Painted Brick: Yay or Nay?

I've been trying to decide whether to paint the red brick fireplace in our family room.  I really love the traditional look of the red, but part of me thinks it could look really cool with a fresh coat of paint!  Have you painted your brick fireplace?  Here are a few pro's and cons to painting brick....

PRO'S:
- It's hot in the design world right now
- It makes the entire room feel more updated and modern
- It can cover up stains on the brick that you can't get rid of 

CONS:
- It's PERMANENT.  Once you paint brick you can never go back!  Brick is super porous, and it's virtually impossible to remove paint later on.
- Painting brick is very time consuming.  There are several steps (and lots of paint) involved, and unless you know what you're doing, it's really easy to mess up.
- Painted brick can be high maintenance to clean- whites or light colors actually show quite a bit of dirt!

What do you think?  Do you love the look?  Hate it?  Here are some pretty painted brick fireplaces for reference...

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Should I paint my fireplace?  Or keep it as is?  
I would appreciate input!