What to do with a brick fireplace?

One of the reasons my husband and I fell in love with our house was because of the addition in the back with a fireplace.  This was one of the items on our house hunting list that we would not compromise on.  He and I have always grown up with fireplaces, our apartment even had a wood burning fireplace so the house we planned to spend the next 5-10 years of our lives inhad to have one as well (truthfully we will probably be here much longer than that!). 

My dilemma you ask?  Well I love the idea of the fireplace wall as a brick wall, I am just not thrilled with the fact that the previous owner painted it this weird grayish color.  Brick walls can be very hit or miss in my book, you want to avoid the really dated brick wall look and in my case, a brick wall that gives a very cold vibe. 

Anyone out there with experience in this arena please jump in, I am all ears.

So I have been mentally noting all of the brick walls that strike my fancy while I am out and about, and trying to find a way (without completely ruining my wall or taking five years to complete the task) to re-create them in my house.

This is my wall now:

Here are a few brick walls I have fallen for:

The Lucky Brand Store (without the logo of course).  They are a little hard to see but I think you get the idea.  They have more of a washed out look than the last picture you will see.  The jury is still out on this particular color but right now anything seems better than the color on my wall.

This is the front runner so if anyone knows how to make this happen let me know!



Now that you have seen my wall and what I have in mind, what would you do?  Leave the wall as is or hunt for an alternative...if one exists!

See you swoon,