AM it's only available from the UK as far as I know. But some of the gallery participants are in the US. It's not the cheapest stuff but very long lasting and really the choice for what I want. I have been waiting for a sample. There are some other things which you could look at such as Keim paint or silicate mineral paint which is a compound that makes a petrified layer on the brick not unlike what Dyebrick does. It's not like a paint that scrapes off so it is good for standing up to the heat of fireplace areas. I'm not sure if I am going to be dyeing the mortar but with a careful hand you can use that product and get an almost new look. Make you look at the videos on the Dyebrick site, they show quite a bit. There are a few distributors of mineral paint in the US. One is Sydney Harbour which is a US distributor of Porter's Paints from Australia. Another is Eco-house out of Canada. I hope that is helpful.

"That should cut it nearly flush with the other brick." And make it stick out like a sore thumb. Score slightly if you must then snap it off. If you get a bad break,you can try and clean it up or get a plugging chisel and drilling hammer (small sledge) and take out the whole stone. you might get lucky and find out the stones are only a few inches into the wall and easy to remove. You can ten use the piece to fill the hole. This post was edited by brickeyee on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 14:45

I did something totally off the wall. But....completely covered the fireplace with premixed grout. You cannot tell there is brick behind it. I also painted it with standard wall paint rather than use a colored grout. 7 years and no cracks. I love the look of it, beyond painted brick and works well with my decor. Was not a big job, just used a trowel to go over it. Thinking now though, I wish that I had added some decorative tile pieces seen in some of the older homes. A mantle is my first suggestion. Plus a different color of paint if you are going to paint it again. I'm not the color person here. Others will chime in.

Thanks everyone! As for the budget, no more than $5,000. This is more of a sitting room so we don’t need a tv in here. Our tv is in the next room. I’m thinking we’ll just do a couple chairs in here or a love seat. We also have a piano on the opposite wall. This whole house is full of shoddy work that we are trying to fix a little at a time. So, yes the floor and tiling is a mess and needs to be ripped out and re-thought.