Previous homeowners painted the natural stone fireplace and wall white. Is there any hope in restoring it?
I hope this is the right place. If not, please guide me where to go because this has haunted me for 5 years.
Like I said, they painted it white. Why? I have no idea. Husband and I are millennials but holy crap the owners pulled the "millennial DIY white everything" thing so hard and it's so sad to look at. All we know is the paint is house paint and its a matte finish. When I asked my dad for advice, he said we'd have an easier time painting a "fake rock" over every rock over trying to strip the white off. Is there any hope or should I finally let it rest? Any help is appreciated. I've attached what it looked like before those owners and what it looks like with the "lovely" white. Apologies for how dirty it all is. We hate it so much, we never bothered making anything of it.
Edit: I'm reading everything you all are commenting and I'm going to go through it all with the husband when he gets home from his night shift tomorrow morning. Keep it coming, though. I've never heard of dry ice or walnut blasting and they sound really cool. I have seen a few ask if its actually real stone and yes, it is. Floor to ceiling to walls and it has a hearth extension going from wall to wall. The house was built in the 80s and this style of stone fireplace was very popular.
Okay, this is too funny. As I was googling similar fireplaces in the 80s, I came across what I can only imagine is the inspo picture the previous homeowners used. It's the exact "transformation/before and after", lol. Posting it in the comments.