Keep it, paint it?
Don't plaster, just paint. White.

Does anyone have examples of pink brick with light colored floors?
I have no examples of anything remotely pink that looks good.

Also would it look funny if I painted the fireplace white and left the rest of the brick as is?
No, it wouldn't but it would look better if you painted all. If anything paint the other walls and leave the fireplace instead.

Granted, this shows up as your camera and my screen make it, and it might look different in reality, but much as Iove brick, this doesn't look grand.

You can start painting and see how it looks, assess whether you want to leave some unpainted.
White brick walls will look great here. You have the light for it. The flooring possibly too.

Keep it! With it painted your home loses its strongest character feature.

Brass, marble and blush are very on trend now run with that. They all look great next to soft brick. Maybe a blush piece of furniture. It also works with oh so trendy grey walls.

I agree with Roarah. Your brick seems to be neutral, and in excellent condition, and you would take away a lot of the character of your house. Painted brick looks flat and fake. If you must do something use a wash on it, and please dont use white.

Wash it and keep it. It's the star feature of the house. If painted white, the original character will be lost. Changing the lighting to include wall washers or wall grazers will show it off and improve its color.

Before you do anything, remove the drab and dirty drapes that are affecting the color of the brick right now.

Don't paint or white wash the brick. Clean it. then do the lighting apple_pie mentions.

Take a deep breath and wait. Right now all you see is the brick because it isn't what you're used to seeing. Get it cleaned (you would need to do this before painting it). I don't like brick but, yours is an unoffensive shade. Patience will pay off.

Hi Jess,

Congrats on your new home!

I most certainly vote against having 2 different colors of brick.

Would definitely wait until your floors are done before making any decision.

If anything, your brick almost looks too perfect! I would be open to the idea of distressing it, but again, not until your floors are done and you've had a good look.

Make sure you post an after pic!

I believe those are called Roman Bricks. you can search 'mid century roman brick fireplaces/walls" and get some images,,,

Remove that funky wood mantle from the first picture. doesn't belong

Is this the actual color you have?

this is a time capsule ! look at RetroRenovation

here are a few

if you wanted to paint, it would prob look like this

when getting them professionally cleaned (which would be a great idea) ask a mason about staining them. you still keep the originality of the brick, but just tone down that pink shade that's a little difficult to work with.

Terrazzo floor would be a big bonus. If you do find them under your carpeting, bring in a professional to clean them and repair the carpet track removal areas. Terrazzo cleans up nicely :)

Jess says in post that it is hardwood under the carpet.

White would not be a paint color I would consider for the brick. Not all the brick needs to be painted. Also you can consider stain instead of paint.

Stain will keep the brick differences, but change the over all color like on this rock fireplace.

jess...check out the RetroRenovation site. they have a blog w/all these great renovation ideas and stories from other homeowners. Plus they have links to where you can find period correct replacements for your home.

consider removing that popcorn ceiling (and if done before the mid 70's, prob has asbestos) or think about covering it w/the plank ceilings that were so popular in the 60's. that one pic w/the orange table/blue couch, has a a really cool design that you could do yourselves with 1x1 molding pieces.

or, cover it w/T&G cedar/fir pieces.

asbestos was before the mid 70's. i don't know if your ceiling popcorn is original or not. if you have a company come out and test it, they can tell you. if you plan on having it scraped, make it the first thing you do before you move in everything. if it is asbestos, you know they have to seal off everything. if it's not, it's still messy. Or, just cover it w/the wood or even drywall, and don't worry about it.

as for the cork, you don't have to match it exactly. go a bit lighter but keep it in the same tonal family. See what the floors look like after they're sanded and sample a few shades next to the cork.

i'm jelly! post a pic w/the redo

I don't have anything to add. Just want to thank dedicated Houzzers for saving another fabulous MCM home.

That swag light in the pic needs to be restored too.

You're lucky that you have a house that previous owners haven't "improved" by painting the brick and installing new light fixtures...

Sometimes, lazy previous homeowners are the best kind!

I like the idea of painting the brick white, but also like the look of stain -- a happy medium perhaps?