I am not seeing DARK anything. Your home is lovely, light, bright, airy. You will get as many neighs as yeahs on the fireplace question. Do what you want.

Funny when I look back at the picture, you're right. It doesn't look dark. But actually we don't typically have the blind on the right opened because the neighbor's porch is right there! We just added a screened porch which also made it darker. The only lights we have are the little ones above the fireplace. But, yes I do want to paint it...just afraid I will make it worse!

You have a lovely space but your room does seem just a bit bare. Consider Roman shades on the windows flanking the fireplace and drapes for the French door. Put a rod well above the French doors and have drapes in the same material as the Roman shades (if you use a simple cream material then they could even be slightly different and it wouldn't be noticed). These will be stationary drapes well outside the doors so they don't impede anything but will add much-needed softness to this room.

I would not hesitate the paint the fireplace bricks. It will look much brighter and more current. Do add more art to the walls to give this room a warmer and more lived-in look. Right now it lacks personality, and if you can find a space for books it would also help. Books, plants and arts are great ways to make a room come alive.

You might like a lime wash on your fireplace along with a larger mantel placed lower if possible. Romabio has several light colors of lime wash available at Home Depot, and it's not hard to do. romabio.com

I like junco's idea of the tv mounted on the wall with a narrow console to the right of the doors and moving your chairs along the wall where the tv is now. You could have a table and lamp between the chairs and have a nice place for reading. You have a wonderful place for a tall dracena in the corner to the right of the fireplace-a corn plant or Janet Craig would look nice there. If you have the room, a sofa table behind your sofa would look nice. If you have infloor electrical plugs, you could put a lamp there, too. It looks like your HVAC vents are in the floor. If your home is built on a crawl space or a basement, you could have infloor plugs added by an electrician. If that's a rug I'm seeing between the sofa and chairs, you might get one with more color. Your horse picture has some nice colors you could draw from. Since that's the only art work I see in the room, adding one or two more colorful prints to your walls will help bring in color.

Your tv mounted over the fireplace may cause everyone in your family to have neck problems. Please don't put it there. The horse print looks great over the fireplace. You have a nice family room that just needs some pops of color-and more lighting.

I think painting or using a mixture of water and paint would look great. You have a lovely home and great taste! If you do paint I would remove the mantle and lower it and use a more substantial wood stained mantle. Just my 2 cents.

I would absolutely paint the fireplace. That in addition to better lighting will brighten the room and make for a nice update. The brick isnt adding anything special to the space and I think it would be stunning painted.