You have a neat space there! I would lighten it up and place the tv on the wall next to the windows this way the tv won’t be adversely affected by the light coming in I actually like the granite hearth as everything matches it in my opinion. I’m including pictures of our small farm house reno; I hope this helps. Have fun and keep your colors of similar intensity as it will make the space seem larger and more pulled together.

a little investigating first.

Is the Hearth sitting on the floor or built in? Removing will affect the flooring, are you replacing flooring?

Covering will add... take away room in an already small room.

for cost saving, have you thought about just removing all the accents and painting the brick?

Painting and changing the mantel would certainly be the easiest and least expensive way to go. Do a search on the pictures in Houzz using "painted brick fireplace" for more ideas. These are just two I found right away.

Coppers House · More Info

Painted Brick Fireplace · More Info

We just went through what you are describing. Since it is not a tall fireplace, consider painting your brick fp the same color of your walls. I really like the stone on the hearth- maybe leave as is. Instead of a mantel, do a vertical painting. Since a tv will be next to it, you are going to have plenty going on there.

Defiantly going to follow this post ! We have the same fireplace at our lake house

Thank you all for responding so quick! All great suggestions..

Cat Topeka - ty for your insight - your Reno is so bright - great transformation! And LOVE the equine painting or print on the fireplace💗

The hearth is sitting on the floor-very thick concrete/slate..other than the dark material I plan to install around FP opening (soapstone/marble/porcelain?) & the mantle, i am considering painting the rest of FP same as wall color-an off white/white.
Dark FP surround material will also go flush on floor….
Liked the vertical piece suggestion on mantle too-
Barbara- you got me thinking!!

I would suggest painting the brick white and keeping the gray stone hearth. The shelving unit to the left of the fireplace seems to crowd the space, so I would find another place for it in the house. I would suggest you add some trim to the fireplace so that it resembles the fireplace in the photo of the mostly white room. As it is now, the fireplace looks too modern and plain for a colonial-style house. I certainly agree with the poster who suggested placing the TV on the wall that has the two windows.

Forgot to mention the bookcase is going, like the other one did.
Def. Adding trim to complete it.
Ty for your comments!

I have similar reactions: paint brick any color (white, a warm darker color), beefup and lower to lowest code allows the mantal, and paint fireplace insert black. For storage you could do lower built-ins one on either side of fireplace or get 3 freestanding smaller cabinets and put 1 to L of fireplace, and 2 pushed together to R of fireplace.

I know what you’re going through. I wanted to inexpensively update my fireplace. I kept tripping over the same thick concrete hearth, so in addition to removing the mantle, lightening the stone with watered down white paint, I had the hearth removed. I had a couple of boxes of my engineered wood floor so my handyman made an interesting pattern with the extra pieces to make the fill in look deliberate. I also repainted the firebox black to make it look fresh.

Painting the brick, getting a new mantle and covering that concrete slab is the easiest and fasted fix.
The photos loaded backwards. The cat is on the old hearth.

• where the old hearth was. Before the flooring was put into the space.

Is it good for your tv electronics to be in the corner with your baseboard heat right under it? Save money and paint the fireplace brass yourself with a paint sponge and special high heat resistant black paint.

Just getting back to comments..
Lisedv - ty for the visual using my photo!!!! I so need to see things…paint is def. most cost effective.
There is a small baseboard to the right of the fireplace, which I will keep and install either lower built-ins or put a freestanding piece there which would be below the wall-mounted television. Floating shelves to the left I was thinking also. …

RedRyder - your project came out beautiful! Love the cat too😊 ty for your advice!!
I want to remove the hearth and install the same material I use for the fireplace opening surround (dark material)..
What do you think-
contractor or handyman?

The easiest thing to do is to paint the brick of your fireplace which will change the color and maintain some texture. However if you are wanting to acheive the look of the inspiration photo you posted I will suggest that you use framing or furring and cover the fireplace with gyp. board (sheetrock) to give you a new flat surface to work with. You can then install a new mantle and surround. As far as the hearth, there's not much you can do to cover that up. If you really don't like the hearth material you should be able to remove it and install a new hearth similar to what is seen in your inspiration photo. Good luck!

Tina, I’m just seconding what many have said here: paint the brick white, and either replace or paint the brass box black. I’d leave the stone, I think it’ll look nice once the brick is painted. For the mantel I would love to see a nice, rustic beam (makes the room look so cozy) like the first photo posted by kandrewspa….beautiful! I’d put the TV in the corner you had planned to use….you can control glare with blinds and lighting, need be. As far as wall/FP paint colors go, there are so many pretty whites. If BM Chantilly Lace is too crisp for you (it will look similar to your inspo pic), try BM Simply White, which is warmer and creamier. If you’d rather go with a grayer white, your paint store will have tons of books on whites…have fun! Good luck!

We are happy to help if you like that style. Thanks.