Wondering best way to lighten up a dark 1980's rock fireplace?

Perhaps a tinted concrete/stone sealer

http://stonetechnologiescorp.com/product/custom-colored-concrete-sealer-x-4/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx9NYTn3P-w

Have you sand blasted it first tried to clean the stone at all? Maybe that's all it needs.

Scrub with some hot sudsy ammonia water and a brush. Why paint the beauty nature has given us! I would love to see a beautiful, natural stone fireplace, so much character!

I have a similar one. The rocks were pink and grey and chipped and the aggregate was showing. I gathered a bunch of acrylic craft paints in different natural colors . I used a sponge and started dabbing. It now looks like natural rock and I have actually received compliments on it. A cheap fix.

leave the fireplace and lighten the room by painting walls, adding light fabrics. My fireplace is 8 feet wide by 3 feet deep so would be difficult to paint. My main problem is spiders who love to make webs from rock to rock.

white wash with watered down paint

I put a finish on a floor I have that's similar. It's meant for brick & it's glossy so it reflects light.

We love our 1970s rock fireplace and have found the need to brighten cedar log wood paneled room with additional lighting to include lamps sconces or battery candles. Fabric options like throws pillows and curtains could help too.

I personally would paint the fireplace wall in a sofa yellow tone to bring out the bricks color. Then add a mirror over the fireplace to reflect light, add throw pillows in a print and solid yellows and drape a throw over a chair.

We had this same type of rock...and it was terribly dark. I mixed plain white paint with water to make a thin solution, then brushed it all over the rocks...and the grout between as well. After a minute or two, I lightly wiped it with a soft cloth to remove part of the paint and give it a whitewashed look. It still looks nice and natural, but much, much lighter.