You do mean putting lamps in thfirebox ? Why not a fake LED fire instead This is one from Wayfir

My suggestions:

(1) Remove the items from the mantle.

(2) Remove the wood and the container from the side of the fireplace.

(3) Construct a cabinet in place of the wood storage to match the left side of the fireplace.

(4) Have an electrician run electricity from the outlets in each side niche up to the top of each niche so you (or s/he) can install small recessed lights there.

(5) Line the back and sides of each niche with drywall or wood and paint it to match the white cabinet and mantle.

(6) remove the black fireplace screen and install a fake LED fire as Patricia suggested, or gas-fired fire logs, and install a glass fireplace front.

(7) Install shelves in the side niches (maybe glass shelves?) to display a few selected items.

I'm not a designer, so perhaps some of the pros could weigh in with their suggestions. It would help to see the rest of the room so that we know what your design preferences are.

So this is a non-functioning fireplace and you want to put lamp inside? I don't see how that is going to illuminate anything but the cavity of the fireplace. This area actually looks well lit to me aside from the area right above and below the mantle. Why not put a small cordless LED lamp on the mantle? The make some unobrusive and very powerful ones. If you want to make this space less busy and you don't use the fireplace, take the screen away. Remove the decor from the mantle. Love your brass kettle of wood. Your bricks are lovely.

I thought you might be talking about spaces/grids in the brick for something like a heatilator system, but I cannot see any in your pic. Can you explain further what you mean? Or circle on your pic where they are, if that's what you mean.

Also, if you want to illuminate the wall but don't like the overhead lights, maybe look into changing the cans into eyeball spots so you can direct them right at the fireplace instead of lighting the whole area.

I have a similar issue where I want to light up a fireplace that I don’t want to burn wood in. I will probably end up with a ceiling light like the first pic Olychick posted. I don’t see your ceiling so it’s hard to tell if you can put in a recessed light.

If that were my fireplace, I’d see if I could remove all the painted wood except the mantel, then maybe replace the mantel with something more rustic. That’s assuming the brick is all finished behind the cabinetry. I’d consider decor or fireplace utility items in the niches. I would not do the lamps, especially if they had flammable parts or shades.

I just found these little spotlights on Amazon. They are tiny! I thought I could use them to light up the fireplace, but the light is blinding. However they are fun to play with to see how I could light up different spaces. Since you have outlets, you might be able to hide these behind a decor item in each niche to light it up, IDK. The bulb really needs to be out of sight though, since it hurts eyes to look at it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CFL2CBN4/

There are dark ones too. I like playing with the dimmer and color temperature - white light is the only light I like.

Thanks.

Busy, Busy....All of that white - I'd get rid of that and then decide what to do.

My first priority would be to lower the mantle & remove some of the white wood. The proportions seem all wrong around the fireplace. One that is fixed then you can work on the bookcases.

Lighting the inside of the cabinets is the right thing to do.

I would also consider a lighter toned smaller fire screen --- silver, copper or gold or even white

What you've got on the mantle looks like it could catch fire. The big red vase belongs on the floor somewhere I think.

Consider taking the shelves out and adding light art to both sides of the bookcase area. Add lamps over art to highlight them.

The mantel looks high and close to the ceiling. I may put nothing on the mantle and hang a wreath above mantle.

I like Beverly’s ideas about bookcases, but I might go one step further and put white backs on them to cover some of the brick. That would help lighten the area and reduce the busyness. You could set some small lamps on a couple shelves or build in spotlights or use under cabinet lights on some of the shelves.

Years ago we had a house with an unused masonry fireplace. I ordered unscented candles and set them inside the firebox. I lit them in the evening and they gave a nice glow.

Here’s something you could use in the wood frames around the fireplace: art spotlights. You can order them from lots of places (Amazon, Wayfair, etc).

I

Sweet commentators, thank you for input on the fireplace area. More added woodworking is not in the budget. Here’s what I did so far.

How lucky that you had shelving and electric outlets in both spaces. Your update was an easy and super handsome choice. I love it. Now that you have upped the game with lights, is restyling the mantle in the cards too? Can you post pics of the rest of the room so we can see how the mantle and objects relate to the decor in the rest of the space?

I would start by removing the fireplace screen and inserting a LED log set and new screen, in brushed brass. I would then suggest painting a tone found in the bricks (taupe / tan) all but the actual mantle and the lower left cabinet, as I feel the upper cabs not having "bottoms" is distracting. I like your lamps but I would remove the shelf, moves the lamps outward and place art on the brick in a long thin rectangle shape on the left and a two small squares pieces on the right. Both art pieces could have black edges or frames and should be abstracts if paintings. Could also use metal art pieces in brass or black but either way if art or metal decor make sure that they aren't bothered by the way the lamps layer into the visual effect like a portrait would be. I would prefer a squared up mantle as well, but once the boxes are painted it might be okay as is.

Candle on timers would be an easy way to light up the fireplace box.

If you decide to try covering the brick behind the lamps someday, you dont have to use wood; it can be anything paintable, like sheetrock or similar. Your lamps look nice!

I like the illumination but the lamps seem all alone.

Try them off-center to make room for some framed art.... black and white art photos in black frames will play off the b/w lamps nicely.

I would remove the mantel decor except for the word art...the scale and color of that piece works. Maybe a copper decor piece on each side of it to go with the copper bin.