The brick looks like a good beginning for a great color palette. Can we see how it relates to the rest of your decor?

Can you post a wide view of your room so we can see the rest of your space?

I like your bricks. They are interesting without being too bossy. Without seeing the rest of the room, I would advise changing it in baby steps. Whitewash the blue and black bricks to see if that is big enough of a change. If not, you can whitewash the red accents. You can even stick brick-sized pieces of cream paper over the colored bricks to see how it might look with all one color.

Thank you all! Still working on furniture but a good to get outside opinions. Timely - stumbled upon this video today ranting against painted brick. Not sure if it will link but made me laugh.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1sd1gkOb4N/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Love the baby steps idea too if we are to make any changes. Thank you for the great ideas!!

This is kind of a crazy idea, but a friend of mine used white chalk on her red fireplace bricks. It probably was a bit messy, but it's lasted quite a while now.

I do not like painted brick on exteriors but I often paint brick in the interior if the brick is really not working with the decor. . Yours is kind of odd but in a fun way. I think we need to see your whole space The rant was aimed at exterior painting of brick and IMO always devalues your home not to mention the added upkeep forever . Inside none of those issues .Yhe blue keeps catching my eye so maybe wait until your furniture is in then see , maybe a blue pillow will make it all make sense.

I am ALL for painting ugly brick but I like really yours - if it were me, I’d leave it and work around it for sure

I’d do matte black or charcoal!!! Would look awesome with the hearth and a cool versatile black n white palette

I, too, like your brick. Your surround, however, is quite simple and stark. Could that portion of the area be transformed? I don't really have any idea how.

I would not paint the brick a solid color. I'd try to keep the variations in the brick, but limewash the brick to even out the appearance.

Your mantle looks modern, and the partially painted brick is country. What is the overall style of the room? I would consider tiling over it. It’s not attractive brick as is.

There is a design “disconnect” between the brick and the surround. ShadowWillowFarm figured out the problem. If you change one or the other, it’ll look better but painting the brick seems like the wrong choice.

Is tiling over the brick an idea that appeals to you?

Any chance of redoing the surround?

I am generally not a fan of painting a fireplace, but in your case the blue and black look like someone already messed with the brick's original finish and your not going to easily restore, plus the finish is rustic compared to your minimalist surround.

I cannot see where painting wouldn't be an improvement.

Such helpful comments, thank you! This has helped confirm what I was feeling but not quite able to put an exact pin on… agree the brick is not the worst, and with the right furnishing or style it could work, but its not really our taste.

It sounds like blending or making it more neutral - either through paint, some kind of finish, or a new tile - would get us to a better spot!

Will post a few pics of the space tomorrow, some might find it interesting. it’s a bit unique. The previous owners renovated and added the white wall, the mantel, and a few other modern touches. Pretty sure the brick pictured is original, or at least was there in the 70s.

I would love to change the mantel at some point too, it’s such a thin profile, but is fine for now.

Better authencical brick then artificaly overpainted. Just to repair that darkest brick spots into some light united color. Then I just would paint the closest surrounding into one color of the actual brick palletes of colors if used also in rest of the romm. In this way The brick would be "incorporated" into the overal design palletes very gently, yet harmonicaly.

I definitely wouldn’t paint brick. I actually like yours a lot and it’s not overwhelming. Ffpalms has some nice color schemes. Have you thought about touching up just the 3 blue and black bricks ? I think Diana Bier’s idea with chalk is great. Temporary, and probably not too messy.

Those are old Chicago painted bricks. You aren't getting their full color due to the paint on them. I'm not a fan of painting brick as its stop gap at best, but if you paint please go dark not light. White bricks on a fireplace will show soot right now!

Will definitely start with the chalk/ something temporary! I had never thought of this - thank you Diana and everyone for the opinions!

Here is a quick pic of the whole area - tbd what we do with the mantle (fireplace off center and so many harsh lines is hard + a new mantle would be nice) and this plain white wall is very large right when you walk in. The other sides have a floating shelf and chalkboard on it.

We put the mirror up for now to cover the hole in the wall from the tv mount but are trying to be careful not to rush any decisions.

Keeping the furniture partly pictured, and we don’t want a tv above the fireplace. The ceilings are also original - it’s not the nicest wood up there (knots and blemishes and some inconsistent coloring) but it is what it is for now! Too big of an undertaking to make a change and we are not sure how long we will live here.

I love the brick colors! They make your house unique. I would decorate the room using these colors if you like them.

Nice color palette suggestion from ffpalms.

Check out this brick solution. Might be just right for you. https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROMABIO-4-Gal-Bianco-White-Limewash-Interior-Exterior-Paint-750253662479/301690209?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D24-024_016_EXT_PAINT-NA-Multi-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-PRO-NA-FY21_Exterior_PLALIA_Q3_Control&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D24-024_016_EXT_PAINT-NA-Multi-NA-PLALIA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-PRO-NA-FY21_Exterior_PLALIA_Q3_Control-71700000075826640-58700006498654201-92700076062266637&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADq61UcjbOdIrEUa-z3iP-82HRHWJ&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe53ojYf2MGEBHfNHBRQRU27E6fYN4cgFJo4ZP-cX5ifWcmW2AY2YTCwaAuKfEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I think your brick colors are great. The fireplace fits well with your wood ceilings.

You have a great style, everything looks really nice!

The brick does not look ”country”. It brings interest to the room, but in a very subtle way.

I think your room is lovely, including the brick. If all the right angles bother you, try a round mirror in place of the square one.

Lovely room. i also think the brick totally works here.

I adore the brick, I wouldn’t change it if I were you!

I agree, switch out the square mirror for a round one for some variation, and it will look great

I’ve painted my brick fireplace 5 times. I use several colors to achieve the look I want. The key to making it look nature is to add water to the paint. More like colored water. In this picture, I used white, gray and gold paint. If it turns out to light just add more of the darker colors and vice versa. Make grout lines a little darker.

Love the whole house, still think the brick is the thing that doesn’t belong. The fireplace is the obvious focal point wrapped by beautiful views out the windows, and the brick has an industrial/farmhouse vibe. A clean lined chunky wood mantle and a gorgeous tile is what I would do, just mho.

Wow, that mockup is really nice, ShadyWillowFarm!

Thank you, but it’s a photo I lifted.🙂

In case this is still active, I created a mockup showing @ShadyWillowFarm's tile recommendation. I included a new Custom Made Fireplace Screen to fit the opening along with some Andirons.

Created By: Fireplace Treatments