Fireplace Make Over Phase 2

Let me first off say I am SO thankful to own a home with my sweet hubby and SO thankful to have a home with a fireplace. Any complaining I even do is SO a first world problem that really doesn't matter but as far as home design goes, I do not like our fireplace:) So... we have an ugly fireplace. It's cheap and blocky and just not too attractive. If money were no option I would rip it out, and build something more substantial and build it all the way up our tall ceilings. I dislike the shape of the fireplace and dislike the small and cheap mantel but I have had to work on a tight budget, making it as attractive as I can, working with what we have :) 

I'm calling this phase 2 because phase three would be to complete the mantel decor. 

So here is what our fireplace looked like before we moved in...

Here it was in the middle of getting things together.... 
I have moved the horse head somewhere else and we still have the TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace. We got the TV when we were engaged, back in 2007, so its pretty thick and outdated at this point, but it works fine so we cant justify it with something pretty and thin just yet.

Normally, I love natural brick, but just didn't like the tone of this brick, and didn't like the layout or shape, so I figured painting it would mask some of that. I didn't know if I wanted to white wash, or paint solid, I figured if I did not care for the white wash I could always paint it, but if I did not like the paint, I couldn't go back to white washing. White washing was SO easy. It was one part paint and one part water and you literally just paint it on. I would recommend starting off conservative with the paint, and if you want a fuller coverage, you can always add more. Having the paint pretty watery really allows the brick to show through the paint. Here is the finished brick....

My parents, who built a new house last year, were getting rid of their old Southern Living fireplace screen and gave it to me in hopes of helping our sad fireplace out a bit. I like it because I don't really have to accessorize or style the bottom ledge of my fireplace now, and its just a really awkward space that no matter what I put on there, I felt it looked weird.  

 Phase three will be styling the mantle, so I will be sure to keep you up to date with that :) Its always frustrating yet fun to always have projects to work on in your home.