That is one huge fireplace! I am never in favor of paint especially around fireplaces because they are terrible to keep clean if you paint it white. Look at brick stain or even a brick smear. I had an oppressive wall just like yours in my 1980's house and I did a brick smear with mortar, a couple of drops of very light tan paint and a burlap sack and smeared it all over the brick, using a dry one to wipe off the excess. It turned out really nice. You can also try a lime wash. If you google mortar wash, lime wash and German Smear - you will learn about the different methods and the benefits of each. One hint, if you have old bricks from construction laying around, use them to practice on or get a board of z brick.

And if that is carpet on the hearth, it has to go, fire hazard!

First of all, take the carpeting off the hearth. When you've settled in, maybe some seat cushions in colors coordinated with your furniture can go there. Here are some large red brick fireplaces that work very well. One is whitewashed, but the other two natural ones look great because of the art.

You don't have to necessarily go with browns. Cream, teal, gold/yellows, with accents in the brick red color could be lovely.

Here are some rooms that use pale gray with a red brick fireplace--not my personal fav, but they're done well:

darker gray, but just a little bit of it:

Thank you everyone. And yes, as soon as we move in, that carpet is going to go, and we are adding bumpers for our 4 kids.

I would "wash" it and get a large mantel to replace the current one....