samr63, Honestly, I think this space is quite beautiful and perhaps you're thinking too much about the elephant in the room so to speak!! If there is one thing I have learned on Houzz, is that there does not have to be a specific style in one room and what I mean is, you have a modern bed but it doesn't take away from the antique fireplace nor vice versa. Definitely as I mentioned earlier, the tall boy doesn't gel at all, nor do the bedsides, but purely because of colour, so I would out them and match the bed with your bedside tables and just stop, the room is very elegant and I really can't see anything seriously wrong with it!!! Perhaps a lovely painting on the bed head wall would soften the room as it's a shame not to use at least one of the picture rails in this room!!! Good luck with your decision. Cheers, Barbara

In addition to my post above...having lived with a fire set in a wall for many years with a vent to let the hot air into the room...I'd do neither of the above....except maybe old cabinets of well seasoned timber and not new built ins up against the wall enclosing the chimney. The heat from that fire and from the vent would affect the cabinets, dry them out, make them crack...especially since timbers today are not well seasoned as when the fire place was built....That enclosed chimney/flue would radiate heat as well...There's a reason why the walls each side as well as the timber shelves are a dark colour and there's nothing built into the spaces on either side. Installing the cabinets and painting them a pretty light colour might look good for a while but not if you intend on making good use of that lovely fire place. I've lived in my current 1900s house for 32 years and have come to know the why's and wherefore's about timbers and heat in old homes. One longs for a lighter environment sometimes but this needs to come from other sources rather than anything against the fire place. Its a bit of a blocker to renovations at times but again, with Wuff, "Embrace what you have"...read up about homes of the same period, surf the net...you'll find some beautiful solutions. Here's one....you could clad the walls either side of the fireplace with a fireproof stone cladding...enlarge on that...may not be your 'cup of tea' but for what its worth in making your place "yours".

Hi, using black paint can add a real sense of the dramatic to a room. Used correctly on a fireplace it definitely would create a focal point, especially if used in contrast with white. This would also link well to the kitchen scheme you are looking to use, creating a good flow between the spaces. Black and white can be quite flat to the eye, adding texture and pattern in textiles and accessories can help balance this. Hope the pictures help.

Here is a photo of our distinctly unstyled fireplace. I move the plant and flowers off the mantel when we light the fire. It’s a different style to yours but all painted white. When I redo it, now the kids have stopped drawing on it, I’ll take the mantel back to wood. It did lighten the mood of the room but in the same white paint it lacks something. It you can afford it, do it. I’d recommend a closed wood box of you can get one to fit. Ours came with the house. It’s about 15 years old. No troubles at all (except the weekend a magpie fell down and gave child heart attack when it tap tap tapped to ask to get out) We have the chimney swept once a year. . It is amazing in winter. Or on a cold Mother’s Day.