All brick fireplace, raised hearth

[beware]

I have a huge all-brick fireplace in the corner of my family room. It's floor-to-ceiling, and other than the brick, there's just a horizontal oak mantel. It also has a raised brick hearth about 18 inches off the floor. Very country/rustic, which I am NOT. I would like to cover much of the brick but am unsure about what to do. I'd simply wrap a bunch of wood trim around it (including above the mantel all the way to the ceiling), but the raised hearth presents a problem, I think. Where do you stop with the wood?? Would it look odd to have wood on either side of the firebox that "dead ends" where the raised hearth beings (i.e. the wood would not touch the floor)? Other thoughts include:
Wrapping the raised hearth with wood, but leaving the "seat" part all brick. But problem with this may be that the brick would not overhang the wood trim, since there's currently no overhang (just a 90 degree angle).
The proportion of the whole thing is tricky, because there's only 38 inches between the mantel and the ceiling, so that area may look "stubby" if I just cover it with drywall or wood.
Looking for help!

[Jimmer]

Beware,

Any chance you can post a picture of what you have now? You can email the picture to any of the admins or moderators (my email is handy@eastlineweb.com ) of the forums and ask them to post it to this thread. It would help to give you suggestions.

Thanks, Jim

'Just a handyman trying to help'

[singalong]

Beware,
[]
It sounds like we both have the same problem. I have been trying to come up with some way to rejuvinate my fireplace. It also runs from the floor to the ceiling, and has about 1 1/2 foot hearth. I have many ideas, but I do not know what to do with my hearth. Did you come up with anything? Any help would be appreciated.

[sparkaj]

I have the exact same fireplace with no mantle. My Idea was to put up a wood mantle, fill in the area inside the mantle and cover the hearth with marble tile. As for the brick extending to the ceiling I was thinking about covering it with dry wall.
I have asked a few people and they think it would be ok but they have no experience.
Anybody have any advice?

[MrsFauxster]

Well...since you guys aren't "rustic" this may not help-but here goes...
Have you thought of floating out the surface of the bricks with joint compound, plaster or acrylic stucco? Or...you could use tiles for a more contemporary look.
We have in the past, turned many brick fireplaces into "faux stone fireplaces" with stucco. This is fairly easy to do, although time consuming. The end result is worth the effort (jmho) e-mail me and I'll walk you through the faux stone technique if you would like me to.


Amanda

https://www.artisticillusions.com