Hi Fiona, There's no tiles? I can't see any on the picture... What does the rest of your room look like in terms of style, colours, etc? Is it / will it be similar to your inspiration pictures? Personally I favour keeping architectural details as close to the original as possible so I would vote for restoration, and a bit of modernisation with the tiles and the colour of the wall. I do think that once restored it will be a beautiful piece and can be put forward with the rest of your decoration. Have a nice evening Mehdia

Make a frame to fit on the inside to whatever width you want. Screw it on to the inside of the frame from the other side ( which is hollow ) and then it will sit flush with the frame. I'd probably paint it black to match the fire, or match it to the frame.

The easiest option would be to paint it. You could paint it white, or grey, or any colour to suit your room decor. Here’s some ideas.

Beautiful room, and yes that does look like a unique fire surround. If you want a blue in the De Nimes sort of area but with less grey in it, Stone Blue might work for you. But personally I'd be tempted to go darker, eg Hague Blue, Scotch Blue (on the F&B Colour by Nature chart, I think) or Inchyra Blue (just sticking to the F&B chart as I know it well but of course there are lots of other gorgeous deep blues out there). Looks like the room could handle it - perhaps with a large beautiful Persian rug with navy and red tones on the floor (sorry but I think your current rug is too small - though perhaps it's just a radiator holder!). Would be very cosy and I think a dark blue would complement the honey tones of the wood very well.