We have purchased a 70's home which has been rehabbed. We like almost everything except the master bathroom and the family room. This request is about the family room. This room has been painted white, the fireplace wall is covered with red/antique brick across one entire wall. There is a sliding glass patio door which lets some light in. We have added eyeball lights above the fireplace mantel but this room still seems dark in spite of having white walls, patio door, fan with lights. The ceilings are about 9 feet, not especially high.

Should we paint the red/antique brick wall to match the other walls and to give a feeling of greater space?? If not, what should we do to make this room feel larger and contemporary?

Any ideas will be most appreciated!

LJD

It's a personal preference, but I'd leave the brick alone. Try mirrors, maybe even on the brick. They'll reflect the light coming in and may even make the room appear larger. Also might try soft lights near ceil to reflect of it.

I don't like painted brick. So I would make some glazes in different colors and try them. This way the brick will still show through and it will still change the color of the brick. If you choose a light color paint and added it to the glaze it will really tone down the brick. Apply the paint-glaze and with a rag wipe off as much as you like, this way you get to control the color change as you like. If all else fails no harm you can still paint it if you like. Good Luck!

If this is a conventional fire place you could remove the brick to mantel level and down size it. The brick there is just a veneer until you get to the "throat" of the fireplace. Need to look inside of the fireplace and see how sharp the throat is angled to know how far down the brick can come down. You can also remove the brick on the sides and remove a lot of the brick wall for more of a straight up look. The brick only needs to be 12" min on each side of the firebox.

Another option is galv wire it and stucco the wall over the brick or half way after the bricks were taken down to mantel height.