Your fireplace looks nice to me, but if you want a different color, look into Romabio lime wash.

You could try dyebrick.com. It is brick/masonry stain. Try on a sample of similar color brick first, though; it only comes off with a powerwash! Assuming of course that you want to keep it....you could also remove the brick and replace with something different. We have done that before, it was very messy but not difficult. If you decide to do that, do it Before you move furniture into the room...

That sounds like what we did, as well. Went with the Xtrordinair 864 Deluxe direct vent for living room, the 564 version for bedroom and the Empire Carol Rose stainless ventless box for screened porch. We’ve ordered the Cimmaron Timbers LP logs for the ventless FP. House is still under construction so gas not connected yet and ventless not installed since decking not done for porch yet. The direct vents look good. Hopefully they will put out some heat. It was a tough decision as was type of stone and hearth height, mantel height, etc. We have worked through the details and think it will all be great. Good luck with your new home project!

Omg I LOVE Rookwood tiles! Yours are just gorgeous. Yeah, situation with the contractor is bizarre! Rookwood is fabulous. I spoke with their designers and they were able to design the layout fo the tiles for me based on my budget and what I was wanting with the roses and leaves. It's not bizarre. it's either that he hasn't a clue how to lay tile or more likely doesn't want to spend the money on a talented tile installer. My tile installation if I recall took a full day just for the tiles. Then grouting took another bit of time.