apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

remove it and and get a carpenter to make a new stud wall and patch it.

I have a brick wall like that in my apartment where a stove used to be and the people before me drywalled it in. I took down the drywall and put a credenza in front of it and have a tv on top of the credenza.

Just saw an episode of Colorsplash on HGTV where they had an outdated fireplace and put a cool/modern mantle type thing in front of it. hard to explain so check out this link. It came out pretty cool!

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_design_living_area/article/0,1793,HGTV_3376_5482773_05,00.html

any way to seal/prime the rock and then just paint it to your taste? a lighter shade than your wall, i reckon. that way, if you want to go back to the original look you can just remove the paint, right?

or, if you like exotic textiles, get a beautiful runner rug or kilim and suspend it from a curtain rod (heavy duty) as a hanging.

to really modernize, build out a sub-wall in front of the rock, get sheets of stainless steel and screw in to the studs. Otherwise, instead of sheet metal, use drywall and paint an accent color. Another option, if you won't be using the fireplace, take a fun and modern upholstery fabric and drape in front of the stone portion of the wall all the way to the floor. This could act as a nice place for a tv.

if it's too expensive to remove, try plastering over the stone. The stones become smooth rounded shapes underneath the layers of plaster. My father did this with the exact same stone fireplace as yours, painted it a cream color, and it now looks adobe-like and beautiful.

I have always found that a fireplace, or the illusion of one, gives an important focal point to a room. In my apartment, I put loads of pillar candles in my non-working fireplace. It's incredibly romantic.

Question, are you leaving the walls log? Or drywalling over the logs? Can the mantle come down without too much trouble? I like the idea of Stephvixen pointed out. Would be a good TV or art ledge.

Where is this cabin? Looks cool.

Thanks everyone for your input so Far...much appreciated. I really need help on this one.

Janelle13 - we are leaving the walls in the living room log (rest of the house is drywall) and the mantle can come down real easy. Art may be a good idea as there is not much room in front of it for a couch to watch TV. Our couch sits to the right of the rock wall. This cabin is located in michigan.

I wouldnt remove it as the log wall behind it will never be the same color as the wood to either side. Even removing the mantel will expose rock that's differently colored.

I'd plaster over it and use it as a focal wall for artwork, etc...
...or leave it as is and install an updated modern gas stove.

Some of the stones jumped out at me, when I looked at the picture...

Why not get a bit whimsical, and brighten up those dreary winters? :D

I instantly knew it was Michigan. This is so Michigan cliche, right down to the radius-corner almond tile. I can see why you want to change it. I like the plaster and stainless ideas.

Are you sure you want to ditch the pellet stove? From a purely practical standpoint, they're cheap and cozy. If this place is in the sticks it's probably on propane—that's around $3 a gallon these days. Is this a vacation home?

The rock wall is fine. Its the rock wall plus log wall that makes it a little too much. Paint the one fireplace log wall matte charcoal gray or gloss white. This will allow the rock fireplace to become a graphic focal point.

Also, I would lose the mantle all together.

I think removing the mantle or updating it could be a good idea.

Even though you want to modernize the wall this is still a cabin in the woods. A rock wall is a nice focal point among all the logs and wood. I would personally redo the joints. The gray mortar kind of makes each individual stone POP right out. I think a tan grout would be kind of nice and would help to blend the stones and the surrounding wood together. It would be a bit of a tedious job but it's just elbow grease.

If you move the stove for whatever reason, you may want to consider putting a nice fireplace mantle in it's place and a piece of art or sculpture above it if you remove the mantle above. Of course, that art or sculpture can be as modern as you like.

Yeah we want to get rid of the pellet stove.....it is kind of cool but it turns out to be really dusty. We don't have propane and use the economical geo-thermal heat pump.

Thanks to you all.....these are all ideas I would have never thought of.

Call me crazy, but what about a water feature? Not something tacky, obviously, but you can do something pretty cool. I've seen copper, wall-mounted water features that are amazing. Or you can do something with another stone, like slate. It would, I think, be in keeping with the cabin feel.

Just a thought!