You don’t need high heat paint for the outside of the fireplace. A nicer screen will make it look much better. If you won’t be burning wood, you can do a candle arrangement or even just stack logs.

Sorry, I meant high heat paint for the inside. I want to stick with the navy blue for the outside, but not sure what to do inside. Thanks for the ideas!!

Hi. Have you considered an electric insert? I got one for my mother's fireplace on Amazon after measuring the opening (not the best pic, sorry). It just sits on the floor, no special installation required.

That's a great idea!!

You don’t have to do any paint for the interior of the fireplace. It gets dirty if you are burning wood.

I think painting it black would improve the look for now and using high heat paint will make it safe for future use. If you google unused fireplace ideas, there are a gazillion suggestions, from filling it with logs, or books or a big fern, to some more unusual ideas: https://sugarandcloth.com/empty-fireplace-ideas/

I thought this was quite pretty and could be changed with the seasons - these are fake flowers

The shiny tile here gave me another idea - until you want to use the FP you could use peel and stick tiles inside to give it a look like this pic. Easy to remove when you want to make it usable again. It would take some prep work so they would stick.

You could do something more bold if you want:

The black inside is cresote and needs to be cleaned off, including the chimney. I would put either seasonal flowers after cleaning or those candle holders for fireplaces.

I too would leave the fire box alone, get rid of the screen, make sure the damper is shut and put in a dried flower arrangement, or they make iron looking candle holders that can hold a lot of candles at various heights to fill the space and add some life. At one time I had a large folded fan that was designed to fill a fire box...they came in various colors and prints...see "fireplace fan". They also make them out of brass that fan out and look like a peacock fanning his feathers. Lots of good options for you.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to paint the inside of your firebox if you think you might possibly use it in the future, the paint will burn-off and could possibly release harmful fumes. I would simply clean it out thoroughly. I suggest you buy a new firescreen if you feel you need one after the cleaning. Here are a few ideas:

- logs

- fireplace candle candelabra (simple design)

- interior decor

- electric log set