That huge fire place is super cool and such a distinctive architectural feature, congrats! Keeping the brick that's left on the small fireplace as-is if possible is important to the cohesiveness of the house. I would call a local mason on this one (a good one). They should be able to source the brick, find a similar reproduction, and/or do any staining that might be needed to get the new brick to match the old brick.

Thank you! Yes, finding a Mason is on our list for this week. And I love the big long fireplace wall, too. Thank you again!

is the brick on the other side as well or did the previous owners remove it? or paint it?

no, you can't find an exact match on that brick. (it's over 60 years old! even if they still made them, the colors wouldn't match)

It appears the integrity of that FP is already gone. I applaud you for trying to save it, but there is really nothing left.

(lots of photos!)

However, You can save what's there by doing a simple 'fir-out' and tiling w/whatever you want.

RamblingRenovators did this one.

fir it out and attach cement board. now tile on top of it. the underlying brick will remain.

You can even mortar directly over the brick with something like this ledger stone. super easy to do

this used to be an ugly brick. she tiled over the hearth and did a simple vertical plank around the firebox. (stone is around that part that gets hot.)

or, something simple, like this

if you like a smoother more modern look, did you know you can spread a mortar or a cement overlay right over that brick? smooth it out

you can tint the cement, or paint it

or do a roman clay application.

These are all rather inexpensive and DIY.

What do you want? do you want more space?

do you want the entire wall of fireplace?

what style would you like?

I can show you all sorts of pics, but I don't know what you like.

just to be clear, is this what is left of that large wall? And is this brick all there is? they took out the rest, yes?

if it was mine, I'd do this

this is a zellige tile and comes in all sorts of colors/shapes. if that's too expenisve, they have a ceramic look alike (but CleTile is having it's big sale at midnight tonight, so if you like that tile, now is the time to buy it!)

or just do the zelllige right over the bottom brick portion and drywall above that. bring in a nice wood mantle. (this is also a CleTile. or look into Cloe Tile)

Cloe tile also comes in black, less expensive, and a similar look

want to go modern and bring back the whole wall? then try something like this

or, make use of all that hearth space.

can you scrape the ceiling? if not, do some white tongue and groove panels like shown in the picture.

let see an overall pic of the room

Thinking black... and to tie it all in the paint the mantel on the long wall black.

That looks cool. Not that if matters that much, but I just ordered matte black door hardware!

Lory, I was editing my comment. I posted a million ideas and pics. see if you like any of them.

for your last picture (the 4th one down), I'd paint all of the brick everywhere soft white. that dark mortar is distracting as hell. I'd also remove that mantle, it's super weird. it's a perfectly normal MCM thing to have no mantle at all. but that wall is pretty big, so I'd find some really cool metal wall hanging or a good vintage starburst clock to decorate it.

or if you really must, put a simple slim mantle on it:

as for the other one that had that weird panel over it-- Beth gives a lot of good suggestions.

Hi Beth H. Thank you for all the ideas!

So we actually have 2 different rooms. I was trying to figure out if I need to keep them "matching."

The one room is the living room, with the huge long brick wall and the tiny inappropriate white mantel (ugh). I will be painting that whole wall soft white. The other side of the wall is actually the entrance to the home, same loooong brick wall. It will be painted the same soft white.

The fireplace in question is the smaller one, in the hearth room adjacent to the kitchen. It's the one that someone had "fixed" and I was wondering about "un-fixing" it.

Pictures:

1. The living room, long brick wall (not my furnishings or mantel!) that will be painted soft white.

2. The hearth room fireplace, "fixed," as we inherited it (still not my furnishings!)

3. The back side of the big long fireplace wall which is the entry, will also be painted soft white. You can see in this pic how the long wall is actually open on both sides, with step-downs into the living room.

4. The "fixed" fireplace in the hearth room

, after we pulled off the wallpapered box.

Beth, I like the red brick-to-white-brick before and after, and also the one with the bull skull.

We are currently trying to remove the hearth. If it goes well, we'll find brick on the vertical wall there, OR we'll get someone to brick that area to connect it to the current brick. We'll cut off the cinder blocks and brick either to a mantle, or all the way to the ceiling. All depends on difficulty = budget. And when we figure it out, will paint it the same soft white. That's today's plan!

