We need that picture, Hammonds. Running through possible advice in my head: 1. Paint 2. Don't paint 3. Big art (used, see above) 4. Thicker mantle 5. Thinner mantle 6. Add mantle 7. Remove mantle 8. Paint grate black 9. Cover with drywall 10. Cover with stone 11. Take a hammer to the thing 12. Cherish as is 13. Mirror 14. Remove mirror 14. Sunburst mirror 15. And so on I think your shelves or pressed metal constitute original thinking. Congratulations!

Thanks Handyman. I simply used acrylic paint and ordinary paint stripper. I used a wire brush to strip as well as sand paper as the bricks have a rough finish and it was impossible to get the sand paper across the bricks without it breaking up. I've added a updated photo of the whole project now finished. The hearth was horrible old slate. It looked awful. I painted it with a tough gloss black marine paint and framed it with a piece of stained wood. It really is the hero of the room. We love it.

@ borvapeople..How about natural light stone cladding over the fireplace and plaster the walls? I covered my brick fireplace in randomly arranged pieces of Ribbinstone. The walls on either side were and still are hoop pine VJ boards. The fireplace was red brick with a dark shellacked timber surround and was what one would term adequate and functional but very dark and was the first thing you saw coming into the room. That was many, nany years ago and everyone then and everyone now has positive remarks. My fireplace was sort of 'stuck' in an otherwise timber wall and contained with the timber surround...it looked "patchy", felt claustrophobic so we extended the Ribbon Stone on heavy fireproof sheeting right up to the 10ft ceiling. The stone pieces were fixed individually and at random with fireproof masonry glue. See what you think. This PIC was taken before I decided to have a log combustion heater inserted in the fireplace (flue goes up the brick chimney) so that I could have the fire going all night....gets very cold here in wimter and this room is adjacent to the main bedroom. Cosy and attractive, gave an entire new ambience to both rooms as I inserted a large fretwork panel in the timber wall between the rooms to allow the heat to flow freely into the bedroom.

Hope this gives other people ideas on what can be done to your house without a lot of cost if you also don't have a lot of money to spend on updating your place.