If you show us the furniture that will be going into the room, rugs, curtains, art work etc. we can make much more helpful suggestions. Or, as already suggested, what you would like as a fireplace.

I have a question. Can you tell us the size of the room? You stated that it is a ”very small room” Seems to me that it might overpower the room in it’s current state.

The proportions are wrong for the room IMO.

With room being small and ceiling low, I’d attempt to diminish its impact. If interested, suggest removing the (sort of) hearth, smooth out the bricks (lots of info on line) and add venetian plaster. If not handy, it won’t cost a lot to have done and paint the walls the same color. Hope the picture helps to envision.

It is a rather large fireplace for the area. If it's gas, you could look into removing the attached hearth. I would consider whitewashing it to minimize the size and then add large vases or plants or baskets on either side of the firebox to minimize it visually. Then add artwork on top with a few decor pieces on either side but not too far out from the center. Just keep all the decor as close to the firebox as possible.

Poorly designed! That isn't the way a fireplace surround would be installed. It goes past the corners, for one thing. Take off the brick and start again with a design that works with the smaller gas insert.

If your fireplace does not directly face your front door- I would suggest placing a mirror over it. And in this case, I am thinking a substantially sized horizontal mirror. But you could also alternatively do a round flanked by battery operated sconces.

The horizontal mirror in this mock-up of your space (below) is a bit too long for the fireplace that AI inserted... although, it would likely not be too long over your actual fireplace, because your fireplace is significantly wider. And in any case- you get the general idea.

I most always opt for a mirror over a living room fireplace - for the light, expansion, and good feng shui.

Wainscoting on bottom half of the walls will hide and meld the fireplace in and get rid of the eyesore. A warm color if you are keeping the original brick. Light cream color or white if you decide to whitewash.  But the brick is lovely with some greenery.

Paint it white, except for the ledge. Add a mirror and vases in an accent color that goes with the other items in the room.

Will look fine and beautiful even without white, some candles, decor, and rug can go a long way. If the fireplace is not used, green plants will look beautiful. If it will be used, art, candles and gold pieces of decor will look lovely here.

Clean canvas, with warm brown/taupe wainscoting, there are a lot of possibilities!

@BeverlyFLADeziner ….. Bingo! That’s what I was trying to say but your assessment ”the proportions are wrong” nails it. Btw, I don’t think any mirrors, wainscoting or plants will make it look any better.

I think the proportions of the fireplace are fine. It is substantial... and you can see from my mockup that the AI version of the brick fireplace- which is significantly smaller- looks puny and stunted in comparison.

Also, how anybody can say that the “proportions are wrong for the room” - without even seeing the entire room - is a mystery.

If you want to spend the least you can limewash the brick to match the walls. It can be applied light or heavy. That will minimize the bad proportions.

Add something horizontal over the mantle. DO NOT INSTALL A MIRROR.

Can it be modified so that the floating hearth rests on the floor.

I think both your suggestions are great, Beverly. If I used the fireplace, I might go with your first suggestion, as it is more forgiving to wear and use. We have an apron of tile inserted in our oak floors in front of the fireplace (I'm sure there's a name for this) and it survives a beating from using the fireplace.

Alternatively, the white really expands a room which the owner has described as a bit tight. Love all the suggestions for a modern, light/white look, and the quick, inexpensive ways to achieve that.

On contrary, with the brown floors, the original brick color would have looked much nicer with some paint/wainscoting and Decor. If your floors were lighter on the white side, whitewashing would have been the easiest switch.

My fireplace felt too dark so I did a light “sponge painting” of the stones with diluted white paint. It helped a lot. I also changed the mantle. Before and after.

It’s not that bad; you need beefier bottom molding and add beefy top molding; paint the brick yourself; use the same color as you do on the trim. Plain masonry paint will do the trick and you will have a much nicer feature.

Add a pretty flat screen panel in front of the fire box.

You posted about this fireplace 7 months ago @staron. I hope you're going to follow some of the advice now.

I would go with the wall color for FP to blend it with walls.

Exactly!

Try a mirror and lamps.

I just read your prior post and I see that you have a relatively small condo. A mirror can give your space expansion and light. Lamps can give you light, as well. So if your fireplace does not directly face your front door, try a mirror.

Between the comments you received in your prior post + some new ideas in this one, are there any that you prefer? How much is your budget for this renovation/update?

