If it’s an office and only the shelves are chipping, I would ask for a percentage of his fee as a refund and live with it. In an office, the shelves are useful for putting things on, so lay some ivory shelf lining that won’t show and make the shelves useful. Not sure the stone you chose will look right. The colors are great but they might look too heavy. Were you going to use them where the painted brick is?

How much use will the fireplace have?

Looks like oak to me?? I think it looks good (have the painter fix the chips or redo the chipped shelves….might need better sanding prior to painting), but whether you change it completely and add stone etc is obviously up to you. We love built-ins, esp in an office/ beside a FP, so I vote “no” on drywalling the whole thing. Add a nice piece of art (to your taste and something that will warm up the room) above the FP and then reevaluate your ideas re stone etc. Good luck!

If you hadn't used the bright, bluish-white paint, white can work. Also, that oak has to be primed and painted with the correct products. That wood has to be properly prepped, and most painters would recommend an oil based enamel to keep the paint attached to the wood.

You could also select a soft gray taupe color for the walls instead.

Have you considered an area rug to warm up the space? Then pick up an accent color for art over the fireplace and cout back on the shelf contents. It’s easy to play with options on the online rug sites. This is from Rugs.com.

Adding a 'warm' element to the space only makes the white look worse.

True - can't believe how different that picture looks on my computer vs. my phone!

What I probably should have said was 'soften' rather than "warm".

I love the shelves. Do you own books to put on them? If so, even better. Get a great piece of art for over the fireplace and call it a day.

It may not be the perfect white but it's a definite improvement from what it was. Simply place a large piece of art above the fireplace and perhaps an area rug to warm things up but can't see much of what else is in the room so... not sure how to place it.

Thanks so much for all of the input. Invaluable. I actually bought some sample paint yesterday in a softer white (Aesthetic White) that I'm going to try today.

Regarding books....I need to get more. Does anyone know where to get inexpensive used books for this purpose?

Yes, it is a wood burning fireplace. We bought a matte black fireplace screen (in pics). Thoughts on black slate or soapstone surrounding the screen (where the brick is) or removing the "picture frame" around the brick and extending the slate/soapstone outward?

Lastly, will definitely use a large piece of art and a area rug. (lisedv.....funny that you chose that particular rug....I just purchased a couple of rugs for my hall that are almost an exact match!)

Again, thanks much. I'll post a pic with the new paint for anyone that is interested.

Kelly

Don't be in a hurry to buy used books if you don't plan to read them just to fill up the shelves. I like your start on using fewer shelves on the left with more open space between them. And those would benefit from having just a picture, or just a single stack of books, or just the birdcage on a couple of shelves. Rather than having 2 distinct clusters on every shelf.

Once you find a piece of art, you may find a 3D element that goes with it like a vase that could sit on one shelf, for instance. Or a complementary small artwork. If you could find the right dimensions, a woven basket on each side to store fireplace matches, extra office supplies, etc might be useful. Good luck!

What if you painted the brick in black?

Lightly sand the wall before you paint. If you dont want to paint you can tone down the semigloss with a matte poly. Im with lisedv on painting the edging tile etc black but you will have to ligthly sand and use a shellac primer then sand then paint for good adherance