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.

The choice of hearth depends on the style of your room decor as well as colour wise. Hearths can be bought ready to go from most fireplace suppliers in a range of colours and styles. Do you want to sit the fireplace on the hearth or on a ledge? We did not want the ready made angled style for our house. Our tiler did the lot from building & sheeting the hearth before tiling & sealing. We love it in our room setting of timber floor, timber ceiling and next to a timber wall.The consideration was fireproof materials and size/style of hearth guided by the building code. Other materials can be tile, glass, stone, concrete just have to be fire rated and professionally installed. Slate has been a popular choice forever and comes in different grades and colours but will need sealing most likely.

Rug looks good. Don't get rid of your coffee table. Just slightly sand the top and pick an antique white or light grey paint with primer already in it and give it 2 coats. It will come up great. wouldn't take long to do. Add a tray with candles and small artificial plant, *& would look great. Good luck.

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