not sure what's wrong with leaving it the way it is, but you could paint all or part of it. You could also stain the concrete a color that suits your tastes more.

Why remove the grasscloth? it's awesome.

What a great space! Love the shape of the fireplace. I would leave the river rock & concrete as is, and possibly just replace the tile with something neutral grey & modern. Or leave it as is and fill the side area with beautiful white birch logs. Style the mantle with a pair of modern lamps, and some carefully chosen objects.

Love the idea of dark floors, but honestly love the wallpaper too! If it's real grass cloth and in good condition, I would update the sconces with something sleek and leave the wallpaper as is.

I gotta agree with the other posters, this room is awesome. I love the fireplace and wallpaper as is. I can see changing up the floors, but the room has some great style going on already. If it was me I'd replace the white carpeting with a light colored floor and leave the rest.

Agreed!! Leave the grass cloth! It does a beautiful job of adding texture and highlights the architecture quite well. Personally, if those light floors aren't carpet, I'd leave them as well. I think that fireplace only needs a good de-cluttering, some firewood stacked to repeat the tone and texture of the walls, and some more stately accessories. Might I recommend ditching the cornices and adding some more casual curtain panels raised to just below the crown and updating the sconces?

That's a tough one … you could cover the whole face with wood and stain it (I'm thinking plywood even, with stain that brings out the grain) though that would be a hazard if the fireplace is functional I guess.

I also love the grass cloth, but I'm with you on the fireplace. I like the idea somebody mentioned about staining the concrete. I think it would look nice if you got a few pieces of thin wood , stained them, and then mounted them over the tile on the front for a more seamless look.

Wow - I disagree with the other posters. That room needs a change. The grass cloth on the walls is okay, but if you feel it clashes with what you want to do, and you're clearing the room out to redo the floors, just take it down. Clear it out in one fell swoop.
In my mind, that fireplace has a vaguely "Santa Fe" vibe to me - I'd stain the concrete and river rock a terra cotta color, leave the tile, and paint the angular section of wall something slightly different than the other walls. As for the built-ins, I'd paint them the same as the walls or the angle contrast color to make them pop out - they seem kind of "ruddy" as is.

A good piece of bold modern art over the fireplace will draw the eye upward, especially if you move most of the stuff on the mantle. Your fireplace is much nicer than mine - I'd trade in a heartbeat. I'm also in the grass cloth lover's camp, but agree with you that a dark floor, with the grass cloth, might make the room feel smaller.

Is it functional?

Depends on how handy you are and your taste, but I'd do it in slate. There's a wide variety of slate, it's cheap and easy to cut with an inexpensive water saw from Home Depot. Stick it down with the appropriate mastic and grout it. I love "Oyster slate" which is silvery and rough. If you're going to seal the slate, paint a test piece with the sealer first and then match the grout the the sealed slate which will be darker.

I LOVE the walls as they are!

I might leave the fireplace as-is until you get more money and know what you want to do with it - only thing I might suggest is to paint the area above a shade darker than the wallpaper so it doesn't stand out as much...
...tho if you're industrious and it appeals to you, you could do that area as well as the concrete columns and tilework over in a Venetian Plaster effect.

I would straighten out the sloped wall above the fireplace and bring the wall to the right out to match it and then cover the whole surrounding area in a nice stone. like http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-white-brick-stone-wall-texture-image13054532

I'd leave all the tile alone (for now at least) and maybe paint the white area a lighter gray. I think it's pretty cool as is, the white just doesn't do anything for it.

i'd keep the grass cloth, keep the riverstones, keep the concrete, keep the travertin, keep the wooden things that hang over the curtains, as it seems to be also the walnut you want to put on your floor. all go's very well! only thing i would do in the fireplace is to cover the tiles with either a natural material (for example buying a roll with self adhasive cork) or use the tilework as a gimmick bij accentuating the grid/grout between the tiles with a dark color. you can either use acrylic paint for that, and if you want it to be water resistant, use pigment powder and then some oil, apply the powder with your fingers, wearing gloves, and later on apply the oil with a brush. ofcourse painting the tiles is also an option, in that case, i would either bring back the colors of the riverstones, or an accentcolor you want to use in that room. there is a lot going on with that fireplace, i'd keep it as calm as possible. another option is to tile with (mosaic) tiles on a mat over the existing tiles, there are mosaicmats with riverstones. (sorry if i used the wrong words for things) because the floor will be darker with the walnut, i'd use as much white/creme with all other items in the room, to keep it light and fresh. good luck!

Is the fireplsace engergy efficient? Does it heat the room? gas? electric? or wood burning? Thats the ony improvement I would make. So love the room and your furniture compliments it nicely. I look at accerceries first. The flooring concept is nice. I love walnut flooring but, you know then you would look for an area rug.

