@partim This would not be feasible as the fireplace sticks out for about 3' from the wall. It would be easier to demolish the whole thing and the cost probably be the same. We are trying to avoid major/costly renovations at this time.

If anybody needs a Romabio limewash, Home Depot selling 4gallon bucket ($249) for $25!!! Can’t get it any cheaper!!!

Sam, you found it! what a great deal! what color is it?

never mind,,,just saw it. Avorio White. Perfect!

any idea why the huge markdown?? Unless they made a mistake. 90% off?? very weird.

@Beth H. :Home Depot will no longer sell it and they are getting rid of the stock. This is a price in NJ HD.

Please post photos when you’re done!

Yes! Please post after pictures! What a great deal on paint. What HD? I may just buy some too!
K Laurence— do you mind sharing pictures of your fireplace? That’s a great solution.
I have a similar dated-rock-double-story-fireplace

First I think that it's not the fireplace that is the problem ...it's all the stuff around it . Nothing makes any sense ...and it's not orderly displayed . I would take everything out and paint the wall white or eggshell , including the fireplace . Then build some shelf units around it , and take the little mirror of the beautiful stone wall . If you have a beautiful high ceiling livingroom ...and you do have a beautiful living room ...you have to first figure out in which direction you want to go . If you want modern and practical ...you have three options ..you keep the fireplace as is ,( it is beautiful ) and make the whole room white around it perhaps add large paintings on the left and a narrow table for a bar ...and make the right wall a built in unit up to the ceiling ...with books and your television ...a sectional sofa all around it with ottoman ..so you can enjoy your fireplace and lie around the entire area ... Or you paint the fireplace white ...then it will blend in totally and you can hang a large painting on the fireplace wall ...please look at the HOUZZ house offerings ....you have so many beautiful options to make your already beautiful living room into a dramatic fantastic place whichever direction , modern , traditional , super dramatic ...first figure out if you want to continue with the furniture at hand ...they don't seem to fit into the space ...but you could make them fit ..if you had too ...please let us know more , also your budget .

Stage 1 is completed 😀

lol so far so good! tape off your floor w/a good drop cloth.

did you read up on how to apply it? (don't do the hearth)

make sure you get the joint/grout lines. this one they really didn't

this one they did

Didn't:

BTW, if you still don't like it when done, you can always cover it like shown here. Tile goes on the cement board. and on the part you fir out (yours would be all the way up) you could do sheet rock, or wood panel/trim molding, or more tile.

but this one came out pretty good

@Beth H: yes, I do like without grout lines visible as it maintains bulkiness. Thanks for your advices. Will keep you posted on a progress.

One more question. What to do with grout lines if they buried deep between the stones? Do I just apply more ( undiluted) lime there? I obviously don’t want them to be darker than stones but I equally don’t want them to be much lighter and thus brighter than the rest of fireplace.

I love this look

get one of those cheap chip brushes (or a couple of them) that will allow you to get those grout lines. I don't know how thin your product is. does it tell you to dilute it? If it does, I'd try it straight first, and see how the coverage is.

if that stone is not sealed at all, it's going to suck up the paint, especially those mortar joints.

perhaps going over the stone/joints first w/a watered down white primer??

maybe 50/50 of the white primer lightly brushed on the joints and stone haphazardly. this way you'll get more of a random look, better coverage, and won't lose all your paint to absorption

@Sam K looking forward to the reveal.

Stage 1 looks great so far. :) Would you be able to put the tv above the mantle instead of having everything to the side?

No, we really don’t like the TV on a wall or fireplace. In my opinion, it creates an “office” look. To me, TV is a device and should not be a decoration of focal point. I believe I already gave my $0.02 on it in comments above.

Looking forward to the finished product! I love the samples @Beth H. : posted. Such an improvement.

Stage 2 in progress...

wow. looking good sam.

are your walls beige or is it the lighting?

if you get the chance, upgrade your bulbs to a 3500 -4000K temp bulbs. it will make the white look like white, and not so yellow.

if you're going to put back the mantle, I'd get a nice thick one, remove those corbels, and set some lag bolts into the stone. cut off the bolt part and slide your mantle onto (obviously you'll have to drill holes in the back of the wood) this way you'll get the floating mantle look and forgo the silly corbels

like this one

We have used both the limewash and Annie Sloan chalk paint on those 70s giraffe looking faux stone. They both work great and are easy to use. Good luck on your project.

We changed ours....love how it changed the feel and allowed us decorating and style options. Your’s is looking good!

@Beth H: I don’t know what to do with corbels as there is no stone under them and removing them will expose flat surface. I was thinking on painting it all white or black. Not sure what to do really.

ah, yes, I see that. in that case I'd replace the corbels w/something made from the same wood as the mantle.

go to a lumber yard and grab a 2x6 beam of whatever wood you like. then cut of a few pieces to stand in for the corbels

I'm not suggesting this type of wood, just showing you what I mean

or, buy some ready to stain wood corbels in a minimal design

or, try some iron brackets

they also make pre-fab stone corbels.

ya know, you can buy that lava rock anywhere they sell rock. if you need to fill in the corbel space at all, get one of them and break one to fit in the space. use mortar to adhere and fill in the joint, and then paint.

Yeah, we definitely need to do something about this shelf and corbels

Before after ( for now)

Very nice! Google "mantle slipcover". I think you could go right over the mantle and corner with something chunky.

nice Sam. did it take both buckets?

how do you like it?

what do you think about painting the wall for a little contrast?

