I understand wanting to cover that fireplace. It's not the most elegant. What will you do about the hearth? Looks like a tripping hazard. Painted, this veneer might look even more fake. The second the last picture reminds me of one Pro Beth H. shared recently in another "fireplace update" post. I think I found the pic. From Emily Henderson. The mountain rock fireplace was plastered and no longer looks like stone. Transformative. Notice the clever styling too. Sparest of mantels with the black tools and bird. Would certainly consider this technique with yours as I don't see much authenticity worth preserving, sorry. :( Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Hope you'll share after pics. :)

ETA: @cat_ky makes a good point about doing it right. But if you're DIYing, are you comfortable doing drywall? Or have the budget/patience to hire someone for the work? It looks as if you're getting ready to paint... ? I don't know which project would be an easier DIY project for you.

Yeah, the last picture was one I found off of this site that I thought looked similar to mine. I have no idea what to do with the hearth. Does it even need to be there? If I get rid of it I'll probably have to redo the floor. If I ruin the wall by tearing this veneer off, I wouldn't know how to fix the wall. It's sounding like I'm going to have to hire a professional but that is going to end up costing much more money than I have to work with. Whoever painted this veneer before used a glossy paint that looks so terribly fake. There's probably nothing I can do to make it look more realistic is there?

"There's probably nothing I can do to make it look more realistic is there?"

Most probably not. Trying to remove the paint isn't going to let any real stone through so...maybe paint it the same colour as the wall until you find the funds (and the tradespeople) to do it right?

ETA: Forgot to ask: what kind of fireplace is it and are you planning on using it?

There are YouTube videos explaining just how to get this off the wall. Not difficult, but a bit of a mess but the wall needs it .

It's a real wood burning fireplace. I plan on using someday but I haven't yet. I need to get rid of the ugly red stripes they painted in there too. I'm not too worried about getting the stuff off the wall now that I've done a bit more research. I'm a little more worried about the hearth and I'm just not sure what I'm going to find underneath there. So let's say I can get all this stuff down by myself. Then what? What would be the best replacement for it? I'm wanting it to look better without costing an arm and a leg.

You will definitely need the hearth, when its a wood burning fireplace.

Can you post a higher quality picture without the fireplace screen so we can see the actual fireplace. It may make a difference depending on what we see. And yes, a hearth is required, but it does not have to be raised like that, although a hole in the wall fireplace is another issue to deal with. So post a better picture without the screen if you can.

IMO, would look much, much better with different mantel. That one is too skinny & the wrong color. That & the screen is detracting from the look as well as that strip of what looks like rusted metal across the top of the firebox.

I would remove the screen (when not actually needed to prevent sparks) and remove the mantel. Then stand back and re-evaluate as to whether you feel like it needs a mantel. If so, then something with more heft and in a color that blends with the color of the stone, I think.

The FP by itself isn't obnoxious by any means.

ETA: What are those white shutter looking things left & right of the fireplace?

Here's a picture without the screen. That red isn't rust, they painted it red for whatever reason. The shutters on both sides are actually windows, so there's no way I could make this any wider than it is. I don't want to change out the actual fireplace itself or get rid of it. I'm just trying to make it look better. I would like to replace the mantel. It's not even level so I can't place things on the shelf. The brackets are mortarted right into the wall though. Would I be able to leave those any just replace the shelf part? I intend to change the color of the mantel, yes.

You might be able to leave the brackets, but, before you decide to do that put a level on them. I suspect, maybe they are the reason the mantle isnt level, since it sits on that bracket. Use high temperature paint, when you paint the red lines off. You may have to do the entire thing, to match the black.

Does anyone know what kind of paint I would need to get to paint that metal back to black? I probably won't be able to do anything about the red brick they painted on the inside will I? I'm also worried that they didn't use the correct paint when they decided to paint that red stripe. Will painting over the red make it safer? Or will I need to scrape it off somehow? I just don't want to be breathing in dangerous fumes when I finally go to use this fireplace.

Great questions, @Corrine Dawn Jennings. As @cat_ky mentioned, heat resistant paint is recommended for fireplace grates but don't know brands off hand. Are you certain they painted the brick on the inside walls? In any case, probably a good idea to have the chimney inspected before you use it the first time, especially if nothing particular was noted in your inspection report. Hope my reply bumps your thread for a Pro's input. :)

Hi! Thanks for the response and for bumping up my post! I'm not sure if you can tell in the most recent picture I shared, but there are two bricks on each side that they painted red. I'm not sure if this was on purpose or maybe they used spray paint and some of it got on the brick maybe? But I'm wanting all of it to be black. I've looked at the Rust-Oleum and other high heat brands but they say not to use them on direct heat, only indirect heat. So I'm not sure what the outside grate part would be considered. I know the brick would be direct heat for sure, so I really don't know what to use for that. My inspection report didn't even include the fireplace so I'll probably need to get it inspected and maybe cleaned before using it.

https://welovefire.com/fireplaces/can-a-fireplace-be-painted/      Here is some info on painting the inside of a fireplace. Scroll down to the right heading.