Design feedback: putting stones/tiles on wall

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Hello! I'm trying to decide what to do with this wall. It used to be a chimney, but the fireplace was removed many years ago. When we purchased the house, it was just used as a decorative wall that stood out from the living room/stairway area.

The person we purchased this property from glued weird "tiles" on the chimney for decoration. They're made out of cork-board-like material. They started falling off the wall within months, and now we are looking to redo this wall. 

(We will also be removing the carpet, and replacing it with hardwood.)

The easiest thing would be to just paint over the chimney with the off-white color to match the rest of the open living room area. I'd rather not do that. I'm also not crazy about painting it a different color or adding wall paper as an "accent wall."

I'd rather place some sort of stones/slate or tiles on it.

The best thing for re-sale would probably be neutral-colored stones ( black, white, or grey) wall tiles similar to these:

The creative side of me really wants to do some sort of colorful tiles like these:

BUT, I also don't want to make this wall look like it should be in a bathroom/shower, where tiles like these are most often used.

What do you think? What would you do with this wall? Have you ever gone out on a limb and added some creative/quirky features to a home and still had good results when selling?

[Lynnette E.]

I'd just drywall and paint it to match.  That wall already looks too busy with the HVAC work on it.