Ideas for existing fireplace in rental

[Daria B.]

Hi all,

When it comes to design, I fall short of ideas. This includes picking out paint color.

I have a rental that I will include pictures of to get an idea of the room surroundings. 

My quandary is what to do with the fireplace that is extremely dated. There are built in wood book shelves on each side of the fire place that I thought of painting but then decided to just keep the wood look. However, the fireplace needs some lifting up from the aged look it has. The mantel is also a rough wood that I suppose I could paint but once that is done, it's done and if it doesn't turn out good then....

Some ideas after looking at what others did were to have stone put over the brick to give it a lighter color and more updated look. I've seen some do an acid wash and not try to cover up the existing but just clean it up.

In the photo, the real wall paint color is by Sherwin Williams Interactive Cream. The living room and dining room was taken prior to painting and still shows the white walls.

For those that have fireplaces in their rentals, cost-wise, what have you done to clean up or make the fireplace look better if it's aged?

Thanks for your input....