It would be very helpful to know what the rest of the room looks like....Is there any other wood or painted wood....? What do the windows look like? Are they painted wood or wood finish? Is there crown molding or baseboard in the room?

The room is under renovation now. But there is white crown molding and Window moldings are white too. Color on walls will be a grayish beige color.

White baseboards as well and wood floors.

This a pre renovation picture. The floors are the same.

I would paint it!

If you can stomach a little project, I would watch some videos of how to do a distressed paint finish. I think it would help give the room some character if it were distressed. regardless of whether you do that or not, DO PAINT IT.

The dentil detail on the mantel makes it a classic look. If you paint it to match the other trim and add a glass doored cover to the firebox opening, you'll have a very upscale look. Replacing the brick supports with corbels will pick it up another notch. Painting the brick white to might look even better, but that can wait until you see how the re-done mantel goes.

I would paint the brick and leave the wood mantel (maybe refinish it)

Paint the brick white. Paint the inside of the firebox with black stove paint. Paint the mantle black or white.

I agree with Decoenthusiast - painting the mantel will help a lot, adding corbels even more, then see how it looks. If you have any other touches of black, use black - otherwise white like the rest of the trim. If you have anything in the room that picks up the brick tones ( like the tones in the floor), it might look just fine unpainted (but definitely clean the soot off above the firebox).

Painting the brick is relatively easy and you can choose the right colour once the room is done. You may want to paint the grout a different colour, which is time-consuming but not hard.

Be sure to post after photos for us

Wow! Thank you for all the ideas. I think the corbels would looks great.
I want to clean up the brick. What are some products or natural products that I could use to clean the brick?

http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-clean-a-brick-fireplace/

I would consider painting it a cream color.

if you don't want to actually 'paint' the brick, consider a whitewash. pretty easy to do and plenty of how-to's out there.

I can't vouch for this method, but she explains how she did it.

http://lovesthefind.com/2016/01/how-to-whitewash-brick/

Perhaps you can keep the mantle dark and just paint the bricks a lighter color? Here in our design, you can see how we used a dark mantle with white around it.

I like the look of a natural brick fireplace. I think the painted look is nice too, but I think I'll be keeping the brick as is. I'll clean it up and I'll see how the wood mantle looks. If it blends in too much them I'll probably paint it white. The renovation has begun and the paint will go up soon. Thanks for all your help. You all have wonderful ideas and I'm so thankful for this site.