Are you considering removing the terra cotta tile and replacing with something else?

I personally like the first AI mockup (white surround, black hearth and simpler mantle). But its hard to say whether this ”look” is right for your room.

Consider replacing the hearth rather than painting the tile. A solid slab of granite/bluestone/etc. vs painted tile/grout would look nice.

If you don’t like the brick surround, the time to change it is when you are changing the hearth and mantle.

Painted brick texturally always look icky to me. I would reface all of it if you do not like the brick. I would also balance the hearth by removing the right side that extends past the fireplace for that is thing that seems most off to me rather than colors.

Is this a functioning fireplace? Wood burning? If yes, avoid white.

For a MCM look, keep it simple with one color, mantle/art choices will have a big influence and the large hearth will not be prominent. Imagine below but with your wall color above mantle. If it helps, I have painted two brick fireplaces and have never regretted.

It doesn't look like that is the original hearth...it looks to me someone built a frame and tiled over it. Do you want to keep it? It is out of proportion , especially with the fire box.

First does this actually function as a fire place ? If not rip it out do a nice electric one to aslo provide heat if needed . The whole thing how it climbs the step is ijust odd and the actual placement too

Thanks for your input. There’s a lot of odd things about our basement. We just kind of work around them and make do with it the best we can. It’s not our main living space, so it’s not super crucial. I assume this hearth has been there since it was built, but I could be wrong. If we were to pull it out, then we’d have to match the floor. That sounds like a bigger project than we wanted. We painted our upstairs fireplace white and are happy with how it came out. But the hearth is smaller and it is brick vs tile. So we painted that white too. But I’m just a little thrown off on how to handle the tile. My first thought was to go over it with a different tile. But a friend said I should keep it as is and maybe lighten the grout. I’m not sure about that, but it got me thinking about keeping the original color. So I’m trying to decide on that.

This is a functioning fire place, but it is doubtful we will ever use it. We just want to make it look nice and not so dark in that room.

I hear you. I have a lower level family room that I continuously improve as funds allow but it's not the top priority. One of the things on my list is to "paint" the black mortar on my brick fireplace. I actually like the brick but don't like the mortar. If you want to look into doing that with the tile grout/mortar (it's hard to tell what it is, looks more like mortar than grout but I'm no grout expert), here's an inspirational thread for that. It's still on my to do list, lol.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6003264/tuck-pointing-fireplace-to-change-mortar-color#26123497

If it's more like grout, there are grout stains. I used it once on an old tile floor and it worked well but I wound up replacing the floor with a full bath remodel so I can't speak to the long term viability of it.

If you keep the tile and grout as is, I like the your last example with with the pale oak. It seems to blend with the tile better and IMO, makes it look nice.

I've seen many, many painted brick fireplaces and they look very nice.

Thank you! You are probably right that it is concrete. Everything down there is concrete! I guess that’s because it’s a basement. But it’s annoying. If we decide to lighten the grout (or mortar) on the tile, I’ll look for that mortar color from SW (per that thread you shared). Thanks for your opinion. I oddly think the last one looks nice too. I was not expecting to like it. I’m guessing my husband will not like it. We’ll see. Whites are tricky because of the undertones. Using the white on the wall is the safe choice. But not sure if it’s too bright for the red terracotta.

Oh I love that!

How big of a project are you interesting in undertaking. Replacing the mantle and the tile is a much bigger job than painting the brick, which the AI picture did. That said, how does the fireplace look in the overall room? Is painting the brick really going to make the room look signficantly more "bright and airy"?

Not wanting a big (or pricey) project but we can DIY the tile if decided to go that route. Though obviously not redoing the tile is easiest. I am starting to lean that way, but was looking to get confirmation from this thread. I don’t like the red brick. It is too dark and it is also dirty looking (after scrubbing it). Painting it white will make a pretty big difference. You can see that in the AI photos.

For a room you rarely use, I'd take it in steps. Paint the brick, change the mantle then see how it feels.

Yes that’s what I’m thinking too.

I am on team paint (both brick and tile). I like the cream color over the pale oak. I painted my red brick surround (working fireplace) cream in my oak paneled LR, and I was amazed at how it brightened the room. The hearth is a bit of a head-scratcher, though. My guess is that it was added at a later time due to the disparate materials of brick and tile. Also, the mismatch in alignment face and top speaks to possibly a DIY installation. My curiosity might get the best of me, but I totally understand your not wanting to deal with the flooring issue if there is not a low-profile brick hearth underneath. At any rate I would paint it to match the brick surround whatever color you choose.

