Ideas for this fireplace

[Paddingtonthebear]

Just moved and before we repaint we we feel this fireplace (working) looks odd with no surround, mantel etc. Due to the raised brick ledge at the entrance I am thinking a traditional fireplace insert won’t work as it won’t be able to slide in due to the ledge. The hearth is also slightly wonky and the tiles are wider to the left than to the right. Wondering if just a surround fixed to the wall would look ok?

Do you want a working fire or stove in there, or just to make it look better?

It works already, just want it to look better

At the moment, it's just a hole in the wall, so if it were mine, I would get a small stove in there.
I would get a new hearth and a surround with a mantlepiece.
I think I'd get rid of the raised bricks too, they add nothing to the look and impair the function.

I'll admit that I'd get rid of the black tiles on the hearth as the hole is not central... a three tile width on the left and only two on the right. It looks uneven.
Maybe a rustic flagstone or slate.

When we opened up our fireplace to install a multi fuel stove we cleaned up the bricks at the back as much as we could (many years of being used as an open fireplace, before a back boiler was put in and then a gas heater) using a vinegar solution I found out about online. The sides are a bit rougher, mainly on one side due to the aforementioned back boiler as the pipes went through the bricks, so I painted it a matt black. We do have a surround, it was one my dad made us many years ago.
I would see if you can clean up the bricks and if not paint them, and I would put in a mantle shelf or surround, just to finish it off.

Those tiles look original, I wouldn't want to touch them if they were. I wonder if they're actually even but whoever laid the floor laid it uneven? You could get a slate insert cut to size to make the floor bricks look nicer. These can come 'boxed' so they totally cover the bricks but maybe the bricks should come out so the whole thing doesn't get lifted too high. I'd definitely want to put a surround it that compliments the age of the house.

I suppose it depends on the era of your house?

The tiles on the hearth not being symmetrical wouldn't bother me, I'd just see it as a quirk (and sorting it out would be a pretty big job!) and work around it.

If the 'legs' of your surround were quite narrow they'd fit either side of the opening and end on the tiles. I don't think you'd need to remove the brick ledge on the inside?

I’d get fun tiles and then a small electric or gas stove

Big log on top as a mantle

You can sit a surround on top of the green tiles. Cut the wooden trim out of the way with a multi tool. I would go with a nice Edwardian one as I assume that is when the house was built? You could then add a wood burner or use it as it is. We have the internal bit of our fire boarded out with some fireproof plasterboard typed stuff and then painted it.

Reblacken the metalwork.
Fill it with logs
Paint the outer walls white
Lay a slate hearth

If you don't use it regularly, I'd put a couple of pillar cables in there to light at night or fairy lights and a mini disco ball (like the Welsh weatherman Owain, has).

Either the bricks inside the fireplace have been added at a later date or the hearth isn't original. So old either take up the bricks or replace the whole hearth with a raised hearth-this sort of thing.