do you have to do stone or brick? What about something like this?

[Traditional Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2107) by Greensboro Interior Designers & Decorators Transforming Rooms

or

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[Traditional Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2107) by Bountiful Home Builders Brighton Homes Utah

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[Traditional Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2107) by Bay Village Interior Designers & Decorators Matteucci Interiors

I appreciate that suggestion. I did consider it. But would like a stone/brick element in the house. I did wonder about the 2 story white trim with a red brick middle inset all the way up. But it seemed like it would conflict with a floating mantel.

Is there a reason you aren't using actual brick? If your builder wants to use veneer, real brick pavers can be sliced to 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick. I am in the camp that would vote no for faux stone or brick. However, I also think the two story, paneled chimney breasts pictured above also look ridiculous and out of place anywhere except a baronial hall.

Adding that flat paneling on a wall above a mantel is a much better option than paneling a chimney chase all the way up two stories.

This post was edited by kswl on Fri, Dec 12, 14 at 7:29

To answer your question, yes.

Because of the massive size of the FP and it being the focal point of the room, I think you'll regret using faux anything.

Will you be using the FP? I was just wondering how well they heat rooms with high ceilings.

I would go with Oly's first photo. Figure out where to get a stone or brick element elsewhere in your home.
The backsplash in the kitchen can be your statement piece, for example.

If you had an inspiration of a fireplace that you love and could copy that, than I would. But you are settling for something just to check a box off your list.

I agree with Annie and Oakley, yes you will regret it.

If you use brick inside, there should also be some reference to it on the exterior. Do you have brick or stone on the exterior? There should be some coordination of colors and finishes.

went to look at the site you posted. I think the stone looks better than the brick. Just my personal opinion.

I think in general terms you want to be very careful about using a material that appears nowhere else in the house for such a large focal point.

Particularly when it is a structural material (at least in its original form), it can look fake if it doesn't appear as part of the "structure" of the house somewhere else.

So in my opinion the only way that brick in such a large quantityy would look really genuine is if the same brick appeared on the exterior of the house as a "structural " element in significant quantities. --And even so a two story chimney in brick or stone would be a very dominant feature.

That would be fine but it would dictate the decor a lot, and would skew casual. I would probably drywall most of it and do a slab surround of some sort around the firebox.

We are currently buidling a brand new home. We are doing faux ledge stone two stories up in our Great Room. We looked at real stone but felt the faux stone actually looked better than the real stuff and is a lot cheaper. There are some really nice faux stone surfaces out there. Just make sure it has some variance of texture and colors

The kind we are getting actually has some phosphorescence. You can mix sizes and shapes when you do faux, too. And some are quite varied and beautiful

Here is a link to the Boral faux ledge stone we will be doing both on the inside fireplace with a mixture of thinner with thicker veneers. We are also installing it on our exterior which will only be the larger ledgestone

If you want to see other 2 story fireplace examples just google by typing in Boral two story fireplace images.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boral Bucks County Ledgestone

This post was edited by zoe52 on Fri, Dec 12, 14 at 11:17

There's different qualities of fake stone, so check with your builder to see if there's other options available for you to look at. Since it's not a particularly large area, you might also consider using a real sliced veneer stone.

I did my pantry with the same fake stone used on the exterior of the house. From a distance it looks great, and in an exterior application it's great. Inside the house where I see it up close everyday it's less wonderful as I can tell it's fake. Probably nobody else notices, but if those sorts of details bother you then you should try to get it right up front. Let me know if you'd like to see a pic of my fake stone pantry and I'll dig one up.

You might also consider tile. Something like a white carrera marble might be a good fit.

I don't think either the stone or brick looks terrible, but I also don't think I'd want any shade of red brick two stories high. I like the look of some of the 'stone' and think you wouldn't go too far wrong with a simple neutral choice.

I'm not sure there's any relevance to the inside-outside argument. I grew up in the South where most homes were traditional white with indoor fireplaces that had no reference to the outside. What's most important is how the facing on the fireplace relates to the interior.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone and Brick choices

Sure but I bet they were mantles not double height full chimneys. Of course the immediate surround of a real fireplace has to be some sort of masonry even if the exterior is clapboard.

And where I grew up some people had hollow fake fireplaces made of wire mesh and plaster with a red light bulb inside, but that doesn't mean I'd recommend on that alone.

