I was hoping this forum could help me with my living room fireplace. I am not a fan of it for many reasons. First the cement mantles are dirty looking and the stone exterior to me does nothing. The brass doors I know would be an easy fix with a can of spray paint. Oh and it is not centered on the wall--but nothing I can do about that.

I guess the most important thing I want to do is change the exterior. I have thought of painting the brick white-- which would help add some white to this living room which is now a lot more open to my dining area and kitchen (which I just finished remodeling with white cabinets and a white built-in l-shaped banquette). My GC suggested buying tile and simply going over the whole thing---possibly with soapstone tiles to match my kitchen countertops.

Well, without further ado here is the fireplace. This photo is very old-- ie before we moved in. The carpet is now gone and hardwood floors have been refinished with a natural finish. Also the furniture in the photo is NOT ours-- but our current furniture is not staying- since it is too big for space (we had it before we bought the house).

Any suggestions? I would love to decrease the overall size of the fireplace but not sure if that is is possible. I do not want to spend a ton of money on this project.