yep. You can liven up the area without sacrificing the depth & warmth of that rich knotty pine paneling; replacing the cool-color carpet with warm wood flooring will be more harmonious. Once that's done, live with it a little while, & then you might think about doing something to the fireplace-I usually think red brick is too massive & dense for any building other than a school, & definitely too much for the interior of a home, so I'd probably lighten it up. Then you might think about replacing the cool-color paint on the walls with a warm color that would tie the room together rather than driving it apart. (yes, you are correct: I am incapable of doing just one thing & leaving other things alone!). It's a lovely room, & I hope you have fun with it!

It won't be an easy job, but I'd leave the brick as is and paint the book cases, cabinets, and wainscoting, leave the FP mantel and back wall as is, and hang some kind of horizontal artwork on that back FP Wall, paint the crown moulding, leave the beams as they are, paint the walls a more saturated color, and paint the walls behind the book shelves a neat-o color. It would really brighten up the room, bring it up to more contemporary, but maintain the cozy rustic feel as well. Is this work you'd do yourself? wouldn't be easy. You have to sand everything first, then put three coats of BIN primer over the pine, and then paint. Knots in pine bleed right through paint, which is why you have to prime pine with BIN, three coats, before painting.

Like the pergola over the garage door idea. If built to be sturdy enough to walk on it, then it could serve as a fire escape route should the need ever arise -- certainly hope it never does. You might also consider painting your step rails and side supports the same color as your siding unless you're planning to have a wood finish door and/or a rustic porch and post addition over the entry at a later date, in which case you'd want those additions to have the same wood finish. (Might apply to any pergola over the garage as well.) https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+rustic+porch+and+post+entry&qpvt=images+rustic+porch+and+post+entry&FORM=IGRE

You could paint your fireplace, but it looks like you like orange (pillows). I would get some new artwork for over the fireplace with orange in it. Then I think I would paint the shelves white...(You have white in the kitchen) with back of them the wall color like you have now. Then I would hang some white sheers on the lower windows to soften things up.. If it still looks dark, then I would paint the fireplace or retile it with the tile you have on your kitchen backsplash if possible.