How to Paint a Brick Fireplace

Our house was built in the 1960's and we fell in love with the character of the older architect. That, coupled with the location and the yard is why we bought it, however, it is constantly a work in progress.  The fireplace, like so many from that time, had been painted over rather than staying the same brick color for all these years.  Ours was painted white, which did give it an updated look, yet you can imagine how hard it was to keep the darn thing cleaned every time you lit a fire.  So again, I enlisted the help of my trusted friend and interior designer, Scarlett, and she suggested a nice, dark grayish color called Black Fox from Sherwin Williams to do the trick.  Here's my before picture....

And here's the after...

So do you like the darker color?