Since it appears your ceilings are relatively low (am I correct?), I vote with you on painting the fireplace white. BUT, not a harsh white....find a nice creamy white, or even a bit darker...if you paint it 3 shades darker than the walls it will be that perfect combination of "blend" and "pop".

Oops! forgot to add...you could also paint the base of the fireplace a dark gray to ground it and give it better definition, or get a slab of dark granite/marble/stone as a top for the base.

The brick is beautiful! Please don't paint it, you'll take all the character right out of the room!

Beautiful 60's brick. Please leave it. Paint the room the taupy color in the bricks.

thanks for the input. just an update: the walls are going to be an antique (or similar white), we have a new 'linen' color sofa on order, and two swivel chairs that are white with blue/light blue/aqua/brown print, and we are having engineered wood installed, natural finish, and a white rug with multi blue stripes - the goal was to lighten up the room, so I don't know that leaving the brick unpainted goes with the blue/white color theme?

It will go just fine, I promise.

Paint the brick! Light and bright all the way. :) Just my opinion though. In the end, it needs to reflect your personal style, since you are the one who will be living there. Good luck!

Charlee, exactly!

Add a few Pops of burnt orange color and you will be good to go!!

I say don't paint the brick. With the light colored walls and sofa the contrast of the brick fireplace will be nice. If you dislike the brink you can "clad" the fireplace with stone or completely cover it with wood. The brick has lots of great color and you can accent with a color from the fireplace or a blue accent would be nice. The sky is the limit with colors it just depends on the shade. Lots of luck!!

I would paint the fire place white, then add the natural wood mantle around the fire place to bring it out. Then to tie in the rest if of the room add some of the blues you have by adding accent pieces such as a blue coral stone or a glass blown vase with blues in it. I would also have stage lighting to put in front of fire place to give it shading. At the bottom side of the fireplace I would have white wood in stacks for decoration for the fire place. Maybe some candles on the side.

Get the best of both worlds. My brother did this: Attach some 2x4's (flat) to the brick and around the corners (use tapcon screws), leave the natural brick behind it. to the false wall, attach 1/2" drywall. Only do the top perhaps and leave the bottom brick the way it is. Paint it, put up some nice crown moulding and you will have a nice crisp space. Then, if you simply hate the look, one can fairly easily re-expose the brick. Once it is painted, it is painted forever. It will always look like painted brick. I have a 1970's two story two sided fireplace, same brick. If I ever were to change it, I'd do this route and then do a glass mosaic tile. It modernizes it. Then get a nice Mantle as well. Not only will it look nice, it will deflect the heat from your fireplace so it does not damage your nice new flat panel tv over the top. (if you are thinking of recessing your tv, make the recess much bigger. My uncle thought the custom cabinets around his 72" tv were perfect, until he got a 96". oops. )

Substitute metal studs for the 2X4's mentioned above. Codes require a 2" clearance from masonry flue to combustible surface...because heat transfer through brick happens (5" of brick equals about an R-1) and a chimney fire can ignite flammable materials that are too close.

does the TV have to be over the fireplace?

I would also leave the brick. I have a 60s home as well and many of the others around me have taken away so much of the character of a home that it looks pieced together. Remember that the inside of the house should blend with the outside as well.

I would not paint the brick and if you could work it out I would hand tv on wall left of the fireplace. Not sure what your layout is. We put our tv over the fireplace and its ok but wish I had somewhere else to put it.

I am for not painting the brick. I do believe I have never seen painted brick that looks nice. Finish the room and then take stock. Once everything else is done you may find the brick is not an issue. If you still don't like the look do something to cover it or some of it, but I would not paint it.

thanks everyone, this is my first houzz post, so SHOCKED at such a FAST response! thank you.

@miranda207: the tv does NOT have to be over the fp, but it's the best location because of the room dimensions (13x17, but one long wall is only 9 ' because of an 8 ' opening, and the other wall has an 8 ' sliding door. the wall opposing firplace is far from the 'main' fireplace area)

@ ahelton142: why do you hate the tv over the fp?

@ Meunch and Ironbuiders: what depth do you suggest the mantel be to protect the tv, if we keep it above the fp?

It's a little higher than I'd like it to be and I've always wanted to have a nice painting there. I wanted fireplace to be focal point but have other things I'd like to decorate it with. With the tv there there's nothing else you can do with it if you have a large tv. Although your fireplace may be larger than mine. My room is 14x28 so it's a long room. Have large double windows and door on one side. Long 16ft or so wall on other side with large 4 ft opening. Only thing is I don't want to cover my windows that go to floor on opposite wall with a couch because we are surrounded by rolling hills and don't wont to block beautiful view

This is a pic of mine . Tv is 47 inch. Mantel is 12 inch deep. Tv does not get hot. But we have propane gas logs

@ ahelton142: thanks, I do wonder if the 'viewing height' is too high... though I too like to leave my glass door unblocked for nature viewing and light... the far end seems too left field, so I don't have many options

I know the feeling !

White wash it. It will lighten it, without that painted look. What ever the wall color is. Take one part that color plus 2 parts water. Apply with a rag. Try a area, see if you like results, you can add more paint for a deeper color. Fast to do too.

Remove brass fire screen. Dated. Go a fire and ice look. Google it.

There are lots of great ideas here! travisinteriors' suggestion of a whitewash sounds like a wonderful compromise. Try to moisten/wet the brick well before you try anything water based. Otherwise, dry brick can soak up paint incredibly fast – which makes it hard to apply evenly, and can result in blotches where you don't want them.

Sounds like a lot of people want you to leave the brick as is. How about leaving the bottom as-is, and simply covering the upper area with painted-to-match vertical wood planks? You can get project packs of tongue and groove at Home Depot. A few furring strips in the mortar, and you're ready to install the planks. You wouldn't have to worry about altering the existing brick – and it'll give you a little space to run all those wires & cables.

If the TV has to be on the fireplace wall, make sure your TV arm will let you pull it out – and angle down. Mine's quite a bit lower, and I still need to angle it.

How lucky that you have that nice seating ledge along the wall – so great for parties!