Mad_gallica: central Colorado All: The brick half wall goes into the brick about 8 inches at the points that are truly attached. It stretches across the left portion of the house where it becomes unattached again. At that point, It serves as a fence for the left 4 feet of the house in front of the dog run on the side. There is actually a real fence behind the brick wall there, so that's no concern if we were to decide to take it down. Attached are some additional pictures. The 3rd picture has an arrow showing where the wall is not attached again. To the comments about the downspouts we actually had gutter work done to correct gutters that were hung incorrectly. Out of 3 quotes, they all gave us two options either having the downspout where it was originally (running across the porch as you see in the first picture, which drove me mad) or moved along the side of the house in front of the wall as you see on my previous close ups. Running across the porch was awful and there was no way to paint it to disappear so I went with moving it. The middle pictures are old. The cedar is gone. The right cottonwood is also dead and removed (part of the reason for our working on the exterior).

You should remove the hanging string lights from the ceiling beams. Also, the lights(?) on the foyer side could be replaced with more attractive wall lanterns or sconces. — I would remove the louvered doors into adjoining rooms and then think about this ; in European homes iron gates are often used to partition interior rooms. Don’t know the budget, but I think it is the small portions of brick wall at the left and right sides which look ODD. You could have small left and right side opening gates commissioned and installed like an art installation. Short of that , ENCASE the narrow brick sections ( L&R ) with wood and make them into square columns all the way to the ceiling. A slatted partition wall could go to the ceiling at the middle portion, or a custom open shelving installation . All of these are likely expensive and complicated options, but you might be able to do just one and it would be an improvement.

Leave the reddish brick walls, and the stairway brick too, since they all match. For the foundation, but, the type of paint for stone and brick, and paint the foundation with a color close to the color of the brick. Pick pavers that will blend with the brick color, and other colors of the house, not something that will fight with the house.

With a wood heater, would definitely not want carpet. Would leave the brick wall -- the wall near the wood heater likely absorbs warmth -- a plus for brick as well as it also being a safety measure. What you might consider is measuring the space to the right of the heater between heater and wall and then keep the brick wall mostly clear for the same space left of the heater (aside from the window already there) but beyond that on the left, consider adding a board panel with decor above the tall shelving unit you already have .. not cover the entire wall but a rectangle made of the same material you intend to use for your new flooring and then add art to that ... perhaps a pressed metal wall sculpture. Or just the art without the board. https://www.touchofclass.com/evening-sunset-wall-sculpt/p/Y362-001/ Some metal wall art could be painted your favorite bold color: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wall-Decor-Metallic-Layered-Large-Wire-Flower-by-Lavish-Home-Gold/696871656 Pick a subject that reflects your interest and see what you can find: https://www.etsy.com/market/music_metal_art Or, depending upon your flooring selection, just create some pattern you can create on part of a sheet of plywood (sized/cut to fit the space as art ) with your flooring selection and frame it. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/307511480802897027/