The tile and brick look dated. Refinsh in carrera marble is my suggestion for that type of look\ era house.

Both the brick face and hearth are not great. You should consider refacing the fireplace with marble or granite to cover the brick and use the same material as a new hearth. The brick on the inside of the fireplace can be painted black with an approved heat resistant paint. Also be careful with the new mantel as building codes are very specific about the distance of combustible materials from a fireplace opening.

Here's ideas of how it could look with marble or painted.

fun!

Thank you, this looks beautiful - I love the blue/gray color. Do you have more detail on the tile you used? Very much appreciated!

If the brick and the tile fit in with the vibe of the rest of the house, I would resist making your f/p the "once off." I would suggest that you add a mantel that is reflective of the period, in terms of matching the other mouldings at the face. As Scot Samuelson states, clearance btw. the firebox and base of the mantel is important--i.e. the deeper it is, the higher up it has to be. I feel the mantel should project beyond the outside of the existing trim at least the height of the mantel, which I would recommend to be at least as tall as the flat portion of the f/p trim at the top of the f/p. I would place the mantel directly above this trim piece, which allows for you to keep the existing or a square or rectangular mirror or art in the future, without crowding the crown at the top. Happy Houzzing.

Hi mea. I don't remember the exact name but they were a 12x24" ceramic and had nice light gray streaks running through them. I think all the tiles for facade and floor cost about $160. We found them at a local store but the big box stores actually had some nice choices too. I can take a closeup pic for you if you'd like. Hope this helps! Nancy

I would agree with covering the brick with some kind of tile. It's easier that ripping it out if it's all one level. While some people love brick, it must be one that works with your style. More rustic are more popular in traditional styles. The colors in this brick are not particularly appealing from my point of view. Good Luck with your project!

We just covered our brick fireplace with black marble that has dark green veins running through it. Very classy. Was wanting to do that for about 20 years, glad I finally got around to it! Too dark to take a picture now, maybe will tomorrow.

Hi! What about adding a wooden mantel, such as this?

http://www.deciture.com/shop/decor/3/donny-osmond-home-heritage-series-reclaimed-oak-ma/

Hi! We have a similar some mantel and hope to cover the brick with Motawi-style field tile and a few of their gorgeous accent tiles. Instead of the rather small existing casing-like mantel, we want to build a nicer wood mantel out of cherry, and flanked by matching bookcases. The wood tones warm up a room considerably, and why doesn't need more storage?

This fireplace was sooty red brick with rough mortar before being painted and the mantle added.

It totally depends on what what style you're trying to achieve. Honestly, I hate the brick. But you love it, keep it. I would cover it with tile, marble; again depends on if you want a formal or casual look. You have wood floors, if you love those a matching wood would work. If you want to go contemporary, consider a concrete mantle.

We didn't like the high stone hearth, so we replaced the trim and hearth with marble, and bought a custom mantel online. (I wasn't sure I could do the millwork myself). Painted the wood and installed the marble ourselves. Much happier with the crisper look.

A view of the rest of the room would make a difference. I agree that the hearth tiles look harsh, but think the brick looks pretty good; so if you like the brick, I suggest a strong oak mantle that goes with your floors. The brick will contrast with the oak, but keep a nice period look. I think it does depend on the rest of the room though.

I built a mantle and placed it over my existing mantle because the original one was very thin and wimpy looking. Then I used a product called air stone to reface the front of my fireplace. For about 150 bucks it is definitely a great improvement.

What does the rest of the room look like? Seems like the fireplace remodel should fit the room.

Thanks everyone for these great comments and photos! The house was a sort of "time capsule", has large rooms and big picture windows, but work so far has been basics: new roof, systems, windows, etc so we may want to wait on making it too modern.

We just used the top section of an one hundred year old piano for our mantle. It covers the top third of our fireplace. The brick that covers the rest of the fireplace was painted. We had this disgusting cement rock hearth which we covered with beautiful slate. WOW!!! is what we have. I will say that we stayed true to the time period of our 1940's house.

I would suggest doing something with the entire wall, or at least to the level of the actual fireplace. This could be any of the many types of stone, either dimensional or flat. Make the entire wall a focal point of the room, more important, an architectural statement, instead of having a postage stamp effect with just the fireplace. The mantel can be decided after the stone is selected, and could be the same or complementary.

We found a remnant of Black Galaxy granite locally and had it cut to replace the hearth. Then we surrounded the face of the fireplace with matching Black Galaxy tile with a bull nose edge that we ordered online. Simple trim and a mantal shelf trimmed with crown molding = and totally updated fireplace.

Looks like you have a pretty blank slate so you could keep traditional or move into more transitional. I think I would remove the existing mantle and put stone to the ceiling. Here's some other options but I imagine you've already looked at those.

Depending on your taste and the effect you want to have, there are a LOT of fireplace facing solutions available ready-made. Inquire with a fireplace store or Google "fireplace facade" to see some of the amazing solutions.

If you plan to use the fireplace, use heat-resistant flat black because that area will pick up soot marks.

Remove all traces of the dated trim, wash the bricks with white or light pastel and make a mantel out of a reclaimed railway sleeper.
The mirror also looks very '70's. Take out the mirror and put it into a nice piece of driftwood to compliment the wood mantel.

Appreciate everyone's helpful and creative ideas!!

will you be using the fireplace often? NO - put in a log set, paint the brick white, enjoy; YES - everything hinges on your taste. GO CONTEMPORARY - remove the mantel, cover the brick and wall (to ceiling) with stone square tiles, leave and reveal grout line, install a glass mantel or get clever with the stone to create a ledge that is integral with the stone. do you want warmth too - go linear gas unit

I think your fireplace could have a timeless look with an added mantle. This is a picture of mine. Our house is of the same time period. The fireplace & built ins are my favorite part of the house, although it would look better with the blue carpet replaced I know. I have brick on the floor instead of the tile, so maybe that could help. I do wish my mantle was wider, but one thing I really like is that there's an outlet above the mantle so I can plug in Christmas lights or a small light there.

If you totally change it, I really like the stone on this one.