our beach house had two brick "fireplaces". the first floor had a wood burning stove on a hearth, that one we removed the hearth and painted the bricks white to match the walls. the second floor living room i decided to keep the brick and work from the mortar color and hearth tones. we replaced the 80s laminated wood mantel with a slab of slate. i'm glad i did. even tho it isnt safe to use (we put candles in rather than bring the liner up to code) i think it brings warmth to a room that otherwise would be blah. (yup, original track light still has to go.)

we also removed the built in bookcases that were to the right of the fireplace, they were not useful, took up space, and were uglieeeeeeee. i think that is a road you could consider.