Help With My Full Brick Wall Fireplace!

My poor family room. Let me tell you about it. This room has evolved into something that is not me. I brought over furniture from my previous house that felt really "practical" when I bought it. Nine years ago those hunter green and navy colors were IN. And so was all that oak! When we moved to this house 4 years ago, we bought these end tables and trunk at very reasonable prices. They seemed to fit the rest of the room. Unfortunately, it just reinforces what I no longer like. It's become this lodge-type room and I want to change it.

The first time I saw the full brick wall (pictured above), it scared me to death. How do I decorate this? A full wall dedicated to a fireplace! A full wall with unchanging brick! A full length cedar mantel with a full length raised brick hearth! (I figure if I keep saying these words, more people will query my blog and help me!). I decided to decorate "around" it. My walls were all white, which made the brick look more dingy. So we painted the walls a color that complimented the brick. We took down some ugly wall beams that framed the room and also took down a big, center cedar beam down the middle. Other than that, we put off the brick wall problem since no easy conclusions came to mind. I don't dislike the brick. If I was stuck with uglier brick, I think it would have detested me enough to make a drastic change. But the brick is not horrible. It's actually quite fine. I just don't know what to do with a full vaulted wall of it. It's too much for my taste.

This is a very hard wall to change. There are many options at various prices that we could consider. A) Keep it the same. Just change the outdated fireplace doors and mantel. My aunt said I should take down the mirrors and put up a large painting in the middle. B) Do the previous suggestion and get furniture I like, then maybe I'll realize that was what was bugging me about the room all along. C) Paint the brick. But then I have those recesses and I guess I would have to paint those too, but that would seem weird. It's permanent and would never be able to go back to the original brick if future owners preferred it that way. D) Cover with drywall and remove most of the hearth except for the center part. Cover brick around fireplace and remaining hearth with tile. Apply a wooden surround with mantel (I saw this one actually done on this site).

I don't have a desire to do anything soon, but in a year, I might be ready for a change in the room. Even though I don't need to decide soon, I would love to feel more directed and have a goal for the room. I love the Pottery Barn look...simple, clean and cozy. The furniture will go soon anyway. It was good kid friendly furniture, but not my style anymore. The carpet is filthy and needs to be replaced. In a year, we'll be past all the potty training and we'll have less chance of accidents. I told Ted it will be easier to enforce "no food in the family room" if we had a small TV in the kitchen. The kids LOVE to eat breakfast in the family room while watching TV. It would only be used for breakfast time (and maybe for me while I work in the kitchen). I don't endorse TV watching during meal times, but breakfast is different to me. We don't eat it together anyway. The kids eat in shifts while they get ready for school.

Anyway, I would love to hear your opinion. Don't be shy. Oh yah, the white trim around the wall is definitely going to change. I wasn't consulted when that was done. :-)

Update 5/7/08--Here is the "after" post with pictures of my new family room and fireplace wall.

Update 12/18/11--Some people couldn't find my "after pics. You can click on the words ' "after" post' above or follow this link: http://fourintow.blogspot.com/2008/03/big-reveal.html to see them. There seem to be a lot of people with the same problem! Should I paint my brick? Sometimes I wonder. I'd love to know if anyone has done it and then regretted it...because you can't change it back! Some people think it's a sin to paint over brick if it's not ugly. Let me know what you think. E-mail me at missy.naumann@sbcglobal.net.