Yes, they were regular height; I don't think I ever saw a facade carried 2 stories up. And, no, I don't think I recommend anything based on your example!

JuniperSt, is there a real reason to carry the fireplace facing all the way to the ceiling?

I don't think either the stone or brick looks terrible, but I also don't think I'd want any shade of red brick two stories high. I like the look of some of the 'stone' and think you wouldn't go too far wrong with a simple neutral choice.

I'm not sure there's any relevance to the inside-outside argument. I grew up in the South where most homes were traditional white with indoor fireplaces that had no reference to the outside. What's most important is how the facing on the fireplace relates to the interior.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone and Brick choices

is there a real reason to carry the fireplace facing all the way to the ceiling?

I *think* it's because in modern construction with prefabricated gas or wood burning fireboxes since there is no real masonry chimney necessary, just a metal flue, it ends up Inside the wall plane as often as it does Outside, and when it sticks out into the room, people feel like they should *do* something to it.

Since I lived in row houses for years these had the chimneys built Inside (since "outside" the wall was in the house next door) and these were historically just plastered over with a regular mantle around the firebox. Often with a gigantic mirror overmantle.

As for the inside-outside argument, sometimes it *isn't relevant, true. But it generally makes sense to repeat materials (this is rarely a mistake) but sometimes the random introduction of a completely different material just for ornament-sake *is a mistake.

I love the first photo olychick posted.The mantel and surround become the focus rather than a mountain of brick or stone.

Have you seen it in person? We went to look at some fake stone for our fireplace and it looked awful. It looks fine outside but inside looked dated.

Is there any reason one could not use the fake stone and paint it? It might look better than the fake if the fake is really phony-looking.

Too me it is the grout that leads to a phony look. I would choose from the dry stack styles. There are more colors available than shown on their site. I'd go for Texas Cream or Sandy Buff. Is your builder suggesting that only some colors are available to you?

It is curious the opinions on the fireplace "stone" needing to be on the outside or elsewhere. We have old Chicago brick on our front facade. I suppose to carry it through we have a half wall of it inside, near the open staircase. I have a split field stone fireplace. If I had my druthers I would get rid of the Chicago brick half wall but no one is touching my fireplace. The idea that it is out of place in our home has never entered a thought. I have always sneered at people who paint brick..but if I really think about it I do not think I would ever use brick as an inside finish. There are so many other options, as shown, that are optimum for looks, for cleaning, for future change....I would pass on the brick.

I personally prefer 2 story stone fireplaces rather than brick regardless of exterior... we had a stone fr fireplace in our previous house and a brick exterior and I liked it! (altho I guess we had stone in landscaping walls, etc...)
if I didn't like the faux stone options and the builder didn't offer other materials or options(sometimes they have preferred options but will let you choose elsewhere if you don't like their limited selection) I would probably chose to have it drywalled similar to the 1st pic olychick shows.

Ooooh boy, Beverly's pics really bring it home! That is a lot of material.

I have a real brick fireplace that IS made out of the same brick on the exterior. Now, it's not awful but I don't love it. It's not two stories high but almost 8 ft wide. I can't seem to settle on an alternative, so I understand you quandary.

I would do drywall above, with a nice mantel to focus on the firebox area.

I think, as in everything, it's about context. I think this room is suited to it, the others, not so much. A couple of those rooms don't even appear to have a describable Shape.

But the *furniture* in this room is the wrong scale. That's a different thread.

Looking at all the pictures again I think you will regret a two story anything. Refer to Pal's explanation of the interior chimney chase, above. I would probably have built in shelving added on either side of the fireplace to the height of about 9feet or so, bringing the plane of the wall above it back to the anterior aspect of the existing bump out. Then drywall above fireplace mantel and built ins as though it were a regular wall.

those brick fireplaces just look dated to me

Agree with pal, re the context, in the pic above, I like room with the angles and windows and the 2-story fireplace. Now, that fireplace in the middle of the room is a different story.....

However, I also think that the stone options the OP linked to look very fake.

How about actual plaster over drywall? It could be finished in a softer, organic way so that handwork is visible -- not all sharp corners and rectangles. It could even taper as it reaches the ceiling.

This shows the scale required to deal witha two story anything.
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Yeah. Keep it low.

