What colour would you paint this dated fireplace?

[missrachael]

Navy blue velvet sofa, beigey walls, gold/brass accessories and a mixture of navy blue and ochre cushions

Lovely bookcase.
Unless you're absolutely sure of the finished look, furnishing decorating should be the last bit.
Once everything is in, have the bookcase where you want it, as it is and then decide on the colour, which should be obvious once in situ.

I don’t understand buying a period property and then destroying all of the elements that give it character.

? We’re not doing that at all?

@No5ChalksRoad I don't recall @missrachael saying they were planning to do that! I think it sounds as though they are very sympathetic to the historical details of the house, however - particularly if one is new to period properties - it sometimes isn't apparent exactly what is original and what isn't.

With regards to destroying all the elements that give a house character, you need look no further than the idiots who 'renovated' our Georgian cottage between 1965-1970. They removed every original feature (fireplaces, doors, skirting, architrave, plaster, windows, floorboards), leaving just the facade complete with hideous metal garage door in place of a lovely window...oh, and one room's worth of 11" wide floorboards smothered in polyfilla 😳

Go outside (or look on Streetview satellite view) to count the number of chimney pots you have/should have had.

90% sure you’ll have a chimney behind what is probably a sheet of plasterboard.
We found an early victorian cast iron fireplace and stone lintel behind a floor to ceiling sheet in our first flat.

Tap the walls above the tiled “fireplaces” (but it certainly looks as if there might have been a fireplace there). I bet it will sound hollow?

I’m excited for you (though not my refurb era). I think you mentioned that the previous owners had been there for decades, so you could be encountering ‘70’s “just cover it up with a sheet of board”.

FWIW we found hidden windows and doors as well as fireplaces.

There is a huge stacked chimney and 4 pots? Or whatever you call them
It looks like the tiles were removed and boarded over in the second reception room ☹️ maybe we could retile it ourselves ?!

I’ve seen these tiles, thinking they might go nicely on the hearth of the fireplace ?!

I wouldn't paint the tiles, would remove electric fire open up the fireplace, chimney and put a wood burner in.
Keep the fire place tile surround, reassess once you've put log burner in and decorated,.
If you do remove it you may be able to sell it to a reclaimation yard or via ebay or something?
Not sure if paint on tiles would work tbh

I can't tell if it's original. It doesn't look like it's got a chimney breast?

If it isn't and hasn't it should be easy to take out.

Otherwise I'd get a really nice plant to put in front of it

1930’s often have external chimney breasts, 2 of mine are, so the fireplaces are
on flat walls. The fireplace in the kitchen has a breast and some of the upstairs fireplaces would have joined that.

Love the stained glass bits.

Dont Paint the tiles, they are actually ok but replace the gas fire for something more modern.

Yes the chimney breast is on the outer wall, it’s quite a strange shape, I will upload a photo next time I’m there of the outside wall

I'm really struggling to understand what colour the fireplace is, but a wallpaper like this might be worth investigating (hopefully a bit cheaper, but I'm not up to date with wallpaper prices):
https://lucieannabel.com/products/versailles-wallpaper-in-shades-of-rose-and-gold

You probably need to get a few paint colour charts to figure out the exact shades
In trying to date your fireplace, I also stumbled on some American designs that added a wooden mantel around similar(ish) designs.

Not sure about those tiles, the colours are a bit jarring compared to how you’ve described what you are after. I’d love to see pictures of the terrazzo though!

I wouldn’t paint it, it will look nicer without the fire and if you are going to be ripping it out at some point, I don’t think it will be worth the effort. I would sand the floor - I’m sure it will look amazing.

It’s very dull! Still smooth but hasn’t been cleaned in a very long time

Hi all I’m back with a picture update

Interesting shape and design ❤️

That's fabulous-and I love an OP who updates!!!!

Oh I love that!! I hope you’re no longer planning to paint it?

😍

Wouldn't paint it. Keep it as a 30's-50's statement.

This. It’s beautiful 😍

No we won’t be painting it, it’s a weird green, almost a muddy olive colour ? But it’s grown on me now that hideous gas fire is gone 😆 I just don’t know what to do with the middle of it for now, maybe some logs ?!

Looks fab OP - thanks for the update! Is there a draught coming from it? If so you might want to get a chimney balloon up there to stop that. It's basically an inflatable draught excluder that you stick up there and then inflate to fill the space above.

In terms of decor some logs might look good in there and you could arrange some battery powered fairy lights around them for a bit of sparkle. Or what about a big peace lily in a big cream pot sitting on the hearth in front of the gap? Or some hurricane planters with big pillar candles?