Old concrete hearth, cosmetic improvement

[malumbu]

Helping a family friend.  Fireplace and fire breast removed leaving the rectangular base of the hearth. Reasonably flush with exposed wooden floorboards.

Anyone have this in their gaff?  Simple thing would be to paint it with brown floor paint, other options are jazzy Victorian self adhesive vinyl tiles or put some quarry tiles on it.  Latter two both a feature but not sure a  raised surface works.

Place came like this.  I'd be happier with an original Victorian fireplace.  

[diable rouge]

''Fire breast''...do you mean the chimney breast has been removed leaving a flat wall with no side alcoves?...

[malumbu]

chimney breast in deed, yes no side alcove and a flush, well supposedly flush wall

This sort of thing, although all the pictures on line are of working fireplaces 

[diable rouge]

Did the current owner choose to do this or have they 'inherited' it?

If they chose to do this then they're obviously not wedded to original period features so I'd go with an infill of matching floorboards, perhaps stain the whole lot and stagger joints so they blend in better. 

If they inherited this and want a period feature I'd go with decorative Victorian tiles (I don't like the sound of self-adhesive vinyl tiles). Then use it to place a floor lamp/house plants/candles etc to make it look like it was meant to be rather than a cover-up job. 

Both options will require some chipping away of the concrete to provide a level finish with the floorboards, but much preferable than a trip hazard step and something that looks bodged. 

After chipping away at the concrete I'd use a self-leveling screed to provide a flat surface to work with. 

Other options are a rug, piece of furniture etc and let someone else have the problem!...