SFGate

hparks74 If your looking for inexpensive paint and scrape is a good look.

janishill What are you thinking? Painting? Making it the feature it is meant to be? Trying to disguise it?

marylundstrom Something to break up the expanse of the brick. Maybe a mantle or a large painting or both???

fatbird Wood press cement wood look great. You have a wonderful fire place. Maybe add a mantel and hang a mirror

Yarbro Home Improvement LLC It really is too bad that the fire box is not proportionately sized to the chase. Stone tiles or other, adhere to brick wonderfully. I'd frame the fire box in something dark to make it appear larger and then apply a lighter colored stone on the remaining. Definitely a large mantle to break up the height. Lodge theme appropriate for this house?

BeyondFrames For me is not the size of the fireplace but it's darkness.
Depending on your budget you could opt for painting it , add a mantel and some large art or mirror with wide frames.
Or you could tile it completely, or cover it with travertine stone , or stacked stone, stone veneer, an then add a mantel and some decorative objects .
My goal would be to create a focal point at the height that would create an illusion of balance for the entire room.

hparks74 Another idea is you could cover the top 8 feet in vertical knotty pine stained board, using an aged antiqued finish by burning and beating it with chains.

hparks74 Here is a sample.. I think once you beet it and stain after the burnishing you'd get a rustic but modern edge.

Open Dorr Custom Renovation You could add a mantle, frame in the upper portion with drywall and overlay the bottom section in Ledgestone. If the Stonemason you use knows how to open up the firebox and make it larger for an insert, then the whole piece would be a wonderful feature, but softer. Also, use a contrasting stone for the hearth.

prisdan I would remove or drywall the upper half of the fireplace to match texisting wall. Leaving the fiplace slightly longer than the drapery hardware. Change window coverings to add color and contrast. Add a mantel with great accents and picture.

normie94563 I suspects underneath the top portion of the chimney is wall? I would suggest a professional masonry remove the top portion of the bricks. You can reuse these bricks elsewhere in the house as design element. Good luck! Click photo to see option.