beekeeper: the inside surround is the slab of the same travertine that the tiles are made from...silver vein cut travertine. i would have done the whole thing in slab but it was way over our budget. flyleft: no particular preparation. it's just painted drywall. the slab surround was stuck on w/epoxy. the tiles above the wood mantel were put on using mortar.

I white-washed my red bricks about 25 years ago. Easy and I think it looks great. Still did when we moved out 4 years ago. I don't recall having to wipe anything off. I did most of it just during my kid's afternoon nap time. And my brick was about 6 feet wide, floor to ceiling, 9.5' ceilings. I just thinned white paint with water, sponged it on, and had plastic on my wood floors with towels layered on top to catch any run-off. If I recall correctly, there was a little but not much. The plastic without towels probably would have worked fine. I worked from top to bottom so I was able to quickly sponge any lines of paint that did stream down the brick. I'd say give it a try. If you don't like it but were going to paint the brick anyway, you can always paint over it. Personally, I hate the look of painted brick so I was a bit worried but hated the cheap brick (really Z-brick facing bricks) in my 1908 house with all the original, unpainted woodworking. It was a modernization attempt gone wrong. Might have worked better in a different style house. What I really liked about it is that the brick looked like real white brick when I was done, not like bricks that were painted. The paint was thinner in some areas than others so a little bit of the brick barely showed through but just looked like darker spots, not like red brick. It looked very natural. I received many compliments on it. Give it a try. You really have nothing to lose if you don't like your current brick.

Anglophilia- We love the idea of the “triangle of light”. It will do so much for the space. I totally understand your rant of lack of tables/lights! You can find me reading pitifully curled up next to the only lamp in the room, with my drink out of arms reach on the coffee table. I think that these suggested ideas of where/what types of tables and lights to add in will make this a much better space to hang out in. Artemis_ma- Thank you for the insight! I appreciate it. That seems to be the general consensus of what to change in this room. I love this red brick, so I’d much rather design a room around it than to paint it! Lascatx- Great advice, thanks. And thank you for the helpful LED information, I’m sure that will make all the difference. We’ve already started the hunt for a new rug—we’re excited to see what that does for the room and where to go from there (for the coffee table, etc). Artdreamer- Thank you for the advice! We used to have a beautiful palm tree in the corner, but unfortunately it only lived a year or so. Not sure if I just don’t have good luck with plants, or if it didn’t like our cold, dark winters. We may try again! Those are great rug suggestions, and I like the idea of adding a mirror to reflect light to further brighten the room. Thanks! K Fitz- No problem! I’m sure it will be more messy and difficult than the internet makes it seem (aren’t home projects always this way?) but… 1) We plan to follow this set of directions to remove the brick: https://www.wikihow.com/Replace-a-Damaged-Brick ). 2) We will then cut the brick in half (either with a circular saw or by hand with a chisel https://www.thisoldhouse.com/more/how-to-hand-cut-brick ). 3) We will then re-insert the brick, pushing it back in until it is flush with the rest of the brick wall.

Hi Cheryl, What a beautiful big white kitchen! If you had your heart set on refacing the fireplace with stone and it’s not in the budget now, would you consider waiting a bit longer to save up and do it? I know for me it’s always hard to wait for things like this! I think all of your plans are spot on - removing the popcorn ceiling will really help modernize the space as well as all the new furnishings and window treatments you have planned. I think the decluttering you have planned will make a big impact. Try playing around and condensing what’s on the mantel - symmetry lends itself to this fireplace so 2 big lanterns on the hearth and the painting above might be all you need! If we’re not going to paint I’m assuming German smear is off the table as well? If not, that can turn out pretty while still allowing that rustic brick to peek through. Or you could look at just painting those pillars on either side the same color as the walls (see mention of white below) to help minimize the fireplace’s presence in the room. Another option is to lighten the paint color in the room - bring in some of that bright and fresh white from the kitchen. All of your plans sound great already and will make a big impact in the space. Have fun decorating!