Oops :) I forgot to attach the link that shows a picture of our fireplace.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pic of our fireplace

What about gyp-rocking the top half (from the bottom of the mantle up), painting the gyp-rock the same colour as your walls and then painting the mantle the same colour as the trim in your room.
We did that to our basement fireplace - which is almost the same design as yours (low brick hearth included) and it updated it and brightened up the room so much.

What is your decor style in your home? I see a black leather chair, but not much else to give clues.

What color will the walls be painted - are you painting the top and bottom half different colors? What accent colors will you be using?

What color will the floor be? Light, dark, maple, oak?

I would paint it or lime wash it, and use some sort of trim molding where the vertical outside edge of brick meets drywall--- it looks like an awkward transition between two surfaces.

I'm a little confused by your question: do you want to change the whole fireplace (paint, sheetrock it??) or do you want to change the hearth decoration, screen, mantel? The room will look very different when the new floor goes in -- it should look great.

Anyway, the link below is for some google images. I think you have to have some idea of what you like first.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fireplace pictures