Pictures would help us a lot.

There was a great HGTV show on today that showed a fireplace remake. They actually stained the red brick fireplace, and then they built a larger mantle surround and painted it a faux wood with two different colors of brown paint.

I posted a picture in the gallery. I tried to put in a link from here but it didn't work.

Right now I'm thinking paint panelling wall same color as other walls. Paint brick fireplace white. Place a slightly larger (deeper) mantle on fireplace, that comes down a bit to cover the seemingly too big span of brick above the fireplace.

I would try again to post here. There are people who can tell you how to post the photos from the gallery here.

Here you go:

{{!gwi}}

I think you are on the right track with painting the paneling the same color as the walls. You can always sheetrock over it later if you don't like the look or the painted paneling. Just my opinion, but I don't think you should paint the bricks. I do think a nice new beefy mantel and surround painted to match the trim in the room would really dress up the space. The fireplace surround (not sure if I'm calling that by the right name) can cover up a lot of the brick.

I would paint the paneling first. Then decide if you want to take the further step of re-doing the fireplace. I can't tell too much from the picture, but you might also trying cleaning the brick. There looks to be soot on it. Somewhere on the internet there are instructions for cleaning fireplace brick. Would love to see your "after" pictures when you finish painting.

I would paint the paneling to match the wall.

Then, option one, whitewash the brick with a wash of the trim color, and add big corbels and a thicker mantel shelf made of good (perhaps reclaimed) lumber.
Or, option two, add a full mantelpiece, painted to match the trim, with a big opening, to leave a border of the brick exposed around the firebox, and paint the exposed brick flat black.
The link is a source for stock mantels. In your room, something simple and classic would look lovely.
If nothing fits well enough to cover the brick, you can have a carpenter make one from stock lumber and moldings, using a stock one (or a magazine photo) as the model.

Option two is how we converted a dark paneled den with brick around the fireplace into our living room in our former house (sorry about the huge photo...I wanted the details of the fireplace to show better):

Here is a link that might be useful: Traditional wood mantels

The black painted brick with the white surround is really pretty and something I had not considered. That idea also has the advantage of matching the black tile at the foot of the fireplace. My husband is pretty handy and he could probably build a mantle himself.

Thanks for the ideas!

I'm with artlover in painting the paneling to match the other walls and adding a nice fireplace surround. As nice as the brick looks in black in the photo above, I'm on that prefers natural brick. So that will have to be a personal decision.

Yes, I think natural brick could also be nice. Ours were old exterior bricks that were beautiful on the outside walls, but looked too rustic and clunky for the room, I thought. Euphorbia's bricks seem a bit more civilized.
Still, the idea of matching the hearth is good, too, but I do have the fewer-finishes-are-better bias.

I'm not usually a fan of painted brick, but in this case I think you should paint the brick black.

You know I didn't notice the black hearth before. I'd paint the brick black too.

Totally second Bronwyn's Mom advice and photo.

euph
Do you know if there is drywall under the paneling? I would ck into that before the effort of stain killing, painting the outdated paneling - if not, I agree paint the paneling same as wall color.

I would get a good brick cleaner - ck stone yards and give the brick a really good cleaning to brighten it - you could use same on the firebox (interior) that would brighten as well & hearth - paint the existing mantle - then decide - nothing lost as you would have to give the brick a good cleaning before painting anyway

good luck

Wow, thanks suero! Nice to have an idea of how it will look.

jejvtr: not sure what is under the panelling. The house was build in 1976.

If your house is the same as mine(and it looks as if it can be), the paneling is nailed directly to the studs. Tap on the paneling. If it sound hollow, there's nothing underneath.

I would paint the paneling even if there is drywall underneath. Even though it is 1970s paneling rather than a true beaded panel like the inspiration photo, it will add a level of detail to the fireplace wall (for free), that you would not get with the drywall.

One of the things I noticed in the inspiration photo is that the beam does not intersect the FP in the middle. If the wall were painted a different color, or, if there weren't all that other detail, you may notice that more. That doesn't apply to your situation directly, but it just shows what another detail (giving you something else to look at) can really be an advantage.

Yes, Palimpsest, that beam drove me mad until I stopped seeing it after the first year...!

We removed two other beams toward the ends of the room, but that one had steel in it and was holding up the second floor, so we thought we ought to let it be!

Painting everything, including the ceiling, the same ivory was necessary in this case, as you might imagine. Which is what I wanted to do anyway. It wasn't the only challenge in that house, but the lovely neighborhood and the long 9-over-9 true divided light windows and the correct diminution of fenestration on the front facade seduced me...happily, as it turned out!

(For those of you who aren't architects/designers, that just means that the upstairs windows are shorter (6-over-9) than the first floor.)

I shut up now...