So here's a thought. From the angle I see lighting is the issue. How's mirrors (picture sized) on the left side of fireplace? It looks as if the chiney is coming down over it and perhaps you can't nail directly over the fireplace. Maybe you want different scones and additional lights whether spots in the ceiling or table lights. Work from that angle and adjust to the house then go for it. I like the room...

Keep the grasscloth!!! As long as it is in good shape it is amazing and expensive looking!!! i love.

Love the room. Great suggestions here. My votes:
1) keep the grasscloth
2) change the sconces
3) lose the cornices and raise the curtains
4) not a dark floor, try something that goes with the tone of the grasscloth
5) art above the fireplace

Also, I suggest you change the tile first. Once you make that small change, you'll be better able to see what other changes you'll want to make.
You might experiment with colors and finishes by putting up lengths of paper that imitate the look you want to try. Once you stain that concrete, you'll be living with that for a long while.

1) remove the clutter and photos.
2) paint the wall grey to match the stone.
3) add one large piece of bold artwork (as large a painting as you can find to fit the right hand wall niche)
4) on the slanted wall you can hang a sculptural 3-D smaller art work that compliments the painting

voila you're done.

paint everything on the back wall white-
get rid of the grass cloth on the small back section and paint it white as well-
fill the one section of the fireplace with logs-
hang some large artwork-and don't add a bunch of clutter to the shelving-
looks like a lovely room...

I see mostly people saying that the asker should leave everything basically alone. However, asking about how to change the fireplace and mentioning doing other things seems to indicate that said asker doesn't like them the way they are. Why try to convince him/her otherwise? He/she is the one who has to live with it, after all.

The walnut floor sounds good. Otherwise, leave as is, it looks OK.

Thank you everyone! And first let me say that the furniture shown is actually how the house was staged for sale and not ours. Secondly we love grasscloth wallpaper and if it weren't from 1965, mustard yellow and badly stained in places we would probably keep it! It would certainly be cheaper than trying to take it off!
The cornices are walnut (as many people mentioned) and we are on the fence about those, but plan to retain all of the other walnut trim to keep the 60's vibe. Please keep the comments coming!

Woah! I thought almost exactly what FenShuiByFishGirl wrote! Ditch the clutter, find some large art and paint the fireplace wall light grey or even the most subtle silver you can find. I really LOVE your chair and sofa by the way! I love your fireplace and think when you get rid of the distractors--clutter, tiny sconces, grasscloth, office-y window treatments--it will be the centerpiece of the room. If it were mine, I would also find a way to cast lighting onto the fireplace.

I don't see anything wrong with the fireplace. I think it has some interesting elements. I would, however, remove the grasscloth, valances, and sconces fixtures, and paint the walls (including the area above the fireplace) all one color. This will really open up the room and make it look larger.

The room is totally fantastic and I adore your fireplace! Too bad the grasscloth is in such bad shape...

I'd style the fireplace by hanging a large round mirror above the firebox to balance the straight lines and some sort of huge branch on the left to bring in an organic feel. Stack some wood in the wood niche, add a collection of white pottery on the shelves, and you've got a killer and textural focal point in the room.

Well I may be the only one but I think the fireplace is just ugly with all the mismatched and old materials and I don't blame you for wanting to change it. I guess as a temporary measure you could paint the tile a neutral color and cover the travertine with some nice wood. I would just leave the concrete and river rock alone until you totally renovate the fireplace. I'm not sure artwork would look good on the slope because it would look weird. Maybe paint the slope a darker color than what you paint the walls to make more of an impact.

When you renovate though, I would take out the tile and replace it with a nice marble, slate, or limestone and try to make it look seamless. Replace the travertine with a thick wood mantel. Leave the concrete columns but stain them to coordinate with the marble so they don't look so unfinished. Totally remove the river rock and just have the concrete and marble go down to the floor. It's a waste of space to have that sticking out. Take out the side shelving because it's just too dark to properly display anything and seems rather useless. I love the slope of the fireplace and wouldn't change that though. Maybe even put in a recessed light above the fireplace to highlight it.

There is too much going on with the fireplace. Concrete can be stained and the tile could be painted. Find a color in the base that you can live with and stain the concrete/paint the tile with that color. This is a quick and dirty and not permanent solution until you do something else with it.

I also think part of the problem is that the white above it sticks out against the gold grasscloth. If the area around the fireplace was closer to the wall color (or the same as), I think it would not be so jarring.

"And first let me say that the furniture shown is actually how the house was staged for sale and not ours."

I KNEW IT ALL ALONG.

Well, it is almost always the case in "we just bought this place and what should we do with X?"-type questions.

(I also "knew all along" that things were in bad condition, which is something ppl on AT seem to pretend they know otherwise from a mere photo....)

