Difficult to say from seeing such a small area. Can you take additional pictures of the surrounding areas and post here? Tile it would be my suggestion at this time. Something a little more modern to go with the beach environment. Maybe replace the hearth top with a piece of granite and paint the firebox and metal enclosure all black. Example Attached.

Good Luck With Your Project!

The Cinque Team

Hi! I love the beach! I think I would paint it white and put a large piece of art above it like this:

http://deciture.com/shop/decor/9/along-way-i-maxine-price/

http://deciture.com/shop/decor/7/vibrant-tile-wall-art/

(the last one comes in a turquoise)

Painting the fireplace white or white washing it would go with the beach house theme. I've seen countless fireplaces be transformed in this way!

Hi Stacy, I would absolutely paint it first to see how you like it, and then consider removing the brick if you don't like the painted look! No sense in paying to remove it if you can update it with a little paint and still like it. It's hard to tell without seeing a picture, but I'm guessing if the surrounding walls are painted yellow, then painting the brick a nice white would probably give the room a clean, fresh updated classic feel. Can't wait to see what you all decide to do!

Additional Examples

Normally I say never paint brick, however since this is a beach house and the brick is so dark and un-beach like, I agree that whitewashing or painting it white would look great. I think that mantle needs help too. :) Go for a driftwood look.

You'll love it once it's painted white. There was a time that everyone thought that spotted brick was attractive but hopefully no more. See Young House Love on what they did with their first house.

Absolutely paint! Perhaps whitewash it but instead of going bright white, pick a grey or something a bit softer that will blend a bit more and not stick out quite as much as white. I washed my brick fireplace this fall with sandhook beige BM and it turned out great. It is quite solid in colour but because it is a paint wash (mixed with water) and not straight paint the roughness and texture of brick shows through more than the creamy thicker paint option. Good Luck. I would also recommend spraying the gold details black.