Oh, and PS - we already scraped all the ceilings. It's the first thing we did when we took possession.

Could you repurpose the brick from the entry wall and just plaster that wall?

your house has some amazing potential! when the renos are done, how are you going to furnish it? are you aiming to take this back to its former MCM glory?

Thank you! We love the potential, too. I hope we'll succeed with "MCM'ish," which is a great improvement over the 1986 remodel we're trying to un-do. The house was built in 1974, so a bit after the glory days of MCM, and maybe moving into Post Modern Contemporary?

We have ordered sleek cabinets, applicances, lighting so far.

And as you can see, I'm trying to restore that fireplace.

Our furnishings are simple/contemporary, but not quite MCM...

There's also a cool SALT WATER swimming pool in the back yard. Mind you, this is Colorado, not California. I'm looking forward to revising the landscaping there, and "correcting" the exterior, in general.

It's a big project for us!

Wowww, a salt water pool! how nice. Also, I love Colorado.

The 70s can absolutely be included in MCM, especially with ceilings and fireplaces like yours.

I certainly don't think people have to be perfectly period appropriate when it comes to their own home renovation and decor. It can absolutely work to furnish an older home with more contemporary furniture. It doesn't have to be all Mad Men atomic. Your description sounds a bit like Crate and Barrel, Room and Board? Stores similar to that would suit your home well while not being too MCM. (I'm not saying you must shop there, I just mean using them for inspiration.)

I like your plan. I see so many Houzz posts where somebody posts a funky 60s/70s house and ask for help "modernizing" it, when they actually mean "make it more craftsman". Ugh.

LOL, I am opinionated.

I think you're off to a great start. so glad those aren't your furnishings. lol

for the one that was already redone, how about if you copied something along these lines? (not the oars, just the way they did the whole surround)

Ring Fish · More Info

Oh, and I'd seriously consider wrapping those beams with a natural wood. I think it would look great against the white ceiling, and how it attaches to the wall. it's such a great room w/the sky light and vaulted ceiling.

see the look of this? love it.

Latest Complete Home Remodeling Project · More Info

Mondrian Mid-Century · More Info

so for the longer brick wall, here are some pics that maybe you'd like to use for ideas.

I really like these first few

love this one. I realize you don't have the window for the window bench, but the colors are so pretty. this is a heavier white coat on the brick.

Mid-Century Danville Staging · More Info

Black can look great w/other elements

different brick, but I really like the look w/the wood

You could choose to run a mantle all the way across, or just part way

Mid-century modern adobe home staging by Homescapes Home Staging · More Info

top the hearth w/a piece of gray quartz, add a wood mantle, some colorful art. arrange furniture lke this

if you ever want to redo it w/something else, it could look great.

can you cut a hole in it?

From the other side, I'd do something w/the brick.

take a look at some of these pictures

https://www.houzz.com/photos/green-hills-house-midcentury-living-room-portland-phvw-vp~114397118

Hi Beth! Yes, wrapping the beams is on our (big) list, too. I’m intrigued by just extending that wall - as in the oar photo.

I’m excited and grateful for everyone here, you all are helping us see from a broader perspective than ugh-how-are-we-going-to-shore-up-that-ceiling / when-when-when-will-that-subzero-fridge-ever-come-in? / the-plumber-went-HOW-MUCH-over-budget?!? / I-love-this-and-I’m-actually-tired-of-deciding-things. :-)

Thank you!!!

Oh, and Beth H, that last pic you shared, with the blue kitchen island, is similar to our scenario. We knocked down wall between dining and kitchen to open that up, but our smaller fireplace does move right into the kitchen. So I have to be careful that whatever I do in that “hearth room” kind of space does not conflict with the kitchen style. Thank you, again. Still!

Just following your journey. Beth gave you a ton of ideas already and I’m sure you’re overwhelmed.

Thank you! Step by step! @daveandlorynextstory on Instagram!

Hi HOUZZ Homies! Good news! I found a mason who’s going to tear the whole thing out - including the hearth - and rebuild it floor-to-ceiling. Then I’ll paint it to match the other big, long one. $2100 well-spent, I think!

oh, so it's going to be kind of restored back to the original shape, same style of bricks and everything? that will look amazing!

Yes! Undoing the 80s remodel and getting it back to the original 70s MCM'ish. Goals!

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