Updating a fire surround

Veneer over it or box over it.

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-update-a-fireplace/index.html

Marble is dated?
What year was the house or apartment built? The marble may fit with the nature of the house design.
People often ruin places by "updating".

agreed. Marble can be cleaned, stained , or artificially "pitted" and itll match any layout.

One of my more stupid hobbies is reading the real estate section at SFGate, the free part of the San Francisco Chronicle. They keep posting older mansions for sale (let's say 4 to 7 million) and many of them have been updated in what I find to be, er, vomitous taste. The least of it is that they paint everything white, including former elegant crown moldings, chihuahua! I'm only one of many responders who hates seeing an early 20th century house vacuumed of its character.

ARound here its a different thing because people will buy a historical propwrty and"upate it" by stripping it of paint on cabinetry , trim, and doors.
In the colonial priod, wood was painted, not celebrated. Color was the way to brighten an interior , and becauae there was a lot of wood paneling, garish colors were often the norm.
ubduing the colors is a better choice than stripping the look.

If, on the other hand , an ARts n Crafts or Victorian style was being achieved, wood was let out and grain was celebrated. (In Arts n Crafts even pegs and dovetails and mortiaes were let out in the open because the "workmanship" was what set it apart.

Ive seen some Green and Green houses in the Sacramento area where the "new owners" had been talked into painting the Arts n Crafts beams and joints by some douche bag designer.So they became almost hidden. SIlly and stupid in my opinion. A lot of this stuff becomes kind of "gay" looking (IMHO) because the designers start flouncing fabrics all over the place and then they throw crappy (but expensive) goo gaws all over the place. They "Hide" the design and structure of th rooms themselves. Those guys should be shot. I like to see the workmanship involved in the structure. (In that respect I like Wright, even though he sucked as an engineer)

I think for this you have to cover some space with something else.

Marble can do the job for you.