You have quite the project there I think I would be getting a pro in to help with hopefully removing the bar for sure and all that rustic wood. It actually makes the fireplace worse that I think it is .That bar area is hard to get a feel for in the space and I would wonder about that post being load bearing. I am hoping the beams are not railroad ties as they would be soaked in creoste or some other preservative not something that should be inside. They look like addons but hard to tell.

Are the photos in your ideabook for the new farmhouse? They are a lot more formal than contemporary farmhouse in style.

I suggest hiring a structural engineer to see which beams and posts are supporting and which are decorative. There's no point trying to preserve something you dislike if it is easily removed. Similarly, if you get an estimate from a chimney pro on costs to replace the sone fireplace, you'll have that information to make a decision.

Waiting for Beth to chime in with a recommendation to lime wash the stone, which I am not a fan of.

My biggest question is what will you do with the carpet? The floors will dictate a lot about the look of this space and the choices you make.

I might leave the fireplace surround as is, but paint the diagonal wood paneled wall white. (Or whitewash it.) Will make it cleaner-looking but still keep the rustic aesthetic.

IMO the wood and the fake stone is too large of a feature to have wrong. I think you can keep the shape of the wall of the fireplace, remove the fake rock and replace with stone like you see below in a drystack style with the flagstone surrounds to act as your mantel

Then either keep the walls in drywall with white paint or add shiplap if you must, but I think the contemporary farmhouse style can be achieved with bare wood accents

Before you move all stuff, I would try painting wood and fake stones in white.

I second the suggestions to paint the wood and fireplace white.

That's stone veneer and with the right tools it comes off pretty easily. I'd remove it altogether. I'd remove the raised hearth too and just re-do the fireplace and level hearth in another material. Use a mantle and just drywall above it.

You could do a parged coat on the stone and completely change the look of the room.

I love the diagonal boards, but definitely paint them white, also I’d replace the spindles on the stairs, and remove the bar. Very cool house

Also, I think once you paint the boards you might like the fireplace. You could dress it up with a white mantel

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the comments.

Yes, it's quite the project. I am buying the place for the horse stable features, so although this is not the house I imagined, I am going to make it work.

My ideabook on this site is probably ten years old for a different home that was much more formal, so that's not the inspiration.

The plan is definitely to bring in a contractor, but I'm trying to get a sense of what is achievable. We also have to rehab the kitchen and two bathrooms, so those priorities will dictate how much I have to spend on pro help for this great room. My dad is a retired construction electrician, so he is helping us do as much DIY work as we can. Mostly, I just need to come up with a plan.

For flooring, we'll plan to do wideplank engineered hardwoods I think. Thinking a grayish washed brown? We have removed all of the wall paper from this room and have started mudding.

If it's stone veneer, I'd love to take the whole thing down and put a cleaner looking fireplace and mantel. My husband thinks that's a bigger project than we need given everything else. How can I tell if it's stone veneer? My dad has said he thinks he can pop the wood boards off of the wall, so I think I will plan to do that. I don't think I'm ever going to love that wood, even if painted white.

Good idea to have someone come in and determine what is weight bearing before reconciling myself to the fact that I'm stuck with the beams. I do think the beam holding up the bar is weight bearing. I love the idea of wood beams, but these are hideous. I'm not sure I will be able to remove the ones from the ceiling, but maybe they can be painted? Given the condition of the wood, I don't think there's any hope of refinishing a different natural color.

Trying to stay positive, so any ideas and advice (especially links to pictures and DIY) would be appreciated! Thanks!!

A professional chimney and fireplace contractor will know if the stone is veneer and can give you an estimate for new stone or tile. Your father may be able to refer you to a structural engineer.

https://www.hunker.com/13402177/how-to-remove-a-stone-fireplace-facade

Here is a diy for the fireplace. But given the large area you have, I'd recommend using a power chisel to remove those stones. It comes off fast that way. IMO this is a job better left to a pro.

