We recently bought vacation house in FL south of Sarasota near the Gulf. It has had some remodeling but not necessarily in our colors or materials...This room is our main TV room. The brick wall is not the true exterior which is cement block. It is more an overlay since it is not structural apparently from what our electricians and painters have told us.
The two windows face north and the room would be dark anyway, but the brick really leaches light out...

I would love to repaint the brick white or maybe add bead board and paint white then retile around the fireplace box in something more updated...Adding bead board might be fire hazard...could maybe replaster and paint in lighter color as well...

My husband doesn't seem to mind the dark brick but I find it totally out of place for home that could be more bright and "coastal" fresh...
Other remodeling that was done by people we bought from was also in darker tones -- like cherry cabinets in kitchen and dark brown granite. And the engineered wood floors are also darker...but rugs can brighten that...

Suggestions for sites that give before/after shots of fireplaces that have been painted or replastered/remodeled would be very helpful...
I tried to use paint program to show him how the brick wall would look in white but the program was not that great--color was transparent and brick showed through...
IPads have their issues...