Renovating fireplaces - but what colour walls?

[SpotOnMyBot]

We are renovating our house at the moment (which we bought last year as a project). It has 2 fireplaces in - one is cast iron with black surround tiles and yellow/green flowers. We are going to de rust the cast iron and paint it gloss black to match the tiles.

What I can't decide is what colour the wall should be. White just doesn't go well with this fireplace. I'm not a big fan of yellow for this room as I don't think it goes with the black but would welcome your thoughts!

This black fireplace is in the front room of a through lounge/dining room (Victorian terrace). The back fireplace has a wood surround (which I will paint white) with white tiles with flowers on them.

The room will be separated by a double door but can be opened to be one. Floor is going back to original floorboards. I am thinking just painting the wall the fireplaces are on as the alcoves will have bookcases in but not 100% sure - would welcome your thoughts!

www.farrow-ball.com/paint-colours/hay?gclid=CjwKCAjwu5yYBhAjEiwAKXk_eONPVan8ESFzT-YTLV3QPMdbAIC5u-fyFS3McV9Q-DreF0WqwL7LWxoCmq8QAvD_BwE

this colour is good, warm but gives a fairly neutral look at the same time.

Thanks I will get a sample. In some of those pictures it looks quite yellow but in others quite creamy so I'll see what it looks like on the wall.

Do you think a grey green would be too much?

I'd suggest you ignore the fireplace tiles for now, and think about the room as a whole - what will the function of both rooms be? What furniture do you need as a result? How do you want it to feel? Do you have any inspiration pics you can share?

one is a lounge and one is a dining room. The fireplaces are large so they somewhat dominate the room hence trying to make sure the colours work with them. There is a yellow in the room the big fireplace is (with the yellow/green flowers) which just doesn't work with that fireplace so I'm keen to try something different.

the back room (the dining room) is darker so i'm tempted to leave that one white or maybe an off white

I’d keep the wooden fireplace and not paint it! It looks gorgeous. I’d go for a lovely rich blue - Hague or stone blue (F&B) then add some mustard and pink touches to your decor.

I would paint the living room a warm neutral and then go for a deep green in the dining room. The two colours will complement each other when the two rooms are opened up.

How about Dulux Nordic Spa for the black fireplace? It’s a greeny, yellowy grey that might pick up the two colours in the fireplace.

Don't paint the fireplace. Paint is too thick; it'll obscure the lovely details in the cast iron.

You want grate polish - we used this stuff after using Peelaway to strip the bright pink paint off - www.littlefieldsfarm.com/home-garden/zip-traditional-grate-polish-black-75g

Aww that is lovely! That pink

I will look for that polish. I can't wait to see how it looks all smartened up

Thanks and to everyone for paint suggestions as I will have a look at samples this weekend