Yes, change everything you want! But I personally would hold off on doing anything with the fireplace until you can change it for real; I don't like investing much in placeholders. No more useful than the other advice, I guess. XD

Based on your question and not knowing your style, intent for room usage, here's what I'd suggest:

1) take out the built-in on the side of the fireplace. they take away from what is potentially a very balanced and beautiful room.

2) if you can't take out/off the tile, than paint it along with the concrete around the mantle a white wash or better yet white plaster treatment to all of it. Do the same to the chimmy to streamline it - think simple clean updated modern greek - there's a similar renovation with two takes on outdated fireplaces in the October 2007 Domino magazine. If you can get your hands on it, it's worth a look. If the travertine is in good shape - maybe consider leaving it alone - otherwise give it the same treatment. If it is a travertine hearth, not river rock - it could look great. The base area looks black now, I'd paint / plaster it the same white. And if you can get someone who can work with Morrocan plaster - it could be spectacular

2) agreed on losing the grass wallpaper - cool, but it doesn't add anything to this space. paint it a white or light blue grey or taupe could be really nice.

3) floors - hummm, without seeing the room in full or the windows /view it's hard to say. there are a lot of options depending heaviliy on your taste. wood floors sound great, but maybe look at a lighter color - maybe a greyish walnut? there's a treatment I recently read about called iron washing (I think). It greys/blackens the wood without stain or chemicals. effect and darkness depend on the wood and grain.

4) re: the scones and if there is a light fixture overhead - that's an easy pull it together finishing touch - maybe something silver or brass with simple lines but fair amount of twinkle (mirrored backing or crystal tear drops.

5) yes to updating the drapes! (depending on your taste and local climate) and for this room I'd lose the cornices too. another less expensive finishing touch.

6) also the window frames - depending on what direction you take this room- they might need a quick paint job either the color of the walls to give an outdoor/indoor open effect or dark to give a crisp finished look.

7) and lastly, I'd rest a long simply framed mirror on the other side of the fireplace mantel to balance out the mantel / window and give the room more light and twinkle. there are nice options at R&B, C&B or ikea.

it's way too late, but I couldn't help myself - such a nice room. thanks for letting us give you our opinions.

There are no close-up shots of the fireplace to be able to see clearly, but I would just remove the tiles. Re-tile and tile the exposed concrete (leave the interior of the wood box as-is).

I'd recommend the Heath dimmensionals, either oval or crease/increase-out in a white.

As for your floor, it sounds as if you are going with some sort of a wood stained a dark walnut -- don't. If you are going with a real walnut plank floor, it will be beautiful; if not, stick with a lighter floor. I say this as someone with a wenge-stained oak floor.

The most beautiful looking floors these days are white-soaped oak finished with an oil. Would be beautiful here.

http://www.dinesen.com/eng/Dinesen-privat.php

And don't get rid of the grasscloth unless there are noticeable color differences from the pictures hanging on the walls; in 6 months, you will regret it, because there is a resurgence of grasscloth right now. It is quite lovely! (I'm even contemplating some for our bedroom).

mschatelaine - It's so funny that you bring up the Heath Dimentionals! That is exactly what we would like to eventually do (when $$ permits!). I am really inspired by this image: http://bit.ly/m72q2f
And I LOVE the floors you recommended. I hadn't thought of doing something so light but it could look great with the walnut trim! Thanks for the tip!

Clarification: don't re-tile the edge under the travertine ledge; if possible, have it faced with identical travertine, to further reinforce its role as mantle.

Thank you everyone for your quick-fix ideas! Much appreciated!! Keep 'em coming!

Hi Amy !!

I would sheetrock the whole fireplace. Paint the exposed brick a complimentary colour. I built in some shelves for the picture I have added below; however a piece of art or something hanging would be nice to balance the drapes on the other side. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-N34QUEOiOjM/TfPXKI6pe9I/AAAAAAAAA50/ilvbsN3D1gk/061011-goodquestions2.jpg

Grass cloth is pretty popular right now; if you can live with it I would leave the grass cloth and spend the money on new drapes, cornices, new lighting fixtures and your floors. I agree with mschatelaine that lighter floors are much better, dark floors are pretty but they show every speck of dirt and dust.

I really like the general design of the fireplace! My quick fix would be to match the bluish cement color and paint the sloping wall above it in that color. Paint the flat wall to the right whatever color you choose when you take down the wallpaper. Fill the empty space with some nicely cut birch logs. Put one piece of art on the wall to the right and reduce clutter on the mantel.

You can paint the grass cloth. And painting the wall above the fireplace could make it blend in.

I'd suggest removing the tiles, then see if that will allow you to detach the mantle without destroying it (it'd be a shame to break a nice big piece of travertine).

Cover the space where the mantle and tiles used to be with pieces of walnut cut to size. Leave the base as is, and paint the concrete whatever colour will match the wall.