imo, the rock is amazing. I love it. I am not a fan of the builtins with the stone. I am usually the very last one to suggest painting any woodwork; but in this case, I would have the builtins professionally painted white - to match/fade into the walls - or alternatively, I would just completely remove the builtins. I would also do a darker mantle.

This is the rough idea:

Other than that, if you just want to dry wall over the stone, that is an option; and there are people here who will help you with that.

Tried to appreciate it, but couldn't, just like you. :-) I would cover it up too. I also think painting the bookcases white would be a good idea. Normally I'm not a fan of shiplap, but in a real farmhouse if you like the look IMO it would be OK as long as you know that it is divisive - people love it or hate it.

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I’d hold off on fireplace decision until cabinetry is removed, as it has a large influence on fireplace‘s potential. The stone could actually suit and if it’s not the look you want, maybe lighten and add a more rustic mantle. Not sure what your definition of farmhouse is: rustic, modern or somewhere inbetween.

Love the rock fireplace! Remove the carpentry.

Do not remove built-ins, just update them.

If you want to achieve farmhouse look , then go with shiplap.

Try a darker stain on the bookcases sothey tie in with the stone

I actually like that rock (you could prob make it less shiny by coating it w/a matte sealer) but those cabs next to it? nope

With all that dark rock, you need black or a deep charcoal paint color elsewhere.

you could paint the book cases, or the trim, or the surrounding walls.

this is just a quick,messy mock up. don't you think this looks 100X better w/the black cabs?

now bring in a cool chandelier, the charcoal or even a leather sofa, some more greenery, and I'd paint all the window trim black

I love this rug too. the black wood coffee table, wood and leather accents. gave you soft gray sofa, 3 diff types of hardware for cabs,,

but a nice camel leather sofa would look great too

Or try the Article Sven leather sofa. (comes in black, camel, gray and velvet colors)

Mocked up one more w/a darker leather Article sofa, a gry velvet side chair, some pillows, a tree, a chandelier and some other accents.

If you'd rather go w/white, leave the fireplace dark, and do everything else around it like they show here (painting your trim white too)

But, You could opt to go w/darker walls and the camel, charcoal, black and white like I mentioned earlier:

What's the ceiling look like? doing a charcoal or black ceiling w/some wood beams can look great, especially w/a cool looking light fixture

I love this look w/your dark fireplce. (imagine if this black went all the way up) This is Loloi Rug from Amazon. great color for your room. the black sofa, white chairs and the wood table w/the black legs. imagine the black ceiling and the light in the pic above

black jute or sisal rug. you could layer a hide rug on the top of this

lighter sofa, wood console

You could keep the wood cabs, but I'd update the doors and the stain color to resemble something like this:

notice the black trim around the windows. and the furniture layout

I'm impressed that you got so much solid advice with my being so confused about what the question is -- you've already decided to drywall over the fireplace and convert it to gas. What do you want help with? do you need a TV on this wall? storage? art?

acm, where did op mention 'drywalling' over it? you've already decided to drywall over the fireplace and convert it to gas.

She said she was 'advised' to fir it out and not remove the rock herself. I thought some options were still on the table.

Personally, putting in a gas insert seems silly to me (unless what's there now is inoperable) and a waste of funds.

I merely showed how to work around the rock. Perhaps if she sees other options (as well as mattifying the rock) she may come to like it.

Do you need the bookcases and storage?

Where do you plan to locate the TV screen?

Some off with the scale of the mantel

That river rock/stone fireplace is perfect for a farmhouse. Making it a matte finish rather than gloss will make a big difference IMO. I like Beth's ideas of painting the cabinets dark. That was good advice to not remove the stone if you do want to fir it out in some way. That stone is a keeper!

Thank you for all of the comments and time people put into mocking up photos! Yes we are definitely looking for ideas, we aren’t married to anything yet. The stone is very polarizing, either you love it or you don’t. We were thinking that might appreciate it more if we could lighten it somehow, but we hadn’t considered a matte finish. We are looking at black windows, since the house is in need of window replacement. This is the only usable wall in the room, so unfortunately if we do a TV it would probably need to be over the fireplace. We could make use of cabinets for books, etc, but we don’t have to keep them. This is why I posted this part of the project to Houzz, with hope that I’d get some fresh ideas that we hadn’t considered!

I don't think the stone or built-ins are a problem unless you make it a problem with the decor. I don't care for the mid-tone dull rug because it repeats the dull grey of the stone. I prefer a lighter brighter rug with a more blue, less teal color would improve things. Cobalt and rose over a light background… I think grounding the space with some white or near white seating would help draw the eye away from the stone. Contrast the stone. I usually like leather, but the shiny roundness of leather is too like the stone. UNLESS you get a white/cream sofa with metallic accents in a very smooth contemporary style like a FLAT rock. I would contrast with soft dryness. Wicker/rattan chairs with bright cobalt cushions? Faux fur throws? Basket of dried grasses from your landscaping? Glass and metal occasional tables? Basically, contrast you rugged farmhouse into a glam contemporary rugged farmhouse. Proof it can be done? Check out this story from houzz - https://www.houzz.com/magazine/room-of-the-day-balancing-rustic-and-glam-in-north-carolina-stsetivw-vs~28091514

I'm taking Paul F's. image and making some adjustments

I love the stain on the cabinets. Realy makes the stone wall complete.

