So I know I’m supposed to be in the basement working on all my hoarded chairs, but I keep looking at our sad little fireplace and wondering what to do with it. Especially now that we have been flung into cooler weather, an evening fire sounds kind of nice.
Our fireplace is cast concrete with different colors in it (red, buff and green just like my sorority . . . ) which match the colors in the stained glass transom. However this poor thing has seen better days. When we bought the house it had a horrible brass-n-glass fireplace surround covering up the whole front of the fireplace. We took that off a few years ago and hauled it to the Habitat for Humanity Restore. It left a big (permanent) stained and sooty mess behind though.
When we were getting our concrete kitchen countertop installed, I spoke with the fabricator about options for our fireplace. He did have some stains he could use on it but he said they would have to be dark stains because he couldn’t fix the real stains (soot and ash) that have leached into the concrete.
So, I’m wondering . . . do I dare paint it? Here’s a little Photoshop magic for your consideration.
White?
Grey?
Black?
None of the above.
What’s your vote? I’ve seen a lot of brick fireplaces that are painted (usually white) quite successfully. I googled around and found some scary images of painted stone fireplaces but I couldn’t quite find any that match my situation which is not brick and not quite stone . . . . Hmmm.
P.S. Grey is out.
Living Analog 
I vote for you leaving the fireplace with the bricks like they are or make it white. Either way, whatever you choose with be perfect…you have great ideas and your end results are always very attractive! Good luck and I am sure that you will post the finished product!!
Thanks for the vote Barb! I think I’m going to mark you down for White . . . truth be told, that’s the way I’m leaning too.
I love it painted! White is where my eyes are most happy. I think you’ll love the results. We painted the brick around the fireplace in our last house white and I never regretted it. I loved how clean and lovely it made the whole room. Go for it!
I’m pretty much 99% of the way to sold. Thanks Stacey!
My vote is for white too. It looks great that way in the Photoshopped version.
Thanks Dana!
Have you thought about a stone veneer over what’s there? You could build a stunning fireplace with it, shaping it to your desire. I’m sure there are plenty of places to get the materials but check out this place to get an idea of what you can accomplish.
I’ve considered so many different options to refinish/build over the fireplace, including making an asymetric face with another hole/cutout for logs, etc. There are some beautiful stone fireplaces in your attachment! I think for right now and with our budget, it will be a paint solution but maybe in the future it could be stone. Cheers – CT
Hey! I love the natural look, but even if you paint it, it will look amazing! Keep us posted!