I understand your dilemma--the proportions are way off, which isn't going to be fixed by paint. Maybe you could add a mantel and somehow cover those beige bricks to look like columns? If that were my room, I'd draw it to scale and play around with using wood and trim to overhaul it. It needs some horizontal lines to counteract the extreme verticality.

Thanks, I agree and if we were DIYers we could play around with it. I’d rather tear most of the bricks down and have a regular fireplace surround but right now we are going to try to paint to save money and see if it improves. Just trying to figure out if trim color will make it stand out too much in a bad way

Thanks! I will definitely get a new screen. I would love to add a mantle but have a question. The grey column of bricks on either side stick out further than the other bricks. Would it look weird to put a mantle in between those columns?

I’d paint it all the same color, my choice would be white, and I would remove the vertical piece of art , it only emphasizes the verticality ( if there is such a word ) of the fireplace. Maybe find something else in it’s place.

Whatever color you choose use oil enamel for cleaning purposes with a wood burner

paint it a dark, taupe gray tone, or black. the art piece is emphasizing the height, so I'd change that to something else. or add the mantle as suggested, to break up the sight line.

Thanks the visuals help! Would you paint all the brick including the column ones or just the red brick ?

maybe paint them the same color as the wall. it's nice to have those middle bricks framed (if you're going dark) by those outer bricks. You could try painting them the same as the trim, but I think I'd like the wall color better. depends how much you want it to stand out.

the good thing is it's only paint! try one way, and if you don't like it, try something else.

Kendall Charcoal, Chelsea Gray, Urbane Bronze, Black Fox, or:

these are all shades you could try.