Wow! Nice to come back to a thread the next day and read 30 responses carefully. For the record NO ONE encouraged me to do the 2 story fireplace in red brick, fake or otherwise. :) And I AM struggling with the fake stone. The real stone thin cut is an option at about $2500-3000 more. I cringe at the thought of adding that to the already over-budget number (due to unexpected piering not foolishness) but I might have to bite the bullet.

I have considered just a herringbone brick pattern under the mantle and then painted sheet rock up the rest. Not sure how the rest of the house would have to "honor" that brick choice. I went and took a picture today. I will attach it as maybe it will help. No available space for built ins on the wall. It actually only sticks out about 5 inches which I was disappointed about. Not sure why I hadn't noticed that on the plan. It's an 82 inch wide mantel and reaches it's peak at 19 ft. I will also post a link to an inspirational pic after this post that I thought I wanted. It is also fake stone but seems to look much better than my choices at Canyon Stone. It's not as high as my ceiling but wider.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Inspiration fireplace that isn't my favorite anymore[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/olentangy-falls--delaware-oh-contemporary-living-room-columbus-phvw-vp~235642)

Would the real stone just *under* the mantel cost that much? If it's affordable, I think I would go with the stone. I love your windows!!

My rule of thumb is to always choose neutrals for things that can't be easily changed. It reminds me of the perfectly good oak cabinet craze that dates so many homes. It's not that all oak cabinets are ugly, it's just that so many of them are orange. Your color palate range that you have to choose from that coordinates easily with orange (or red, in your case) is severely limited.

I think this would look fine with a conventional mantle around the firebox and drywall the rest of the way up.

Here's what you have painted with some space left bare for a more traditional stone surround

I agree, use whatever stone under the mantle, but drywall above the mantle to the ceiling. Our LR isn't two stories, but it does have a vaulted ceiling so the FP brick goes up about 12'. In our home, there is a mantle and then drywall above, and it looks much more balanced and in scale than the homes where people have left the brick open.

I would want palimpsest's mock up.

We have a similar configuration of fireplace and windows but our room is not quite two stories. Our fireplace is masonry and we have the same brick inside and out. The drywall above the fireplace follows the shape of the outside chimney. I don't think two stories of brick is a good idea but I also not crazy about the straight chute from the fireplace look. Here's a junky picture of our fireplace wall.

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The only 2 story fireplaces I like are stone and are super wide. You need the width to keep the height proportional or it will look like a skinny strip of stone.
I don't know what style house you have but if it was my style I'd do that whole fireplace wall in that horizontal plank wainscoting. I've included a link with an example.
We upgraded from brick to stone and it was about 400-500 more. I've attached a picture of ours. We didn't do a solid piece of stone for the hearth to save money.

Here is a link that might be useful: Horizontal plank wall

Dee I think the slanted sides on yours effectively reduce the mass because your bumpout is so deep. In Juniper's case the projection is only a matter of inches and it might draw more attention to itself than necessary by changing shape or width partway up.

Palimpsest and others I can't thank you enough for your input. And the mock up! I love Dee's slanted sides and wish I had the depth to pull that off.

I admit I wasn't willing to give up the 2 story stone or brick until I saw the mock up. So do you all agree my fireplace is too narrow for stone all the way up? Or could a neutral color look all right? Now that I look at it in the mock up I'm wondering about the "skinny leg" theory.

OP, this is what you originally said:
"All the colors my Builder's vendor makes look like spray painted cement. Except for their "brick". So I'm considering it. "

That sounds like a compromise. I would NOT do it if you only like it by default.

I love deee's fireplace and pal's mockup. The thing is, with your soaring ceiling, just the shallow chimney going up the wall calls enough attention to itself. It's awesome and doesn't need to be highlighted in any other way. It speaks for itself. Making it contrast with the wall makes it too obvious.

linelle... what do you suggest? Doing nothing? Just paint the sheet rock the same color as the wall and no over-lay of anything? With a floating mantle?

I believe if I go with stone I will pay for the real. Erg... about 90% sure.

I don't think it would be too skinny, but it'll look MASSIVE.

Some more pics (most are wider, though)

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More money and changes, but I'd probably think about adding additional triangular windows.

However, less contrast between fireplace surround and wall paint.

Juniper, yes. Like deee's actual fireplace and pal's mockup.