What can I do to this very ugly, painted fireplace?

What about removing the paint? It will take a ton of work but I'm sure the end results will be worth it!

To me it doesn't look bad at all. I would just change the paint to something light and bright and once you style the mantle with pictures, photos, candles, decor, I bet it will look great.

I agree with Naomie. I would give it a fresh coat of paint and maybe spray paint the gold trim to something darker to match the tile in front of it and give it a more modern look.

It is difficult without knowing what the entire room looks like... however, I would paint the brick and the wood paneling above the mantle the same color (white or light grey?). I would also either get rid of the brass/glass or paint the brass (black?)

I would either remove all the paint and take it back down to the original brick. Or paint it a nice light grey or white. The mantel needs to be decorated nicely with candles, etc.

Thank you all for your advice. I am really hoping for something other than painting or stripping though. I am in the middle of a kitchen makeover and then am moving on to the living room ( where the fireplace resides). The way the living room looks now is not really a factor. The fireplace sicks smack dab in the middle of the room and I am hoping to make it the focal point instead of an eyesore..

One side

Second side

If you don't want to strip or paint it, you could tile it. You could paint it as others have said with grey and white in the interim. I wouldn't use a high gloss paint.

Idk if you have done a search on this site, but there have been many great fp makeovers:

http://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=fireplace%20makeovers

Thank you! I will check it out.

Paint the fireplace and paneling above the same color. You have a strong color on your walls so I would go with a nice cream color. I would paint the screen with a flat black rustoleum. The mantle I would paint a darker cream color. Style the mantle with one large picture in the center and maybe 2 or 3 colored glass vases on either side. Fewer but larger pieces will make the fireplace sing. Good luck!☺️

Would paint the wood above the fireplace as anthat does look dated ,ditto for brass surround.

If you do not want to tile the brick, you could repaint the brick using a sponge and different colors of paint to bring it back to a more real looking brick. There are tutorials online.

How about a wood mantle too?

I absolutely agree that this needs a wood mantle. The awful part is that the mantle is a solid slab of concrete. I am going to have to build around it, but not until I figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of it. The brass screen is definitely out of here for sure.

Our designer covered our entire fireplace with sheets of mirror. He also put in a Marble hearth. This is a gas burning fireplace, not wood burning. Very elegant effect.

Removing the paint is a lot of work so I would paint it white, light grey or any light color that you like.

Try getting some free pallets. Break them down , sand them and stain them and put horizontally over the brick. You may need a backer board up first. Stain the boards different colors. Should turn out beautiful.

I really appreciate all of the wonderful ideas. Please keep 'em coming. I know I said it before, but the entire living room is getting a make over so the color of the walls and carpet really don't matter. I really want to tackle the fireplace first to make it the focal point of the room. If I can make this eyesore something that I am proud of then the rest of the room should fall in line fairly easily.

How about faux stone panels? There are some made out of very tough polystyrene that is light and can be glued to the bricks.

Lamar, I was just looking at those.. that might be the route I will take

We also had the same issue at our old house....It had layer upon layer of paint. Used a sand paint mix of two colors after taking down the 70's screen....Tiled a small area and BAM!

You could also make a wooden surround for your fireplace with various decorative mouldings from the lumber yard, and build out the mantel also to showcase some collectibles. http://www.hgtv.com/design/decorating/design-101/how-to-build-a-new-fireplace-surround-and-mantel and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idBdM9NgpO0&t=135s or you can measure your space and visit an architectural recycling place or Habitat for Humanity ReStore to find an old one to just install.

Don't be so quick to discount the paint ideas. Gray is the new beige. Maybe painting your walls a warm gray, and the fireplace either a darker, or lighter shade of gray. It will pop!

We have a REALLY ugly fireplace that we plan to redo and our plan is to apply a stone tile directly to the original structure..