To me, it looks like it was made to extend to intercept the steps. Otherwise, you’d have steps walking down to the hearth or you’d have this weird void. The house is 1958 and there are all sorts of weird things. This is honestly one thing that doesn’t bother me. I was just trying to figure out if I keep the terracotta or go over it with a new tile.

My husband added that he thinks the hearth could be part of the foundation too. Since it’s in a basement, we’ve had several areas like that. We are not 100% sure, but it is likely.

In an episode of Twilight Zone, that would be where the body was buried. 😱

I agree it seems to have something to do with the steps to avoid some kind of catastrophe. It looks fine, glad it doesn't bother you.

Please post "after" pics, regardless of what you do.

Haha! Gosh I hope it’s not like an episode of the twilight zone!! 😬

Does anyone know if there’s a way to white wash the terracotta or do something to it to make it look more like the color on the attached image?

Will suggest that you paint the fireplace the same color as your walls. Your fireplace is fine but will suggest that it isn't a feature that you really want to point out. Painting the same color as your walls will make it disappear a bit.

I really like tracfloyds idea. Remove everything from mantle and hearth. Paint the fireplace brick off white or same color as wall. Place a large decorative item such as the wicker container in tracefloyds pic. Restain the mantle in a natural stain. Place a large print in center. That will be enough on the mantle. After youve done this, the tile will blend and not stand out sorely like it does at present. Make sure you use a satin finish not gloss to paint the brick

I would do this to it......

I did a little googling and while painting the tiles is not recommended, you can stain them. I would try this to make them softer in feel, maybe somewhere that doesn't show.

Thank you for the suggestions. I’m going to start out with what tracefloyd suggested. I really like how the decor added to the look and feel of the fireplace. Even though I had planned on displaying the antique iron fireplace decor, I think it weighs it down too much. So I’ll brighten up the area with a plant, large basket or something similar and some type of bright artwork to enhance the terracotta. If it doesn’t end up looking good I’ll think about some of the other options.

I like the andirons inside the firebox and did not mean to get rid of those.

I would try grease remover on the tile, they look stained.

You could try rubbing in some watered down white paint and rubbing it off to get the vintage feel of your photo. Test in an inconspicuous area.

Aw, ok. Maybe I’ll keep those inside the fireplace. They are not real noticeable in there since it is black but maybe I’ll put them in there anyway. I do think they are cool. The other tools were all part of the same set I think. But it looks much better without them and I am ok with removing them. The tiles are stained a little. My husband tried something to remove the stains and it didn’t really come off. I will suggest grease remover. Thank you!

Are the andirons cats? They look like Siamese cats.

No, they are dogs.

Love 'em, love love love.

Don’t be afraid to change the mantle. We did ours and it was super easy.

Go really PLAIN on the mantle. Choose a stain that works with the paint color of the walls (and soon the bricks).

RedRyder we plan on changing out the existing mantel. We will have someone make a white oak floating shelf style mantel as in the AI photo. We did that for our upstairs fireplace and it came out really nice.

The handles of the fireplace tools are little dogs. They might show up more in person than the photo so let your own perspective guide what to do with those re: display or not. They are a cool set.

I like the 2nd pic with the brick painted white and the terracota left alone. I agree the hearth was extended to meet up with the stairs to make it cohesive and not a weird void. Not sure how paiting/staining/regrouting the tile will be. Good luck!

Consider facing the terra cotta with an oak board matching the flooring to try to tie the fireplace to the room's entry. Then make the other changes suggested in the first AI photo. Did this in a 1960's rancher and it was easy, elegant, and looked as if it belonged that way.

The third one is the best in my opinion.

@pvdavis1 good idea

That looks interesting. But not sure how it would look because the boards would stick out from the tile. It’s like we’d have to remove all tile first and install this way.

Not really. You can size the oak board so it is a bit higher than the current terra cotta tile sides, apply it to their face, then lay slate tiles over the existing terra cotta hearth, butting the edge up against the oak facia.

Leave it as is - looks great. Or change to pastel -paint the brick maybe. NEVER grey or black!

The existing brick would go more with ”mcm vibe” than painted brick.

Have you thought of German Schmear?

Dont forget to get a freestanding spark screen and a good fireplace grate heater.