The beaded board is part of your trim, so I would leave it, unless you are willing to paint all your trim white. Consider painting or staining the bricks black and lighten the walls…Try B.M. Lacey Pearl which, IMO, will look beautiful with the wood work. .

First off I'll say I think this space has great potential. Not sure what your style is or what the style of the house is, but it has some midcentury vibes. 1. Take your time with any decisions, if you just purchased / just moved in, no need to change things right away. The reason people always give this advice is it's easy to change your mind and if you haven't really thought about it for long enough you might do something you no longer like that's not easily reversible, like painting brick. 2. Delete wall paneling if possible. If not, paint white like the upper portion of the walls and ceiling. Or better yet lose that dark trim up top. 3. I would lose the curtains but I don't like window treatments, so... 3. Carpet --> light laminate or wood flooring like you said. In the zone of natural white oak. I know you mentioned this and obviously more $$$ and not a bandaid fix, I'm just affirming it's a good idea down the road :) 4. Get rid of shelving on fireplace, and ALL knick knacks that go with it 5. Put a nice looking set of fireplace tools on display 5. If you DO install light wood flooring in the future, consider a mantel that matches instead of the dark rustic looking one that is there. 6. Find a nice piece of art that speaks to you and elevates the room, larger than what's currently in place, and hang it above the mantel. Right now the art fades into the brick. 7. I don't know what is entailed, but if you can get rid of that hearth / semi-circle, get rid of it. Maybe when you do flooring there will be an opportunity to wrap demo of that in. 8. Splurge on a cool modern fan or interesting pendant light fixture to replace existing fan. Maybe add a table lamp to a side table for some additional light. 9. I would not paint or wash the brick, but I don't like painted brick. If you don't like the brick you might as well drywall over it. Again, just my opinion. I think there are a lot of other things you can address first, and then you might find the brick isn't an issue. Just some ideas. When I first moved into my house I also wanted to paint our brick fireplace, white. I'm soooo glad I didn't. I realize everyone has different styles, but just to show you how the surrounding details can make a difference, here is the listing photo and how it is today:

While we wait for others to weigh I on colors, I will add my honest opinion. I would drywall over the brick. For paint, I would continue the gray paint you are using on the walls. Can you share the name of your gray paint? Lovely so far.

Boho 3d morning inspiration. I was able to throw this together before looking around at my other client's projects. Thank you! A white brick wallpaper would look chic in this room! you could also post on a different site for style photoshoots. photographers would love a space like that on the off-seasons