@Celery. Visualization, Rendering images wins for the least complex fix. Blend with paint and visually reduce the size by blocking the ends with furniture. Brilliant!

@RedRyder - What a fantastic makeover!

Beating a dead horse, the op hasn't even responded yet.

Shirlpp - I am so sorry. I completely forgot that I had posted this previously and forgot to check messages. Thank you.

I'm very sorry I did not respond to some of your comments before now. I am not always sitting at my computer.

I like the brick but not the gray concrete look of the hearth and mantle.

I would consider a dark Charcoal gray concrete stain/paint for the hearth and mantle.

Prepare properly and use degreaser like garage floor cleaner on the portions to be painted. Since soot is greasy, the garage floor cleaner would probably clean the brick, too.

I like @tracefloyd’s idea. ^^^ Brilliant.

There is nothing wrong with the brick nor with the size of it. You may not like it- but you are not going to be living there.

Is it wood burning? If so, maybe consider gifting the new tenant(s) with an electric log set w/ remote control. They can have the option of using that, if they choose to - for easy ambience/ to enjoy the fireplace.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=electric+fireplace+logs+with+remote&adgrpid=184291019897&hvadid=782436427145&hvdev=m&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=9060351&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=12642823491566157447--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=12642823491566157447&hvtargid=kwd-395353733965&hydadcr=13509_13727766_1338016&mcid=79fbb811bd8f37ea969b23b449af3a25&tag=hydsma-20&ref=pd_sl_39ubd365db_e

^^^ Hell no.

It is wood burning and we put a portable electric fireplace in it. We wanted to buy something like the link you provided, but it required a special electrical plug and very expensive.

Although it's a bit large in width for the room, I prefer the brick to the painted versions. I wouldn't do anything to it. If the tenants have warm-toned furniture, rugs etc. it will look better than the pale gray alternatives.

I agree, @partim. Plus, @tracefloyd’s idea to bring in the charcoal grey would connect the warm and cool tone dots.

Which in any case, the brown brick, by itself, can work with warm as well as cool tones. It’s very flexible. Plus, imo, much better than white-painted or white-washed or greyed out brick. Much more organic, etc.

Honestly - if this is a rental property, give it a good scrub and leave it alone! It is not that horrible. A few decorative pieces and some artwork and it will be just fine.

I've seen far worse. Honestly, yours isn't all that bad. As Debbi Washburn suggest - if this is a rental just give the fireplace a good cleaning and call it a day.

Since this isn't a property you'll be living in and the tenants have already agreed to rent it knowing what it looks like, that completely changes my opinion. I definitely agree with giving it a good cleaning and letting the new tenants decorate the area however they wish. There's no sense putting any more money into it.

there's a thousand tutorials online for how to limewash OR use the Masonry Romabio "paint" (it's a heavier coverage) . it's simple.

give the brick a good cleaning to remove soot and grease.

get the Romabio either limewash or masonry, and apply it.

get a wood mantle (go to the lumber yard and get a 6' board, cut down to size, sand and stain, and install.

You'll get these looks:

scrape the popcorn, prime/paint, put in a ceiling light

or fan

Both of these are corner fireplaces.

if you like black, do that

If you do anything to the fireplace will suggest that you simply paint the brick. Have done that in several projects now and the results have looked really good.

Do you already have a tenant? Have they seen the fireplace? If so, do they have an issue with it?

Make sure you clear it with tenant(s) before you irreversibly paint the brick. Personally, I would be horrified if I thought I was renting a place with a rustic/vintage/traditional/natural brick fireplace- only to arrive on move-in day to see that the brick had been painted or white-washed etc.

Does the popcorn contain asbestos?

It does and that's why we can't remove the popcorn.

I originally wanted to white-wash, but talked out of that idea. I think I'd like the fireplace if it were smaller and change out the hearth, etc..

The example I uploaded I really like, but of course not gray - just the the simple idea.

I will show you all when I do something!!

Sorry to hear you can't remove the popcorn, but dealing with asbestos is a royal pain. I look forward to your update on the fireplace whenever it may be. Meanwhile, it may be a bit wonky, but it's still cute.

If your tenants like the fireplace, leave it alone! No need to change it.

Paint the brick the same as the wall color to make it "disappear".