Different wall paint color on the feature wall. Love that stonework BTW.

Here are a few area rugs to show you how unique your space could look.

Looks like a billionaires lodge in Zurich with the right rug.

I like those rugs, and the dark stain is nice. It does look really rich!

It’s so much fun, and I think there are any number of ways to go with it. I love this stone! It‘s inspirational.

This is a very rough mockup I did earlier. I also used a dark rug here / in a modern farmhouse style/rug. I used a white sofa here - but of course this is just one of the many sofa color options. The sky is truly the limit! :)

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Paul, I like that brown too. I wouldn't paint them brown. staining would mean all of that needs to be stripped down and redone. I'd still get new doors though.

A knotty alder wood would look nice. If she doesn't have to spend money on redoing the fireplace at all, then the money could go towards new built-ins.

getting them built doesn't have to be super expensive

Could even do some shelving like this, without the doors. stain it in a rich brown

photoshopped here to match the mantle. brought in some textured elements

The idea of the tv on one side is nice.

If they wanted to stain the wood cabs already there, you're looking at something like this

I like what Beverly did w/the color cabs in her mock up, but getting that precise stain color to look like that will not be cheap. It would be cheaper to paint them and reface the bottom doors.

this one doesn't show it, but built ins on one side only, w/something else on the opposite side

But, going back to the black and white. since OP is doing black windows, removing the built ins (or modifying what's there) and doing this look in the white, (maybe do the dark shiplap behind the bookcases) would look good. Notice the light fixture too

Personally I like going w/the black or deep, warm charcoal colors that will match the new black windows

Yeah, I've never stripped wood and re-stained and don't know how difficult that would be. I thought Bev changed the cab color too but it's just the magic of the correct wall color next to it I think. With the right rug and wall color things align and the room sings. I wish I was better with color!

Now, if they turn the house into an airbnb, I'm going. :P

I like cabinets stain. It works nice with flooring.

normally I'm all about keeping original fireplaces, but there's something about the shape and arrangement of the rocks on yours that I really don't like. I'd cover it in wood or tile. or I wonder if it can be veneered with a nice looking brick, or if that would wind up being a more expensive project / total demo?

I’m no pro but if the cabinets are real wood and good quality I recommend keeping them at least initially. You might regret tearing them out. I typically wouldn’t choose rock but if I had it I would figure out how to design around it. In my view, the true pros can work within constraints and still come up with a wonderful design. I really like some of the options Beth had in her post. I particularly like how she worked the colors in the one with the maroonish rug. While it may not be the farmhouse style you are looking it’s a very high end look for very little change and at the very least can buy you some time to truly determine what you like.

I wish I could recoup it here but can’t figure out how to in the app.

@Michelle Fraedrich Ah so true about bold design: The stone is very polarizing, either you love it or you don’t. If it helps the case tor "love it," Ralph Lauren has a river rock fireplace in one of his homes. :-) The man knows classic American taste for sure.

And…what I like about the tv to the side of the amazing fireplace is that it does draw the eye to the space beside it. If you place your tv (too high!) over the mantel, you are actually drawing the eye TO the fireplace and all its rocks. So, in a way, by placing the tv to the left…you are getting the best of both worlds. A tv that you can view more easily AND resolving the issue of the fireplace. BTW, I love the observation that your fireplace and shelving units look like a billionaire’s mountain retreat in Switzerland. Embrace it!

I might think about removing the shelving.

Think about it but don't do it.

TV beside the fireplace, not on it. You can always cover the top part of the fireplace and leave the bottom as is with the rock. It would be a matter then of choosing what proportion works the best. Is there a natural line of demarcation - the bottom of the top windows?

To my eye the contrast of the wood and dark stone is too much - I would paint the wood a deep slate to kind of disappear matching the fireplace, remove the shelves from the uppers and mount a tv one left side balance it with some art on the right side, maybe a few glass shelves and use right for a dry bar.

How about lightening the cabinet interiors with the color of your walls too.  But try it with something temporary to see how you like it. I really think you don't need to do anything to this room but add the right decor.

All of the advice and ideas were very helpful, thank you!

For anyone interested in how this part of our project is progressing, here’s the fireplace with the bookshelves removed. We’re raising the floor to eliminate a sunken living room and so the old bookshelves had to go. We’re planning to replace them….cabinet with shelves on the left and a wet bar on the right.

@Michelle Fraedrich thanks for the update. I love that fireplace rock even more now! Must be the construction dust making it look less shiny. I'm curious how you are going to treat access to the sliders if you are raising the floor? How are you treating the area around the hearth? You're really going for it! Keep the updates coming.

Thank you….t’s a fun project! We’re going to chip off the rock around the hearth to allow for the floor to come up. All new sliders, which will also get them off the deck and up a step. They had a lot of damage from snow accumulation and rain splash, being uncovered and right at deck level.

I didn't even notice the step down. I don't like the sound of of chipping off the rock. If that gets messed up it will be hard to fix. Maybe you can snug up the new wood floors as close as you can to the rocks and then fill the voids with black or dark cement/grout mixed with pebbles? I did that on my hearth with the grout between sliced pebble tiles and it looked great.

While it isn’t easy, a skilled hardwood flooring specialist should be able to scribe the flooring to curve around the rocks. Ask about it when you interview installers. PROs, please correct me if I am wrong!!!