How many people will be using this room? Please provide a floor plan and measurements so we can help. Thank you.

I love the shape and style of that fireplace and wouldn't change anything about that. what I would do is paint it white (or whitewash) and swap out the white mantle for a simple wood one.

paint it white. opens the whole room up and allows for more decorating flexibility

oh and it appears it has a brass surround. that can easily be painted with high temp spray paint. I recommend matte black.

I don’t have a floor plan but is 179” x 184” It just me in the house.

Thank you all for the suggestions! It seems most are of the same opinion!! That’s great!

I would not paint the brick.

I think built ins on either side, the depth of the hearth would look nice. it would hide a bit of the brick so its not so overwhelming.

I never thought about built ins on the sides.

NO built ins unless you own awesome stuff to display I love the FP as it is I would get a huge horizontal piece of art to hang above the brick and a beutiful wood mantel wide enough to be able to decorate for Chritmas if that is something you would do. I think I would clean the brick and leave it for now . Wait until all your stuff is in place and then decide if painting it would be good .IMO the brick makes the space . BTW if that is agas insert you do not need the hearth

Hello. I'm copying to get it again: "grays, blues and green in my color scheme’s. The floor has some brown in it as well. It’s not a huge area and I want a casual cozy."

I'd probably leave it toasty as it is, esp. with some brown in floor.

With cool colors, you might find a cozy warmth in the brick. Might be different if red brick.. hm but it's not... ?

With the color scheme you describe, the brick will help bring some cozy warmth to the area; would NOT paint the brick.

I looked again and didn't see new ceiling lights near fp - could be that with dark kitchen, and new sofa, etc. you might want it lightened. Off topic but some say that a different color flooring where a step-down is, helps prevent visual confusion. The nearby door seems to open toward a step, yikes carrying groceries in... :)

Thank you all for all of the suggestions ! I may just wait and see how it goes with the colors I’m trying to use! . I’m also in the process of filling in that sunken living room! Super excited about it all.

Nice. Good 'luck' with your project!

This is what i was thinking for the built-ins. Like Patricia said, no shelves to collect stuff. Something like thus would hide most of the brick, but also leave it in case in 20 years you change your mind.

That is not what I was thinking and that is beautiful!

Since the floor is getting filled in, I would use faux wood doors to cover a good portion of the brick and not take up any space in the room :^) I would also look into windows to flank each side above the brick, more light is never a bad thing! Looks like a great project, have fun.

I would leave the brick alone and give it a slate gray mantel (heavier than the white one shown) above. The one danger I see is that the flooring and brick together may be awfully much texture, but if you get some nice large area rugs, the natural brick will bring some rustic homey-ness to your more urbane furnishings.