I'd reclaim all that wall space with drywall. Put in a row of attractive tiles (ceramic or stone) just around the fireplace opening, and a smaller mantle.

One suggestion for the stones that get popped off. You'll likely have to pay disposal fees at the dump site, and if you get someone else to do it their disposal labor will be factored in to their quote. A less expensive (and more environmentally friendly) suggestion is to use the flat stones for an informal walkway on your property. In an outdoor setting they would look very good. There are lots of good ideas on the internet for how to use irregular paving stones, for example these. I used my formerly fireplace stones to build a small wall.

That looks like real stone to me. Good luck finding the right fix -- agree that the space will be transformed when bar removed and that rough wood panelling is gone.

Once you get the wood down, and take off both mantels, the fire place might be liveable for awhile.

It seems like real stone to me too. The wood on the walls is certainly wood boards, not paneling. Maybe I'll just start with taking down the wood and mantle and see how it looks.

This house is low on storage and with a kitchen on the other end of the house. There is a small part of me that likes the idea of a bar for storage and having serving space in the great room for entertaining. Is there any way to make that thing more modern and appealing? Probably not I'm guessing. . . .

This is very nice place with a lot of potential. I would not recommend renovating to contemporary/modern style.

1.Keep the fireplace and its wall, just refresh stone and wood.

2.All carpets replace with Tigerwood hardwoods or solid grey ceramic tiles.

3.Bar area: wall cabinets replace with shelves (industry style), add more light, exchange bar counter with live edge wood slab, get rid of the turn.

4.Stairs: change them to floating style stairs with industry style railing

5.All doors and windows moldings replace with wide, rustic, planks of wood.

6.All walls paint rustic white.

Good Luck

The stone is real stone or manufactured stone. By stone veneer we mean that it is flat pieces that are stuck on to a flat wall with mortar. (It's not boulders that sit on top of each other to make up the fireplace.) The veneer is easier to remove because you chip away at the mortar from the side and the flat stones should come off.

If you paint the stone (first fix the draw on the flue) then I would drywall over or remove the wood. Too much texture together even if all is painted. Either way I think I would start off NOT painting the mantles or ‘structure’ and leave those as natural wood. Then assess the visual before you proceed w painting those. Good luck!

Update! We are knee deep in renovations on the farm house and after painting the diagonal wood wall, we removed it. The stone surround was also removed this week. The plan is to drywall and make this room more contemporary.

The off center fireplace is causing me angst. I am planning to box in the wood holder with dry wall on the left and make it into open shelves.

I also have a thought of taking a large mantel across both the fireplace and opening/future shelves to give some center to this wall. Eventually we will place a TV in the center above mantel. Something like this mantel;

https://www.philipmillerfurniture.com/blog/2016/2/25/how-to-build-a-built-in-part-2-of-3-the-fireplace

we will also plan to cover the beams above the fireplace with drywall. I only plan to keep ceiling beams exposed.

Thinking of putting marble subway-style tile around fireplace (will be pellet stove insert). Should I tile around the shelf opening too?

I welcome ideas! Thanks!

Congratulations on getting started with this part of the renovation. Do you have a photo from farther back showing the whole wall? The new no-stones photo is rotated.

I snapped this quickly yesterday so I don't have any other angles of this particular stage of the project.

Here is a photo showing the room while

the stone is still place.

Thanks for photos. That's a dramatic transformation of the 1970's-1980's great room addition. Are the beams functional or just decorative? How did the bar area's beams turn out?

Bar was removed and framed out and drywalled to be a walk-in closet due to the lack of storage in this house. I wish I had taken a photo. That beam from the bar area will be completely enclosed in drywall from floor to ceiling as we also close in most of open loft too. .Will also have French doors from patio entrance to the left when facing fireplace.

Thought I’d update with some basic pictures.

mom really pleased with the result. Now to add some decor/character back to the room.

Good work.

Looks clean and new. Good choices on what to redo.