I would paint it all the wall color so it "disappears."

At this time -- another vote to paint the whole room in a soft creamy white (or a color that would blend with the tones in the tile) -- including the whole fireplace.

Add a very large sisal rug to the room -- and then add your decor.

Paint it!!!! (says one who just painted hers!!!)

Paint will do wonders and will tide you over until you have the time and budget to deal with the brick, but you could plaster over it and the raised hearth and have a Santa Fe-like fireplace.

There's an ugly brick half wall between my living room and dining room. Haven't got to it yet, but my plans are to glue on sheets of masonite (fiberboard, pressboard I've heard it called) Anyway, it's thinner than sheet rock. I'm going to have the woven side out to mimic burlap, and then use 1x3s and have a Craftsman-style burlap and batten panelling effect.

Or more formal panelling with a granite or marble surround to fireplace and a mantel added - there are so many ways to deal with that wall - what's your decor?

If you have matching tile to finish the floor, you could demolish the column.

If you could find matching tile, I would recommend removing the raised hearth and column and drywalling over the brick. You'd only lose about 4" from the room, and you'd gain floor space where the raised hearth is now.

I think the tile is fine and I would start with warming up the walls with paint so it all coordinates better. As far as the firplace, I'm a little stumped. Of course I think the brick is great - I usually do and never want to paint it unless it is really ugly. I also like the hearth. I think you are really lucky to have the sconces built in also. I do not like the half wall and would want to remove it. The panel has me really stumped. Is it recessed into the brick? It's hard for me to tell. Who would do that? That part of the firplace would make me want to do some serious remodeling of the fireplace. To me, it just looks odd. Maybe some GW talents here can photoshop some options for you. Good luck with your decision.

I had a stonemason plaster over the bricks around one of my fireplaces, although mine was a small area beneath the mantle.

I second painting all of the fireplace and walls cream. Could you build a tall what-not shelf from the column to the ceiling or would that cut more out of your room? Otherwise I would use the column to either put a plant on or some sort of statuary or leave it plain.

I just found a neat article here about different ways you can "redo" your brick fireplace. You might find some great ideas from this site.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Solutions for remodeling fireplace

Just imagine, with some paneling and skill, you could make it look like this!! Wow!

To address the tile issue, have you thought about making a border around the entire room using a smaller, coordinated tile?