I agree with the limewash idea. After you do that and replace your floors you should reevaluate the wall color. I love the ceiling!

Agree with both comments above- color choices are after the new floor is finished and a German Shmear is a great look for a mostly white house.

Interesting technique! Not sure I want to continue to look at this stone, no matter what color it is! But perhaps once the floors are in & walls are painted, I could change out the mantel and the stone could still live on. But I'm still very open to other options!

The new flooring sounds wonderful! Are you going for a woodsy feel in the room? If so, a simple thick wood mantle would work nicely. A euro-rural feel - consider a limestone surround. A contemporary feel - no mantle. Wait for the flooring install, then see what undertones in the floor come out in your lighting. That will help you pick a white paint with the right undertone for the room.

As long as you are replacing the flooring, would you consider replacing the space-stealing curved hearth with a rectangle? Or is the firebox high enough off the floor that your local code doesn’t require a hearth?

Swap out the mantel: it doesn't go with the rest of the room. I would go super simple, with maybe a beam for the mantel with some shade of stain (or natural).

The whole fireplace looks too wide for the height. Is there a way to make it narrower ? I'm not a builder.

Most people would kill for this original mid-century brick and hardwood. I would advise on retaining it for resale value. Simply install the engineered floors over top, and if you want to tile, sheetrock over the brick to preserve it. White on White tends to feel pretty flat and sterile without a proper balance of texture and organic warmth.

A natural wood mantle would add that element back in, as well as using a light colour on the walls vs. white running into a white ceiling. ’Alabaster’ by Sherwin Williams or ’White Dove’ by Benjamin Moore are beautiful soft whites with some warmth and depth.

Why, oh why are you replacing real oak with fake wood? Sand it down and stain it the white oak that you are looking for.

I think that the fireplace and floor are beautiful as is and would not change them.

Marilut, I will attach a sample of our new floors. Thanks for all the other suggestions. Its killing me to to say farewell to the original floors in this room. However, the only other place we have them is in 1 hallway. the rest is your typical 2" planks. We are almost done witht he demo so there is no turning back! I had an idea to use a 2x6 field tile, set horizontally on the face of the fireplace. It's by FireClay Tile and has a pretty crackle & sheen to it plus every has a little color variation so it's interesting with the illusion of texture. Then on the top of the hearth a simple piece of brushed granite (Atlantic Black which I have in another room) and then below the granite is the tricky part. Because of the curve, we will need to either cut the 2x6 shorter, or maybe use a 1x1 or 2x2 mozaic in the same color. And then replace the mantel... Maybe use the same wood as the floor or do something complimentary? I agree that we need to wait till floors are in with picking a color...OMG! Impossible to judge at this stage of chaos with furniture everywhere and windows covered here & there. I love White Dove and hope it will compliment the current trim. The trim is mostly still in good shape so prefer not to touch that because than all the doors will need to be done as well... and the ceilings!! No thanks! We may have to pick a "color" that presents white, but compliments the trim & new floors... I appreciate your comments so much!

(PS there are some shadows cast on the floor & hearth because of all the storage in there!)