I say keep the fireplace and replace the carpet with the wood flooring.

Keep fireplace as is. The colors appear neutral to fit in with other gray or beige neutrals. I agree with Margaret's idea above.

If the fireplace is used, over a short period of time soot will gather on the painted brick and will look very dirty and hard to clean.

keep the original colors. It blends in well with the wall.

Thanks for your opinions! We decided to go with the whitewash option...It looks amazing :) Very pleased with the results. Still has lots of natural character.

In regards to the carpet, it was never what we intended it to be, and will be replaced with a grey tone carpet in the near future.