If you paint the hearth, choose a color that tones in with or matches the floor. I painted (color washed, really) the brick fireplace wall in our previous basement with the neutral off-white wall color. I took some hideous vinyl tile off the concrete floor, painted the floor chocolate brown, and painted the raised brick hearth black...I used flat black for the first coat, and then went over only the surface of the bricks with satin finish...looked more natural to have flat finish on the mortar. I often recommend that technique for any color of painted brick.

I changed my fireplace color because my bricks were a very dark purple-grey undertone brown. They sucked the life out of the room. I had that same color bricks in my last house and I fought them for years by changing the decor around them before I finally reluctantly gave up and painted the bricks white. It was just the lift the entire room needed and I was very happy with the results. The folks who bought my house love it too. In this house with the same color bricks I didn't hesitate-- I painted them white. (Sorry to those of you who cringe at that -- I already knew I couldn't live with it the way it was.) What I ended up with was not a big ugly dark fireplace but a big ugly glaring white one. So I faux painted it back to brick in a better color that enhanced, rather than fought with my decor. This pic shows the dark original brick, plus the white paint, plus the brick I already painted back to look like brick: This shows the final stages of turning it back to brick: This shows the completed job (sorry about the dirty mirror and the junk on the hearth -- I had just finished the job). I'd get a better shot right now but my camera battery is charging: The advantages of a glaze are that you have longer working time before it dries, and you get more transparent color. I just used acrylics with no glaze (water was sufficient glazing medium), and any undesirable results were easy to blend out, lighten or darken as I went. If I had it to do over again I'd just skip the painting, which was the most time-intensive part anyway, and simply use the paint (water based only) right on the brick being careful to avoid painting the grout by using a rather stiff sponge. It's not too hard to avoid the grout IF your grout is pretty well recessed. But I'm not sorry I painted it as it brightened up the grout, and therefore the whole room, and it was easier to touch up the grout than to scrub it clean if I got color on it. If ever it gets marred (and I don't see why it would), it will be easy to touch it back up. So my advice is don't be afraid. If you hate your brick, change it. Stay to water-based paints and if you goof it's easy to scrub it off before it dries. Stand back frequently to assess your work as you go, and err to the lighter/lesser change at first... you can darken or lighten individual bricks by simply applying more paint or taking some off, and keep a few paper towels handy. There really are many possibilities with brick and if you goof something up there is always recourse. And if someone has a painted fireplace and wishes it looked like original brick again, you can change that, or paint the entire thing any color you like.

You may have better response if you post this in the Remodeling forum. But do include pictures of the fireplace so people can better advise you. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/remodel

Sorry I don't have any advice on how to go about your refaced fireplace, but just wanted to give you a bump to hopefully get some advice going forward. I do think it would look amazing with the same material all the way to the ceiling. It will draw the eye up. Since your floor has a yellow tone, I would go with warmer tones for the stone. But, there are some amazing midcentury modern offset fireplaces that can be very creative. Here are just a few: It depends what look you're trying to create. I've seen some wrapped in wood, or concrete with a wood mantel. The possibilities are endless!