I'm thinking of a mantle in this color, and about this thick.

we made one ourselves out of a douglas fir beam we got a home depot. I think it's a 4x8. beat it up a bit, gouged it ( you don't need to do this) and then stained it w/a dark walnut. few coats of poly.

It's pretty cheap. attached it w/lag bolts. you could prob do this for less than $40.

(in fact, I'd like to remove it to do something less rustic looking but I think we put glue on the lag bolts! will have to cut this thing off the wall)

or go to the lumber place and find a nice piece of wood like walnut or white oak.

@Beth H: we actually used about half a gallon :). I was stunned how little limewash needed for this work. I can probably paint my house and then several neighbors with the amount I bought. I will probably sell it.

lol. I thought when you said you'd need 500$, I was taken aback. I've seen those fireplaces painted w/the little pint jars!

Oh well, you got a great deal on it!

can you return the unopened one?

wow it looks so good!

@er612, still loving your mock up with the mirror and blue vases!

@Sam K looks great! Looking forward to see what you decide on the mantle, thinking something a bit chunkier is calling. Are you happy with the result? Have you decided to paint the walls, or not at this time? Such a huge change for this room, loving it!

@Dawn Martinez. Thanks! We love how modern and inconspicuous it looks now. It was definitely what we were looking for. We adore the minimalistic look as it blends easily and reflects the light in a way that complements the windows and high ceiling rather than dominating everything and being "a rock". We will be looking in at wall colors this week. Idea is to go with some neutral grays. The mantel shelf is another problem. As I mentioned, we like a minimalistic look and adding a chunky line in the middle of this beauty ( we are still in the honeymoon stage:) ) makes us cringe a little. I can't remove it altogether as it will require masonry and I just don't want to go so far and potentially make a mess. I think of priming corbels and covering them with lime afterward. I am 75% sure it will make them almost undetectable and tolerable. The shelf is another complication. We have a grove in the stone that is 2'' deep and thus I either need a shelf 2" think or need to custom-make a shelf which is again, time-consuming and not something I am interested in doing. I am all for DIY repairs but carpentry is something (just like accounting) I leave to the professionals. I may actually update the existing shelf but cutting all the "thrills" from the sides, making it flat/even, and then priming and painting it with something like espresso stain to match the fen and future rails on our staircase. Staircase posts and rails will be my side project as they are currently as-is, yellow wood "home depot special" and I want to make them look less ... well... yellow.

Staircase discussion - https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6014773/staircase-makeover

@Sam K, I understand wanting to avoid anything 'chunkier' although I like what Beth H posted. If you recall way up the string, I painted your fireplace with a lime wash and added a neutral gray on the walls. Here it is again, to refresh your memory. The color is listed on the photo and is Cityscape by SW. I also added a wool rug with grays and browns to pull in your sofa and tie it to the gray I put on the wall. I must admit, I sure liked this look the best (I'm not a pro, but I think this is clean and modern)...and it seems you're on your way to creating it!

P.S. as to the mantle, I wonder if you could lime wash it, to make it disappear or paint it the color of the walls...? And yes to doing something with those corbels. Someone posted some iron ones somewhere on your string, black iron could look pretty nice if done right.

And, just looking at your staircase post, if you aren't replacing those spindles...I'd paint them black in a heartbeat and paint your mantle black to match. Or replace spindles with iron, and paint the rest black, this is a transitional look, but can lean modern if done right - less fussy iron, etc...

Creative idea- Painted stair treds by Fox Brothers Painting · More Info

My parents house from the 70’s had a white stone fireplace with a ledge like yours and no mantle. It looked great. And at Christmas you could sit in the ledge and be toasty warm and not hit your head on the mantle.

And, even though almost every bit of wall of my parents house had art on it, there was nothing, no art of the fireplace. Looks really nice.

Totally respect that you hate your fireplace! Even tho it is not to your taste, it is bringing natural elements into the room and just like your beautiful massive windows do. If now is not yhe time to take on a "rip it out" project, perhaps lightening and brightening with white walls and doorframe height storagw units will help give you the feel of a clean modern space. Check out how this serene and clean house integrates with one big ole chunky rock fireplace.

- https://www.houzz.com/photos/gambrel-country-home-farmhouse-living-room-new-york-phvw-vp~4347382

turned out good!

Completed.

nice job Sam! quite a change.

you painted the wall too?

looks so good!

In my not-so-humble opinion, a single solid color chimney looks too fake. You’ve lightened it nicely, but I would like to see it with a little bit of contrast...maybe a shade or two darker in the grout lines, or a very light tan color applied with a sea sponge (larger more uneven texture) here and there. I would bring the painting down to just above the mantel (about eye level to an average height adult) and maybe frame it.

@Beth H Thank you. We did painted the walls gray and as you suggested, changed lights to cooler temperatures so entire room is now in beautiful grayish/blue glow. It look so specious and airy. Lime did a great job and we so glad we did not paint the fireplace. It looks natural and chalky. We had shelf custom made and now I. An start working on our stairs to match the railing with the shelf.

Gray walls/ lime-wash fireplace

What a diff from the beginning!

Sam, the only thing I'd recommend is a more vertical canvas over the mantle.

I like your art, I just think the direction of it and the color on the canvas, doesn't work as well.

here's a random canvas that's more vertical, with a larger reclaimed wood mantle. see what you think

Love your walls too. bring in some more plants if you like

MOO!!!!!