The previous owners put some ugly boards around the downstairs fireplace as trim (some things just don't make sense), with gaps in the middle for the wall trim. We can only guess it was partly to hide ceiling texture sprayed over the top half of the fireplace, since the owners obviously didn't cover it up when they textured. It looks so much better without the trim. Although because of a slight gap behind the fireplace and all the glue left sticking to the brick (Nick was NOT happy to deal with pulling that off), we might put back very thin decorative trim along the sides.
These bricks are also a rosy-pink color, not my fave. So after staring at Pinterest posts a good long while I am seriously considering white-washing the brick. Painting brick is a daunting permanent proposition, but I think white-washing might look pretty cool, and still maintain some of the look and color of the original brick while toning back the pinky-ness.
