There is a RustOLeum muted gray spray paint intended for BBQ grills. You might consider painting it with that or a similar product designed to withstand high heat. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rust-Oleum-Specialty-High-Heat-Ultra-Silver-Spray-Paint-12-oz/196486786?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=2419&adid=22222222227066487799&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=192936394920&wl4=pla-306315930177&wl5=9011064&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113134491&wl11=online&wl12=196486786&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0pqIu6ve5AIVRR6tBh0Oyw_0EAQYBiABEgLbwPD_BwE No fireplace "needs" a mantel if you don't want one; however, if/when you remove it, do expect to find some brackets that were holding it that will need to be removed if you remove the support board, too. You might be able to remove the mantel shelf and its supports and leave the board that is flat against the chimney and, perhaps, cover it with a new fireplace surround or build the surround beneath it and paint that board either the same color as the chimney or the same color as the surround.

Pleasant looking room. You might experiment with different colored bulbs for your ceiling/spotlight and find a light that could be more of a whole room light than either your spotlight or ceiling fan without being s glaringly bright when you don't need that much light. There are floor lamps with two lights -- one lights up the ceiling (conversation lighting) and the other is flexible/adjustable (reading light). Using less intense indirect lighting instead of the spotlight or overhead light could give your room a more relaxed and comfortable vibe. https://www.amazon.com/Floor-Lamp-Light-Accents-Torchiere/dp/B0085NX9B6

Your new floors look nice! What's is your budget for the fireplace? Before you get your floors redone, I would definitely decide what to do about the red hearth tiles so you won't have to later yank the tiles out of your new floor. A low budget update would be to beef up the mantle and the trim and paint it to match the existing trim in the room.

To my eye the fireplace does not have attractive proportions. The hearth is too wide and and overly deep for its height, the wood box is too small, the ceiling trim too bulky, mantle too large and too high. And the doorway looks squashed in beside it. No amount of whitewashing or painting is is going to change any of that. The good news is that it looks like the stone isn't boulders stacked up like some of the photos people have posted above. I think it's rock veneer, flat pieces of rock stuck to a cement/wire mesh base. If it's veneer, you should be able to see that from the side. Can you stand by the round mirror and take a picture for us? Veneer can be removed relatively easily by someone with experience and the right tools. Then you can have the room you want. You can shorten the hearth and put the TV to the left of the fireplace which would look much better than above it. Now is the time to do it, when you're re-doing the floor. If not, be sure to keep a box of the flooring for later if you want to remove or shorten the hearth and need to fill in the floor. My house also had an overpowering stone fireplace and the best thing we ever did was replace it with a normally-proportioned fireplace surround. IMO these large stone fireplace walls look great in big chalet-style homes with high ceilings, and are out of place in regular homes.