A photo is of our current Living Room- This is the Sectional we plan to use in the room with the unsightly fireplace…

You can extend the brick to the vaulted ceiling if you can find material that will match. I would select a better fixture for the island and dining table.

The light fixture seems a bit top small in scale for the room so I would select something a bit beefier.

Beverly

I really like your ideas- The house was built in 1963 so finding the right stone probably isn’t going to be an option. I totally agree about the light fixtures and ceiling fan as well.

How did you add in the furniture?

Why can't you move that large cabinet and put the TV there(to the left of the fireplace)?

That's a whopper of a sectional! Next time you visit the place, take measurements of your sectional with you and use painter's tape to tape it out on the floor. I agree with putting TV left of the FP on an articulated arm above a credenza 25% wider than the TV. That might require the long side of the sectional to be on the kitchen side of the space. If you must put it above the mantel, paint the FP black to hide the TV when not in use. Moving TV connections is a relatively cheap way to make sure a room functions best for you needs.

Agree with shirlpp that the space to the left of the fireplace is the best for the TV -- right size, right height, right placement for the sectional to view it.

I don't see any problem with the fireplace, mantel, or hearth. I'd put a striking horizontal piece of art up there, or lean several interesting prints. Large candle(s) and/or vases on either side of the firebox. Once the floors are refinished and lights and paint colors changed, this won't strike you as such a big deal. It's just the only thing to look at in the empty space. Very clean and nice as is.

Acm is right, wait and see. You can paint the black section of the fireplace white and it will not be as evident to the eye.

Thank you again for sharing more ideas.

That large cabinet belongs to the current owners and if I’m being honest I don’t care for it anyway.

Placing the TV to the left of the fireplace would necessitate having the long side of the sectional next to the kitchen island which would not allow the island to be used for seating and would completely choke off traffic flow making the entire space very awkward.

The fireplace stopping short of the ceiling is a huge issue for me. It was a beautiful hand chiseled blue stone that was spectacular before someone decided to paint it white :(. That said I’m sure the stone stopping abruptly like that would have been an issue for me before it was painted as well.

Filling the space with furniture and changing the light fixtures is something that does need to happen and may help to distract the eye but the fireplace being such a large focal point I know it will irritate me any time I’m in that space.

I’m hoping for some help with ideas on how to enhance / transform the fireplace.

I wish time and the budget would allow me to reface the entire thing but that’s just not an option at this time as there are so many things about this property that absolutely require immediate attention.

Location and the waterfront and a complete lack of inventory are the reasons we choose this property. There are some things I like about the house but this fireplace is not one of them.

Here are a few thoughts I came up with this morning-

It seems to me that any furniture you put to watch tv over the fireplace will impede upon seating at the island.

There's a lot of brick on the sides of the fireplace. What about removing some of it using it to fill in the top of the fireplace.

This is a rough sketch of the floor plan and possible furniture placement-

If you can't match the texture of the stone, you can build out a design above the fireplace mantle with wood, and then paint it white. I think the only place the tv belongs is to the left of the fireplace. I'd forego the island stools to get the main seating area right.

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some ideas to think about: 1) remove the brick above the mantle since it most likely is just a facade and replce it with dry wall. you would need to extend your mantle from edge to edge. 2) trim out the the sides of the top part above the brick and paint it white. Then hang a large piece of art with the top edge of frame aligned with the top edge of the brick facade. 3) paint the whole wall white possibly with the mantle shelf extending to the left wall and another floating shelf aligned with the top of the brick facade extending to the right by the kitchen nook.

I would paint the wall and the fireplace the same color. I did it in a dark charcoal, but it could be any color. That way the odd brick will recede.

Your predicament with the sectional is the major downside of sectionals.

The sectional placed in this position as has been suggested feels like it literally cuts the room in half- It blocks traffic flow into and or out of every space in the room and forces anyone wanting to use the seating area to walk towards a wall and basically squeeze into the seating area and literally makes the kitchen island useless for seating. The narrow space left between the kitchen island and the sectional really would not even be enough for a walkway…

I don’t see this as a functional option-

I’d much rather see the TV positioned over the fireplace. Am I missing or misinterpreting something here?

