I think I'd take the "roof" off of the brick wall. And then I'd tile or face the hearth in a something dark and quiet-- perhaps a polished black marble. Your cabinetry is lovely and I think whitening the brick either by paint or schmear would put more attention on the fireplace rather than less.

So many ideas here from Beth . Lots of diff. Options - I like them all.

Lydia, what is your nearby decor like ? Colors ?

I know you wanted to lighten it up . If you were to just paint the brick , I think this wound look nice all over or if that’s too dark, maybe just the bottom portion and then combine with white paneling on the upper two thirds of the wall. But this is a moot point if you already have an established and distinct color scheme that you like in the room ( ie. Blue ) . That’s why it would be helpful to see what’s going on nearby.

You have very traditional cabinetry. Unless you're going to remove it (and it's gorgeous, so why would you?), the fireplace needs to stay traditional.

As Beth says, you could easily fir out the brick and cover as you wish. If I were doing that, I'd drywall above the mantle and paint it wall colour. Below the mantle, I'd probably add wooden side pieces and then tile the surround in a polished stone. If black is too heavy, polished travertine might look nice on both the surround and the hearth.

I would suggest going with the easy and inexpensive route of painting the brick off-white.

I think painting the bottom portion brick a color you like w/o any other wood ornamentation or vertical pillars is the way to go here ,BECAUSE you have that low hearth of brick running all the way across the bottom and to the left . You don’t want to remove that do you ? I think it’s a neat feature . Then if you wanted to panel ( ie. Shiplap - vertical or horizontal , or traditional picture frame paneling ) I would start that a bit under the current mantel , take it all the way to the ceiling - current ceiling trim removed . I suggested white to brighten the whole look and because it is classic for paneling and would also contrast nicely with your adjoining cabinetry. I would leave the current mantel unpainted to tie in the whole FP with the cabinetry.

PS: Starting the paneling below the current mantel position ( and above the firebox opening ) will allow the proportions of everything to not look so cut in half , since your mantelpiece spans the entire width . You might also want your carpenter to shorten the length of that ,if possible, thus leaving some space at either end. It then should be reattached at the same height because it is in line with the break line in the cabinets.

Not quite the same ,but some inspiration for painted brick on the bottom w. paneling on top -

Whew ! I’m sorry , Lydia . I know that was A LOT . The painted brick and paneled look would definitely be a big remodel - so I just wanted to weigh in one last time to offer my opinion on keeping it a simple fix . I think painting the brick all one, light color ( which I believe I said in my first post - but, with a gray green color) would look terrific and be the easiest ( as Elle mentioned ) way to achieve your goal . ( I think a German schmear treatment would not be as clean, fresh and updated a look - too busy maybe .) Am sending one more picture as inspiration that shows both the painted and paneled elements . Best of luck .Let us see how it turns out ,Lydia .

Thanks for all the inspiration pics, everyone. Those are beautiful. Don't know if I can achieve that because the cabinetry on the sides directly abuts the brick.

Niccidhg, my wall colors are repose gray, SW and we are planning to buy new furniture with neutral colors/blue accents. Attaching pictures here so you all can see what's around them. Would love suggestions on what color to paint brick. I agree the German smear is not right, and I don't like that rustic/messy look.

Thanks for all the feedback!!

I agree about removing the molding at the top.

I really dislike that raised corner--a serious trip hazard as you walk through the doorway. I'd remove the entire raised hearth and replace it with slate, level with the surrounding floor. It's safer and opens up floor space.

Judging by the bricks showing, the front of the fireplace is not integral to the hearth--it's joined only by a mortar seam between them (but further exploration would be necessary).

Unless you can sit on a raised hearth to be near the fire, they are completely pointless.

Lydia, I would still consider white ( see you have white chairs in your dining area ), or Repose Gray , Smokey Blue , or Slate Tile- see pics. Maybe something in the color row with Repose Gray - but, whatever you consider using, you should hold it up to the neighboring granite (?) that’s used in your cabinetry . That looks goldish in the pics. That makes me think the blue grays or white would maybe look better than introducing another gray. Good luck.

Don’t know if you are considering taking out , replacing or refacing the hearth brick or not . If so, a slate tile in the charcoal blue tones would look nice if you decide to paint the brick in one of those blue gray colors.