Fireplace update

[MayBaby1]

What can I do with this fireplace (image attached) to make it look less old fashioned? It’s going to be in my teenager’s bedroom which was the original master bedroom. I don’t need a working fireplace, just ways to make it look nicer and more modern without having to take the whole thing out if possible. If anyone can suggest options, I would be very grateful.

It just needs re tiling, same shape tiles but differnt pattern or colour

I’d paint the tiles black and the inside - add some sort of lighting

Would the tiles be difficult to remove, or can they be added on top of the existing ones? Some of the tiles look curved, not sure how this would work. And do I need to out anything where the empty white part is?

Tiles are always unpredictable in terms of taking them off, if you were lucky and sourced exactly the same shape, you could tile over it, if not you might have to carefully remove them but you may damage the surround

The middle most people put a vase or candles or something. You could tile that bit too but I wouldnt bother. You could paint it. Put a piece of artwork there?

I like the sound of painting them black. I will look into it, I didn’t know you could paint over shiny tiles.

I dont think painting over tiles ever looks any good to be honest. If you're going to remove them anyway or tile over them, you might as well start with that and see how you get on.

Ohhhh, I love it! I'd paint the whole room to match 🥰

I wouldn’t paint them, they are really pretty
I’d just work with it, it is lovely, painting will ruin a really nice feature of the room
I’d have a lovely pink and green decorated room to go with it, it would be beautiful.

We are very tempted to paint the room green but my son will not appreciate the pink! He just wants a more modern look and sadly these tiles are very old fashioned.

This is what I was afraid of with regards to painting them 😭

The fireplace seems to be in an alcove, set back? You could put half height cupboard doors across the front of the alcove to just above the height of the mantelpiece. Shelves behind doors and just leave the fireplace there as it is. Your son gets more storage and you don't lose a lovely feature long term.

We used tile stickers over ours then filled the area with plants to disguise!! Was lovely. At Xmas we put a vase and lights among the plants. Looked festive!

See..

I absolutely love it, this is exactly the sort of feature I would buy a house for. Instead of ruining it, you could simply cut a piece of hardboard to cover the entire tiled area and paint it all black. That way the tiles are not ruined, plus it would be really cheap and easy to do

I agree. It’s a lovely feature. White mantelpiece would really stand out if you did that. Otherwise agree a piece of furniture in front if DS really hates it. It’s things like this people like and value when buying a house so I wouldn’t mess with it too much.

This is the answer, don't ruin it

I wouldn't remove the tiles. Agree with a PP that a piece of hardboard in front painted the colour of your son's choice would work. Then it could be uncovered by a future owner.

I think this is the best solution to be honest. If this was my bedroom I’d leave it as it is but for him I think I will hide it behind something. It’s a beautiful room and I agree it’s a great original feature in the house so it would be a shame to retile or remove it. Who knows…he might change his mind one day. Thank you for the suggestion.

Some of the reason it looks odd is because the flooring goes right into it.

It needs some sort of hearth to balance it out.

I'd add something to the bottom going right into the alcove like slate or darker tiles. And I'd paint the fire surround black. I think the tiles would look fine then.

this is what I would do too!

If you cover the fire pit put vents in at a low level to allow air to circulate up the flue to dry damp which comes through the fabric of the chimney stack

Thank you all for the advice and also giving me your views. You are making me rethink covering it up. I think we will try adding slate or dark tiles at the bottom like @FiveBarGate suggested and see how it looks then. Maybe my son will see it differently too. I appreciate everyone’s help.

It's absolutely beautiful.
If you really don't like it, could you maybe put stickers or something over the tiles to disguise them? Then they could be removed when you move out.