Houssan’s idea of using color to minimize the appearance of the horrible painted stone has me thinking-

Luckycanucky that is actually a true full masonry fireplace so removing the stone veneer would be costly labor intensive and likely very messy. Your suggestion of incorporating a shelf that extends or continues the mantle into the dining area is likely something that will be incorporated. The space is too small for a traditional china cabinet and a furniture piece in that area would obstruct the hot water radiator so it’s a perfect solution to help resolve a couple issues.

Calidesign a wood over mantle seems like the best solution to the odd termination with the stone. If you look a couple posts up I think you would agree placing the TV over the fireplace (which isn’t necessarily my first choice either) is a better compromise than what would happen if the sectional was placed against the kitchen island to get the TV into that corner to the left of the fireplace- (unless I have completely misinterpreted what everyone is suggesting.)

Yayagal- I really like your idea of painting the black metal gas insert a gloss white, removing that harsh contrast will help minimize the offensive painted stonework!

acm - Totally get the reasoning behind not noting to place the TV over the fireplace however, our current sectional is only a couple of years old and was a very expensive custom piece from Bassett Furniture so it is going to be used in this space- A couple of posts up there is a floor plan clearly showing how dysfunctional the entire space would become in order to get the TV into the corner as many folks are suggesting. I seriously hate that the previous owners painted that beautiful hand chiseled stone and the stone hearth but even if it had been left in its natural state the odd termination of the stone before it reaches the ceiling makes me cringe whenever I look at it. This house has a lot of quirky spaces and functionality issues but the fireplace is far and away the most troublesome for me. Your ideas of accessorizing that area are spot of for our style and very much appreciated…

Decoenthusiaste I never thought about painting the fireplace black- i’m going to search out some pictures to see if that’s something I’d find appealing!! We will be using a smart TV so it can go literally anywhere as long as I can get power to it so the sky is the limit but it seems that given the limitations of the room and my furniture the placing the TV over the fireplace provides the best overall functionality-

This layout seems to make the most sense-

Possibly with an over-mantle something along these lines?

The main argument for not putting over the mantle, is that it is too high for comfortable viewing. It should be about eye level when sitting. Unfortunately it is the only practical place for you to put it. You want it as low as possible to the mantle.

Houssaon - Agreed
Fortunately the firebox is much wider than it is tall and the raised hearth isn’t super high either- I’m going to reach out to code enforcement to see what the local code is specific to mantle placement with a vented gas fireplace. If I can safely lower the mantle even a couple of inches that would be great.

My other option is to use a noncombustible material for the mantle and fireplace surround but I feel like that may be too many materials and end up feeling chaotic-

The picture below was from a couple of houses ago where we were in the same situation with limited furniture placement options abs the TV had to be placed over the fireplace. It actually wasn’t a big issue viewing it…

In the room we have been trying to problem solve the TV should mount lower and be significantly larger-

You also need to be concerned about the TV with heat. I ruined a Smart TV by wiping it down improperly.

Can the sectional fit with the long side facing the fireplace wall (short side parallel to the island)? Can the current kitchen island even accommodate seating? The counter doesn't seem deep enough. You have seating space right next to the kitchen. Is kitchen island seating essential?

Agree with others about the fireplace. Wait until you're set up in your new house to evaluate what's needed. You'll have a much better idea of what it requires in terms of colour and height-balancing once your furnishings are set up to meet your lifestyle needs. ETA: Totally understand your dismay at the beautiful stone being painted white. If it's any consolation, know that there are much uglier fireplaces out there. :)

You can have the paint on the stone blasted off. There are a lot of different products that can be used besides sand if that would damage the stone. If you did that and used vertical wood panels fron the top of the fireplace to the ceiling matching the color of the stone it would look nice.

I would seriously look into removing the paint rather than working around a color you hate, and agree that the original stone is surely more attractive. That you know the stone color underneath makes me think this was a recent paint job, so perhaps easier to remove now while fresh? There are companies that specialize in this. I’d bite the bullet and do it now before moving in.

Instead of putting the long part of the sectional with the back to the kitchen, or on the long wall, I was suggesting it may fit facing the fireplace, with only the short part of the sectional near the island. The TV would be flat on the wall to the left of the fireplace. If it doesn't fit that way, can you remove any of the sections on the long part of the sectional? Or take it apart so it becomes like two sofas? If neither works, I'd consider selling the sectional and getting a sofa and chairs that better works in your space.