I think, adding some color above the fireplace, perhaps, by bringing a few pieces of art and/or some colorful accessories can help. Best of luck selling!.. Raisa

What is the door to the left?? I think a larger rug & rearrange the furniture would help! If you can remove the mantle or paint in to match the wall cover it won't stand out too much. At the moment it seems to cut that wall in half!

I agree with lots of what Lisa said, move the tv and get a large picture for over your fireplace that would be located right above the fireplace. Either a mirror with a darker frame, hung horizontally, or a large picture with a dark frame and a light color hung horizontally. I would get rid of all the other decor on the mantel. Your pictures above the sofas are hung a bit too high, I would lower them as well. Can't see a coffee table in this picture, if you don't have one, that would help to make the room look cozier, and if you have one, I would add decor items, even just things like books, candles, vases, etc with some color. Possibly a throw for the sofa with some color.

Paint the brick creamy dark white (kestrel white from sherwin williams is a good tone for your other walls to test) and gel stain the mantle darker in tone for instant crisp drama and a better look with the metal insert. Use oil to clean and shine the metal face of the insert. Buy a large multicolored modern canvas art at Home Goods to lean from the mantle and layer all your mantle/ musical things with it near the center. Look on craigslist for an inexpensive small chest that can sit on the entry wall /across from the couch, paint it dark sage green and put your tv on it.

When you leave for a showing, move your chair that faces the fireplace over to have its back to the entry way - it cedes too much of the room to a hallway and makes it seem smaller than it is - pull the grand piano out into the room a bit so the bench is closer to where the chair is now.

Do a light trowel of grout over the fireplace (extremely inexpensive) to give it a neat washed out look, Hang multiple ongoing pics over the fireplace to create depth and color. Remove the small pieces currently on the fireplace. Replace the pillows on the couch and chair to add a splash of color. Replace the carpet with a lighter less bold shade and square to stretch out the living room. The key is to not spend much money as the new homeowner will most likely change everything anyway.

Are those two spotlights on the ceiling? If so, when you get your bolder art in place on top of the mantle, train the lights on it. Before taking the advice to paint the mantle, consider there are people like me, who will appreciate the unpainted wood and know how difficult it is to strip paint.. Rug should be bigger and I think the sofa should be aligned to face it in this case. Agree with suggestion to position two chairs flanking the fireplace facing away from it -- will make space cozier, and balance the focus away from the fireplace, where it is entirely now.

The door to the left is the front entry way to the house.

I really appreciate all the comments. What exactly is a light trowel . What color? Off white or darker? Do you do all the bricks and then wipe off? If I flank the fireplace with chairs , do they need to be matching

I have a very similiar fireplace and I painted my mantel black and love it. My husband was dead set against painting the brick! I agree that a bigger rug would look nice- maybe a black and cream pattern? Check out an indoor/outdoor rug for budget reasons-
Good Luck!

I would hang the TV above the fireplace and then on each side of the fireplace build a white painted bookshelf right into the brick. Very easy to do. Check out some DIY sites if $ for a handyman is an issue. You could put pretty vases, etc on the shelf as well as books. Would look very warm. I would replace the rug with a round one -- that would make the room look less "linear." You can get some pretty good priced round rugs on Overstock.com. I would also put the chair caddy-corner and add a very small table to "anchor" the chair to the room -- make it look like it's belongs there instead of something just hanging there.
Are those windows above the couch? If so, I would get a small valance for each window to add some color, and warmth. Good luck!