Painting over the paneling on either side of the fireplace would make a big impact.

Have you thought of painting your brick fireplace? I've seen it done with good results, then the next question would be what color? Will you be changing the floor, the non-brick walls, carpet or no carpet? It's a very nice space and I'm sure you'll be successful in your project.

Painting the bricks should be the last option. Although painted looks beautiful in my opinion, if it goes awry it is a nightmare. Wash the bricks, put the drywall & paint, add a beautiful painting & THEN decide. I might suggest changing the hearth/ledge updating it a bit. Good luck it is a wonderful room!

I think you could find that the brick looks great As-is if you paint the paneling or change to drywall- in a light or bright color that really contrasts with the brick. Also changing the slate tile on top of the raised hearth area to something more monotone would help, and pop a great piece of art on the mantel. The reason it looks blah right now is that everything is in shades of brown.

How about tiling the brick with stone veneer. Depending on the floor color you could choose the stone color to accentuate the wall.

Soot with the wood stove ! I vote for painting the bricks black going right up to the ceiling.

HI -- It's all very dark and brown bricky and too much contrasting wood colors . That is not a very attractive brick , so spray paint it a clean white . Re-move or white / grey wash the wall paneling . For the hearth , cover the whole fireplace base with a black granite or black slate tiles , so the black goes with the fire box. Then paint the mantel black also , maybe even fatten it a bit if you can/want . Do the proper prep work before painting the brick ,- cleaning with TSP , priming ,and so on . Get the proper materials from the paint store ,- they will help you get what you need .

@piplinz, I'm curious what you have in mind for changing the slate? Would we paint the slate?

http://houzz.com/photos/137896

Adding built ins on both sides would look great with your fireplace!

@melissa Obrien- I'd actually go ahead & remove the slate entirely. You could replace it with a natural stone tile in a dark color (light will get dirty around the wood stove). As long as the tiles are all the same color rather than the slate mixture, I think it would help a lot. That's a very small area so it should be pretty inexpensive & quick to do, albeit a bit messy.

I use my fireplace all winter with no problems about soot...that happens with bad draw and dirty chimney.