Hate my fireplace! Suggestions

[magicalmimi]

I hate the horrible plaster firesurround that was in the lounge when we bought our house. I have a bit of a budget to make it more attractive.As you can see the carpet is cut around the marble hearth so don't want to replace carpet. What can I do?! Any suggestions appreciated

I love the marble surround. The beige but is hideous though.

Could you not just take the beige bit off and replaster and repaint the wall?

You could replace the surround pretty cheaply or if that's not an option could you paint it some colour that doesn't clash with the grey marble?
It might be worth checking the depth of the hearth at the deepest point as you could fit a rectangular one at least as deep and refit the carpet round it.

Have a look at Tradepricestone. They do slate hearths, so you could take that out and put a new hearth in I think? That would be a start.

Can the mouldings along the front be picked off?

A simple wooden surround would cost £200 at a quick look. Probably much less on eBay.

I think it would look better just painted black or dark grey - cheapest easiest option

I'd paint the beige surround the same shade of grey as your carpet to make it blend in more. Like the marble though

A black slate hearth would update it.

Buy something plain like this then paint it grey to match the marble
fire surround

Link
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/282076685447?lpid=122&chn=ps&adgroupid=41285909471&rlsatarget=pla-279351761218&adtype=pla&poi=&googleloc=1006964&device=m&campaignid=738225731&crdt=0&ulref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F710-134428-41853-0%252F2%253Fmtid%253D1673%2526kwid%253D1%2526crlp%253D172725695219563391%2526itemid%253D282076685447%2526targetid%253D279351761218%2526device%253Dm%2526mpre%253Dhttp%25253a%25252f%25252fwww.ebay.co.uk%25252fitm%25252flike%25252f282076685447%25253flpid%25253d122%252526chn%25253Dps%2526adtype%253Dpla%2526googleloc%253D1006964%2526poi%253D%2526campaignid%253D738225731%2526adgroupid%253D41285909471%2526rlsatarget%253Dpla-279351761218%2526gclid%253DCOCRj5GJ49ICFU0Q0wodqnIIrg%2526srcrot%253D710-134428-41853-0%2526rvr_id%253D1185609077867

Add black slate hearth if you feel you need it
[[http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Natural-Grey-Black-SLATE-Hearth-T-Shape-cut-Curved-front-edge-/201845040215?hash=item2efee6e457%3Ag%3AzV8AAOSwol5YvrnF&_trkparms=pageci%253A027d065d-0cc8-11e7-acd0-74dbd180921d%257Cparentrq%253Ae7936e0115a0a786744843fdfffb76ae%257Ciid%253A9{]

I love the plaster (although would be nicer painted white) but hate the marble. They just don't match. One has definitely got to change. Google images and you should get loads of ideas.

Paint the beige bits black.

Thank you so much. I will try black and see what it looks like.If not will look at the wooden fire surrounds suggested!! Fired up to make it less hideous now!