I would leave the brick alone. I think it works well with the color of the floors, and brings in some warmth to a cool palette. It also pulls that rusty color out of the artwork above the mantel. As for the surround, my inclination would be the bronze. I am not sure that I would like the nickel or chrome as well with the brick color. I wonder if you would consider putting the two candlesticks together one side of the fireplace, rather than splitting them. I think they are very nice, but would have more impact as a pair. Then I would get some birch twigs and put in the vase, to mimic the branches in the art. If that fits, you could put that on the other side of the artwork, with the two candlesticks together on the opposite side. Otherwise, it could sit on the hearth on the side opposite where the candlesticks are on the mantel. You have a lovely home.

purrus - very very very nice! I also like all the neutral tones in the room. well done. scoutfinch - I first primed with BM All Purpose Fresh Start primer and then 2 coats of BM Aura 'Black' in eggshell finish. I don't use my F/P so heat-resistant issues didn't cross my mind, but something for you to check on if you do. Black heat-resistant paint should be easy to get, because it is available for gas grills. Personally, I don't think it would be necessary, but who knows. jamies - it is not hard at all to add a little faux texture to your bricks yourself. I think you would get a big improvement. you can go lighter or darker or even stay close to the existing color. You can just do a touch or go heavy. Its so flexible and so easy. Just be very random (in a controlled sort of way). Maintain the grout lines. I think in my link above, I described how I did mine.

Well, I'm late chiming in but I'll put in my two cents worth anyway. DON'T paint the brick! We are restoring our 1947 ranch home and unfortunately the cool original brick FP surround was painted white many years ago. We could attempt stripping it, but I've heard many times how iffy that is with only so-so results. I wish the previous owners (had to be them, they'd owned the house for nearly 50 years) had not painted the brick. I guess I should thank my lucky stars they didn't paint the (half brick/half clapboard) exterior horizontal bricks!

An update, as I think we have a winner! Thanks for all the amazing suggestions - I can't even say how helpful this was. My husband rejected a few of the options, like the sage greens. We sampled some more of the finalists and were much happier with these choices than the cooler greys we tried last weekend, which we hated. It was a tough call between Sea Pearl and Revere Pewter, but Sea Pearl won, primarily because we also want to use it the same color in the adjoining hallway, which also leads to some other rooms where we will be using more dramatic colors, so the lighter shade seemed better. Incidentally, we also decided that for the whole house, Cotton Balls will work better than White Dove on the trim and ceilings. We have White Dove in our condo and love it, but the light in the new house is totally different. The White Dove just seems dingy in some rooms, especially the north-facing ones. I'll update this thread with "after" pics in a couple weeks! Samples! You can also see that in the interim, the floors have been refinished! Woohoo! The Sea Pearl is hard to discern in this first pic because it's pretty close to the color of the raw horsehair plaster we will be painting over. (There used to be wallpaper.) But it's swatched to the left of the Revere Pewter, I swear. Here's the hallway. It's crazy how different the light is from room to room in this house. (Still doesn't explain why the downstairs bedroom, just visible on the left, was painted orange...we're going to use the Revere Pewter in there.)