustic, without it being a bright-white all-over fireplace.

(The faux stone has been removed from everywhere except the fireplace upper, at this point.)

I would remove it, or use the stain suggested above, or even a white wash, rather than solid colored painted stone. Solid color looks a bit like plastic to me.

Thanks, cat_ky! I agree that it can look kind of plasticy. Maybe a white wash or chalk paint would work.

Flo Magnan, the more I look at that photo that you posted, the more I like the look of it. We had been thinking about carpeting for that area, but I love the look of that darker wood. We chose a paint color that is similar to the one in the photo, too. We are going to ask the contractor about whether or not the faux stone can be removed. I think it is a thin layer, but my husband thinks that maybe the problem is that whatever they used to adhere it to the brick, might have left the bricks unusable. Not sure if that's a possibility.