Carleenimlach your fireplace is stunning. It is infact original in bungalow detailing, and the bricks are not painted. I know this treatment very well. They had a brick stain applied, which is a red oxide painted to give the appearance of an even red brick face, this was done when tuck pointing is applied to the mortar course. I can see yours was. It looks as though it was charcoal, also another Edwardian bungalow detail, and the lines accentuate the archway. The mantel itself is absolutely beautiful. I myself would restore the brickwork, and let this period detail return to being the heart of the home. The hearth bricks definitely need to go, in their place I would lay a single slab on stone, which is a little costly, but overall, is worth the expensive you save in defacing the brickwork anyway. I suggest a rough sawn bluestone slab that will further enhance the charcoal tuck pointing, and grey is not only a current interior colour, but it is also what edwardian bungalows often featured. So you get to have a current, updated interior whilst preserving the beauty and character of a period home. This is where the homes value lies.

thank you for your advise. I have put images of the outside of the house as that where the dining room is from there we will be bringing the decking out 3 metres which will create an out - indoor eating. this is the most finished room giving you an idea of the colour and house. all blue grey tones. sorry about stuff around but a reno house is hard to find spaces below is kitchen as is looking out to the dining through that open servery but we are taking most of that wall out to make an open space - its very small step down below into the dining through the left door way. below is the now dining. the table is very small and hard to pull chairs in and out of hence the indoor out door considerations. belwo is the outdoor looking in. from those doors we are putting a 3 metre decking i think. we have a lot of yard so its easy to do

I'm not sure whether you live in a city or regional area.....I guess more available in a city area. If it interests you just google glass hearth images. Then you can get an idea of what it looks like and whether a glass hearth would appeal to you. You don't need any substrate under the glass and I think generally they are recommended to be 12mm thick so not too thick and chunky. And also can be shaped depending on what you like.

I would go with Monument. The house is dark brown so adding some relatively small surfmist elements wouldn’t change the perception of the house. At the photo above the surfmist works well as the roof is visible from the ground and it’s surfmist as well. The brown brick has those dark spots which go well with Monument. The house will look dark but elegant. In order to make the house more cheerful I would invest into adding as much greenery as possible. You might even think about adding couple relatively large pots along your side wall and/ or at the front right. You can also paint the front door any cheerful colour you like.