I believe I would not paint the wood surround but paint the brick wall instead.

I would not paint the wood surround. BeverlyFLADeziner's idea is perfect.

Lovely! Thanks for the inspiration:)

Definitely whitewash the brick. It would look beautiful!

@crimson525 A chair with a nice pop of color might be a good idea.. perhaps something like this

Baxton Studio Lotus Contemporary Fabric Armchair - Yellow Patterned Fabric · More Info

Thanks, that's my husband's thought too:)

The brick is very dated and dark. If this is a basement, it would really help to whitewash it which can last forever. You can't exactly undo the wood being white either, so if you are going to paint it, paint it. Maureen's idea above is the best, IMO. Great taste, that Maureen.

Hello. I would leave this fireplace in this color.

Definitely white-wash the brick. Its very dark and dated and is a large overwhelming hulk in the room that needs to be lighted up. The fireplace surround doesn't appear to be an integral part of the fireplace. It looks like its just stuck onto the brick as an afterthought and it makes the ceiling look too low. I'd consider removing the surround and adding a simple clean wood mantel. I don't think you win anything by keeping the brick as is, other than living with a dark hulking wall.

Well, white has the overwhelming majority. However, we've seen countless people ask for advice, get dozens of professional opinions and then do something... uh... less than optimum. :-/

Curious to see what the end results will be on this.

It is my plan to whitewash the brick, thanks for everyone's input. I will post a photo when it's complete..

Here are two whitewashed brick fire surrounds with smaller mantels. The lower photo, in a basement, also had faux stone added on top of an old brick veneer immediately around the firebox and on the hearth, which is something you could do rather than keeping the full wood fireplace surround.

Thanks so much @goluscombe :) I am definitely not attached to the wood surround & I really like your ideas!