Probably a bit late on updating this but I thought I'd lost some photos of the end results. I think pretty much everything has changed since those original photos. The staircase has been painted white. It took a few coats of Zinsser BIN and a few coats of acrylic primer undercoat, with sanding between coats. Gaps between the labelling were caulked and I fitted some trim over the rough sloping section before the top coats. The stringer was completely stripped and then filled as best we can - due to lead paint fears we couldn't just rub it all down. All woodwork was finished with Little Greene intelligent eggshell in Loft White. The walls are Little Greene Intellgent Emulsion in Slaked Lime. It's a very warm white/neutral. It looked plain white when it was first painted but the white skirting transformed it. It also wipes very nicely. We had the walls replastered before painting. The tiled floor in the hallway was ripped out. We now have decent quality laminate throughout the hall and living room. Quick Step Soft Oak Natural. Carpet was fitted and supplied by the same person who did the laminate flooring, a very good local fitter. We only recently got the stairs and landing carpeted as we were waiting for our other refurbishment projects to be finished. Before it was carpeted we also had a local carpenter repair the stairs which were very creaky and the wonder treads very loose. The underside was removed so it could be properly repaired underneath. I took the stupid box catch off the door which didn't work properly and fitted a nice handle and magnetic catches. We have new engineered oak internal doors downstairs which I bought online. All it really needs now is some finishing touches like some photos or pictures on the wall of the stairwell. I'm very happy with the end result.

Hi Nancy. I agree with SJD on the tiles. I know you don't like it but the bit that stands out to me is the white plasterboard at the back as there's so much of a contrast. I would either paint that a stone colour or go lighter on the surround. If it wasn't rented then perhaps you could actually pop a fire in but I don't know if it's worth the money? How deep is the hearth? Could you look at putting something decorative in there? I would also add a mirror or art above (something with a bit of wow to detract your eye) and maybe keep accessories to 2/3 larger things

Looking at it, I think it's a mishmash of periods. the mantelpiece and overmantle is characteristic of a late victorian/edwardian style. We are more used to seeing these with vertical side panels of decorative ceramic tiles and a cast iron firebasket raised off the floorlevel. the actual ceramic glazed fire you have in there appears possibly to be anywhere between 20s & 50s, probably a replacement because the original burned out (assuming it's in the main living room it will have been a main source of heat for the house). So the question is, what do you love and what do you hate about it? Because it's not working for you right now. Usually edwardian fireplaces with an overmantel (and edwardian/victorian furniture in general) comes apart into sections. the tricky bit is finding which sections! But I'd imagine the entire overmantel with the mirror could be taken off leaving the mantelpiece intact, albeit with peg holes that would need filling on the top of the mantel at the back. Usually there were wooden pegs and holes for placement. If you are on a very tight budget, and assuming you don't want to keep the rather lurid carpet, simply keeping what is there, and adding a fender would work (as someone suggested above). You can get low level ones in brass that are extendable to fit relatively cheaply, or there's vintage ones that range from low level right up to having padded seats. If you intend to actually USE the fire, then it may be possible to pull up the 20th century ceramic tiles (if that's what they are) lay a screed underneath and then relay the tiles a bit higher so they are proud of the floor level. If any are broken it might be possible to relay them at the edges where they are less in the way - but at the end of the day, open fires are messy and what you really need is a slab of clean smooth hearthstone to make it easy to keep clean. Alternatively if you don't like early 20th century mashups, then you could (carefully) take out the fireplace, sell it on (someone would love it - personally I don't like the murkiness of that sort of fireplace ceramic colourwise, but I do recognise it's a nice and unusual example of the genre) and buy a replica more suited to the surround. You can get some rather nice ceramic edwardian style tiles for the sides. Have you tried to light the fire? it may be the hood is necessary if the chimney doesn't draw well. Or it could just be an aesthetic choice a previous owner made without considereing how the fire actually performs. As people have said above, you can paint it. Whatever paint you use, make sure you aren't totally knackering the wood underneath in case you want to have it stripped back to wood in future. The suggestion of hanging a picture over the oval mirror is a good one. Though I suspect with a different less instituttional carpet and the fitted cupboard gone, a judicious choice of plants or ornaments might make the whole thing recede into the room as a whole and be less 'in your face' at the end of the day, it's actually a time and labour intensive decorative heat source, so if you aren't going to have an open fire, and it's not a listed building, consider selling it and getting rid completely. It's a mishmash anyway that doesn't work so well aesthetically, though individually the separate parts of edwardian/ mid 20th century do have charm. but together? ouch you are living with some dearly departed's poor design choices! Which I suspect are not going to be so easy to marry together. Though as people have said above, painting it white is going to help a lot! My final thought is that you've got off lightly with that overmantel with a plain oval glass! When I was a kid we had an edwardian house near manchester, in what was the day nursery, behind a baize door, on teh first floor, had an overmantle with a plaster of paris insert that weighs 25kg with rather terrifying fairies playing in the moonlight as it's subject. The house was due to be demolished so we took the plaster behemoth with us. It's currently hanging in my hall and scaring all small children that pass by!!! 40 years on I still can't decide if it is actually totally hideous or so ugly that it's beautiful. Mostly though I just don't want it to fall off the wall and kill one of the cats! Here it is in all it's fugliness. Framed in the 1980s in somewhat ungracious proportions to just top off the general weirdness of it!

That alcove on the left could be that size if the chimney runs above it to the adjacent room or upstairs. We have a similar one which certainly has chimney running across it at an angle. It would be structural work if that's the case.