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In the style of house, I'd embrace the current brick. Not the current colour it's painted right now. That pinky salmon colour everywhere is pretty nasty. And, just say no to bright orange paint on the brick like the picture on page two. just say no to having paint colours picked by colourblind 8 year old kids. :P
But the shape and proportions of the current fireplace is quite nice and fits the home well. It can be quite the sexy feature dressed up correctly. The examples of mantals you used.... are well.... at odds with the architecture of the house you chose, and all appear that they will easily date themselves in a bad way in a few short years. If you must add a mantal- something contrasting, VERY simple- streamlined like chet everett's example here would really work well. (reposted that picture.)
Muddled homes with a mishmash of different styles fighting one another just look weird, and sell for less then homes who's architectural style is correctly embraced. but if you like what you like, and resale value isn't a concern to you- do what you want to. It's just my opinion that removing the brick is far more costly then it would be worth.
I like the idea of you putting up a simple and fairly low mantel. In your first pic, what I noticed is the very minimal trim in the LR where the fireplace is. The prefab mantel you found online would look wrong and lost in the room. So, I am glad you are thinking along the lines of simpler.
You can keep your fireplace, trim and other structural things modern, and still furnish in a traditional way. Often you see very modern things in a traditional structure. But it is best to keep your house interior consistent, IMO.
I do notice white trim in an adjacent room. I wonder what the story is in that room. And, like another poster, I found the front door a bit jarring with the rest of the house.
At any rate, I am sure you will cover the present paint, and you could place a drywall veneer over the brick sides of your fireplace, leaving the narrower portion to accent with a nice, simple mantel. Be sure to think hard about how high or low to place your new mantel.
The whole idea of ANY modern-ish design is "simpler is better" -- any of these would work AND they are DEAD NUTS SIMPLE as well as CHEAP to build / install!!!
What do you think about covering the fireplace with stones?
The fireplace that is shown has a very LOW opening and overhanging brick instead of traditional mantle. My gut says trying to "dress it up" with stone or frankly any other anything else it going to make it EVEN more noticeable -- it really would be VERY expensive to rebuild the fireplace to make it have a nice high or curved opening like those shown with the stone facing. If you really want that kind of look it will probably cost more than you could ever expect to get back in this kind of house -- if this place was some fancy ski chalet in Tahoe or Aspen maybe buyers would expect that kind of designer touch, but even in those high priced areas you can't expect to really get a huge premium unless you are really in one of those "nobody else can build on this side of the mountain" situations AND you also have all the other luxury features like high end kitchens / baths / sauna / hot top / private garage / multiple suites / home theater AND EVEN THEN you might find the only serious buyer also wants an "allowance" to change out all the custom antler chandeliers to something that won't scare their vegan second wife...
After pondering many options, I have decided to go with covering the fireplace with venetian plaster. My friend, who is very picky, refers a handyman to me who can cover the fireplace with venetian plaster nicely. The handyman said it will take about 3 to 4 days to finish. Since he charges me $250/day for labor. This is still much cheaper than the $4000 to $5000 other places have quoted me.
After 1st and 2nd day. Next is more sanding, applying venetian plaster. Add a marble slab on the bottom. He already put fireplace cement board just inside the opening. He will paint it black inside. The marble/granite alone is $300. Labor to cut and install it is $250. The marble guy is not my handyman. Total costvof makeover is around $1500.
After 1st and 2nd day. Next is more sanding, applying venetian plaster. Add a marble slab on the bottom. He already put fireplace cement board just inside the opening. He will paint it black inside. The marble/granite alone is $300. Labor to cut and install it is $250. The marble guy is not my handyman. Total costvof makeover is around $1500.
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It's just my opinion that removing the brick is far more costly then it would be worth.
