Because of that beam coming straight into the top of the fireplace I would tear down the top (as momof5x mentioned) and place a nice thick wood mantel over it. The current color on the wall makes the fireplace look dated. I would stay away from brown and yellow tones.

Progress comes at the most unexpected of times, yes?

I think your Ben has been an absolute Saint, dealing with all of the Houzz comments. The greatest thing though, is that this post has brought your dissatisfaction with the fireplace up for discussion. Sounds like Ben is willing to work with you on it now that he understands how much it bothers you. Kudos Ben!

@debaroah..Ben IS truly a saint. I could give you a BIG list of his agreeing to the "happy wife, happy life" and "don't mess with the nest" philosophy. Darzy 20, Ben 1 so far.

In my humble opinion ...It's the colour of the wall and the mortar ... Would consider making them both lighter and make the stone the feature ... It's all fighting with each other when only one should be the feature

I think once you remove the fp, ,which you will, you print out this entire thread and wallpaper it in its place! Or at least paper your powder room with it! Glad that Darzy, who is so good at helping everyone else out with brilliant advice, is being helped by all hose she helped... Good karma.

Maybe if you surround it with custom built-in cabinets. I would also soften the wall colors.

@ASVInteriors. Thank you for the kinds words. Funny you mention printing this thread! I was going to print the thread for hubby's bathroom reading enjoyment. :) Then, leave empty comment boxes for guest comments. I've just printed all 39 pages for posterity.

Thank you all for your comments, suggestions and voting. It really helped my case. I'll let you know any progress.

@Deborah. I told my husband a Houzz Buddy golf offer came along but I told you how terrible we are at golf. He said, "Hey - I'm getting better at golf. I can almost hit the ball as far as I can throw the clubs". (Joking of course)

Sounds like Ben has a great sense of humor. Comes in handy when your "rustic, piece of art" fireplace is being attacked from all sides!

Darcy, check on companies that do brick and stone recoloring. They can change the color of the rock and still have it look good. Here are some examples.


http://bricktransformers.com/Brick_Closeups.html


http://www.brickstaining.net/res.html

I think you can decorate around. If it is in solid condition keep it. It will be a conversation piece. Since this is a cabin I think it works.

This isn't a cabin. It's a house. And that fireplace is badly designed, executed worse, and, I hope that Darzy, who hasn't updated us, is busy wielding a crowbar on that monstrosity!

If she's not, mickisue, you and I need to head out to California to help her!

tiffany66 The Brick Transformer is really a good site, thanks for posting

K.O.H. Here is a photo of the kind of work they do. Although if it were mine it would be gone. But if you have to keep it, you might as well like the color.

Thanks everyone. Sorry no update to report. MIL is in town and is currently staying with us and we are helping with a deceased friend's estate. So, even painting a new wall color is on the back burner. : ( Calgon, take me away.

cover it

My favorite: people who comment without even looking at the most recent comments.

Darzy, sorry about the situation. Losing a friend is hard, dealing with estate issues is hard, putting the two together is beyond Calgon worthy: it's a weekend at the spa worthy.

I'll just assume that once your guest is gone and the others are taken care of, you and your DH will be in that family room with those crowbars.

Darzy, I saw this photo on the front page this morning and thought of you.

I had one almost like yours and I wanted to take it out, but I painted the walls a color that match the rock and put a large mantle and panted the mantle white that match my crown moulding and trim and I like it now.

Reminds me of Peanut Brittle. I would paint the stone off white, and paint the walls a buff/greige color for a more transitional look. Paint the ceiling white, and the beam same color as walls. The yellow walls are really making the problem worse. At least that would be an inexpensive facelift for now...

Yes and also wrap a sizeable mantel around the whole thing and stain it espresso.

Oh dear. It's pretty bad!

Hi Darzy, Interested in meeting other Houzzers?

Trying to get closer to planning a Houzz get together trip:)
https://www.houzz.com/discussions/trying-to-get-closer-to-planning-a-houzz-get-together-trip-dsvw-vd~1011462

Fireplace is too not you!

The fireplace is outdated. It usually is the focal point in any room, which is usually the first recommendation I'd have for any remodel.
Depending on the budget, I'd replace or less expensive route is to paint or whitewash or overlay the stone with cement and stamp a stacked stone. It would look like real stone, but not the cost and, best of all, would not have the mess of the demolition.

probably time to update, this is how I did mine

I'm surprised that I actually don't mind it. The wall colour needs to change and something on the fireplace ( art, a mirror ) could actually make it look great. Good luck

How about rustic wood instead. That would make your husband happier and the fireplace would be updated.

Darzy.... left us waiting for a fireplace update?? any news?

Right Margo! Missing you Darzy!!!... I thought you were on a lot of threads .... just that I'm not. Have you been MIA? What did you end up doing?

Better way to do rustic

Hi girls (waving). I was "this close" to having hubby agree to remodel fireplace with contemporary stacked stone. The mason neighbor wasn't too helpful in my dilemma. :( He agreed to do a lot of the work for a good price, but told hubby...This rock can't even be purchased any more and people want this these days. OMG...can you believe it???? But, I have since painted the FR walls Navajo White and just today purchased a 30" x 40" canvas to oil paint an abstract landscape and frame it with a black "floating" frame to cover as much rock as possible. If my art isn't totally awful, I'll post a photo. :)

something like this?

traveler 47...that looks a lot better rustic style.

I want to see a photo of the fireplace and your art. I doubt it will be awful. I just finished 3 weeks of hard labor at my rental between tenants. Now back at it on my own house. See you soon on one of the threads. Hopefully this one!

Family room? Work with it. Main living and entertaining space? Have to bring it out of the hunting camp and in to sophisticated society.......sorry. Florida Girl.

Hi Darzy, in all honesty, looking at your fireplace again... I'm thinking it's not nearly as ugly as I thought it was before. It has olive qualities. First you think 'yikes' and then you think ' actually, not bad at all' :-) Looking forward to seeing the updated fireplace. With or without art :-)

Thank you carolins, but it's still darn ugly to me. It looks better with a fresh wall color (I tested dark colors and it didn't work in the room as the FP wall goes into the dinette area. Way too dark for the space(s). I'll eventually post a photo with the art. I just took a photo but it doesn't look like it at all in person. I'll try again when the art is up and the lighting is true. Thanks for trying to make be feel better though. :)

If it bothers you so much, rip it out. and do something you both like

I have been wondering myself what you ended you doing- if you still have the fireplace, and you still don't like it- then the answer is very clear that you should change it, home is where you should feel relaxed and happy after all.

Darzy, your thread is what got me hooked on Houzz discussions. (Well, yours, and the Spoffie one.) :) I read/gleaned info/got courage from hundreds of FP dilemmas. Glad to hear you're still working on yours. Can't wait to see the art and the paint. Sounds like an equitable solution.

The more I look at the fireplace the more it bothers me. There is a sense that the stones will fall off. Take the monster down

Hi rred. If you change it out at a later date, I am certain with your design skills, you will create something fabulous!

it's the impression of instability that would prevent me from ever taking a nap in front of it.

Any comments yet about white beam? You prefer modern, and so you like white?

Rip it out

I normally love stone, but this is so sharp and clunky. It was laid weirdly. There are plenty of stone styles that you should be able to agree on.

I say rip it out!

I know I'm years too late to this thread, but what did you end up doing? I had to laugh because I just bought a house that has a fireplace that is even uglier, and yellow walls as well! I painted over it with a grey chalk paint, it took only a couple of hours, and looks a ton better.