I am not a fan of shelves around the fireplace. To my eye, the stuff on them seldom looks great. If this were my space I would remove them altogether.

But if that's not your style, you could cover the backs of the shelves to reduce the amount of wood e.g. with foam covered with paper or fabric. Or wallpaper etc.

Oh no i HATE these shelves. They are just pitiful

I do have a bit of a vintage theme in the home already. I considered removing the shelves and adding floating shelves just uncertain of colors and sizes

so I posted pics of what it could look like. Look at Romabio. they have lime wash and a masonry paint. you could also try a mortar wash.

what you could also do is the book cases, the beams and maybe get a new mantle and then see how it looks next to the white

see? better. but those beams (paint them or re-stain) and the fan have to go.

Uh, yeah. no brainer.

It's your house so do what you want. I don't know what type of furniture you're doing, or what you style is. don't know what the kitchen looks like near the fireplace. don't know if you live in cabin.

I just know I like updated. and nothing about that fireplace about the way it is looks updated. or even vintage in a good way. It's glossy cheap oak on the bookcases, not Arts and Crafts from 100 years ago. Paint it

Beth, yes I do love the white painted. its so beautiful. I agree the fan is leaving. I also do like the white shelves but i think you may be right. The dated firplace just may need to be painted. I intend on changing the beams, possibly installing recessed lighting or hanging a nice chandelier or only a fan. Do you think I should add anything additional to the room? if i paint the fireplace and remove the shelves altogether?

this is the beam I used on your photo shop.

go get a reclaimed wood beam, or if on a budget, go to Home depot and get a 4x6 or 4x8 Fir beam. take it home and beat it up to age it. stain it. install

well if you can replace those shelves to something like above, I'd love that look.

only you know what's going in the room. there are thousands of decor ideas that would look amazing w/that fireplace, once its update.

Clad the beams if you want. Or, paint them a soft black first to see how it looks w/the black and white kitchen. if you don't like it, then replace or repaint.

like the idea of nice chandelier

Remove the mantel -- it's way too small (and possibly too much like the shelves you don't like?)

If you still hate the shelves, see if you can remove the shelving/cabinets and just paint the walls behind them. If not, consider removing just the bottom doors from the shelves and add full doors that end up covering the entire shelving units -- even painting them the color of the wall or any other color your want. Keep the original doors in a closet or attic for if you ever sell the house.

try the Romabio. you don't want a fake, glossy paint finish. Romabio is natural. (and I think it washes off in the first 72 hours if you don't like it) they have the liimewash which is a subtler coverage, and actual masonry paint that you can tint to any color. get sample jars of both and see what you like best.

or, take a white mortar and fill in the joints, which will also give the stone a 'wash'. That one I saw the property brothers do turned out great. I think it was a home in vegas. it was an ugly stone, worse than yours, in a corner fireplace. I couldn't believe the after.

http://www.coastalcollectiveco.com/blog/how-to-whitewash-stone-diy-fireplace-makeover

this is basically a mortar wash

I like this one from Emily Henderson. you could easily do this w/yours

german schemer

and this is just a Lime Wash. I like the other options better

Oh wow so many possibilities! Thank you so much! I will check out that website and that brand.

you could also remove all the shelving and the mantle. and those beams right above it at the peak. Remove all of it and just leave the stone. Now paint.

can you do windows there on either side?

Or, do some open shelving.

art

do you need this fireplace for heating? could you cut down the hearth (which would remove a few of those vents) and completely open the sides?

then you could do other built-ins, (if you need them)

if you took out or shortened the hearth, it could give you room on the side for a tv if you need it like this one. and check out the beams. aren't these nicer? you could clad yours w/something like this

benches,

chairs or chests w/art above, or windows.

lots of options

trust me, a future buyer would love any of these newer options.

I think your instincts are right about this dilemma.... If you hate the shelves then remove them...they don’t look right with the rustic fireplace..painted or as is...as to painting the fireplace ..if you are hesitant try scrubbing it a little with any kind of household cleaner to see if it brightens up enough for you to like...you are also right about the beams as they are not beautiful enough to even experiment with...just paint them to match the ceiling..i would go with a satin ...not flat ...paint to give them a little distinction from the ceiling...for me the only time floating shelves beside the fireplace are a plus is in the very minimal contemporary setting..in your room ...that space .....would be more impressive with large pieces of art that are more reflective of your taste and style ....as for re-sale this will make the fireplace look more important if it it stands on it’s own..with the vertical lines that draw the eye to the high ceilings

It’s the doors that look especially dumb sitting on top of the brick. Take out the book cases, paint it all, including the brick, white and then put in floating shelves.

The fireplace screen is too small for the opening.

following

Whatever you do ....the mantle deserves to be chunkier ...to match the scale of the fireplace...color and type of wood to be decided when you decide the finish on the stone

here is what we did for shelving in either side of ours to give you an idea. I wanted thicker shelves to match the mantle

smtebo61, you guys did a very nice job w/your space.

If I may offer my two cents:

I'd do a mantle like this one.

here's a quick mock up. You can set the mantle w/lag bolts, you don't need the corbels. you could also do other install methods, but the lag bolts aren't difficult. )

The shorter one you have w/the corbels really doesn't match the style. And they look too short under your tv. at the very least, they should extend just past the tv width.

this one is similar to yours too, (but would look better w/the mantle all the way across). Thought you might want to see how the lower portion was done for extra storage.

even though it doesn't span the width, the mantle is longer than the tv above it. It's proportional. yours is too small for that tv

Crystal, you could something like this with yours too. I wish they had gone a little thicker w/this mantle though. It's still a bit too small for the expanse of the stone. another inch, maybe two, would have looked better

thanks Beth! unfortunately the mantle was done before we bought the house and it's set into the stone. we added the shelves. I know mantel should be longer but the cost and effort to do that wasn't worth it. we're only here for another year so I'll deal with it. thanks again for your advice. I was hoping to show the OP the shelves as I think they would be nice in her space if she paints the stone😊

@Beth forgot to mention I used those two pictures (and a couple more above) as inspiration for my shelves😀

smtebo

you did a very nice job w/the shelves. . If your tv wasn't over the mantle, the size diff wouldn't be as noticeable. but since you're only there for a year, no big deal. Otherwise, it looks great!

Thank you all so much for the feedback! so many choices i didn't even realize. There are alot of options to consider. I do like the schmear and the chunkier beams and the possibility of shelves.