What a great room, adding a barn door is a great idea, I would change your bedding to a lighter colour, you could add shutters to your window, some fabulous artwork on the walls even a mirror.. could look uniquely fabulous

Your quilt cover design is making the room seem even more narrow. Purchase a white, plain, no pattern quilt cover.
Great suggestions by Julie Herbert. New horizontal window covering to help widen the room. Eg: shutters.
If you really want to cover the brick, I would leave the wall with the window as raw brick for a feature.

Retain the textural element of the walls and consider a whitewash to contrast with a timber barn door. Ditch the stripey bed linen and invest in art that you love.

Thank you everyone. I love the options

With the vertical blinds and brick walls , it reminds me of what I imagine an old jail cell was like .

To cover the walls , I imagine you'd need some framing nail or attached to the brick , probably 30mm thick , then the panels , say 20mm , so you are taking 50mm or more out of each wall , it will look and actually be narrower still , but I'd look at doing the barndoor wall with a lining ( it may not need it , as the doors may cover most of the brick , especially when open ) ; and go the opposite of Dreamer -- panel the window wall , and use imaginative or classy wallpaper ( or fabric if you are brave ) and almost make that wall a huge headboard , and the main feature . With a narrow framing then the lining , you could even feed wiring 'up' before the lining goes on , add a couple of downlights or uplights , give it a Wow factor !

Agree that the bedding isn't helping and it looks rather like a prison cell. Paint first, change bedding, stick wall sconces either side of bed and build shelf for bedsides.

Pendant lighting, a small bedside shelf, white shutters, fabulous

Def plaster side walls. This will widen look of room adding some reflection and reducing chance of clothes sticking on bricks. The stripes doona is making the room look long and narrow.

I love your blue barn doors with the brick in the second room, just gorgeous. The brickwork in the first room does make it appear a bit dark and small. I like Mary_Anne's idea of white washing the walls and I'd use a plain white bed cover instead.

Definitely don"t sheet it. Render or paint instead

Have a read of this houzz article, you might find some of these ideas on what to do with brick walls useful. https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/how-to-make-an-interior-brick-wall-work-stsetivw-vs~94836814

I would also change up your styling to better suit the aesthetic of brick, maybe some industrial style wall sconces, simple white or neutral bedding etc.

I would also look at just white washing the brick and then purchasing a bed with a bedhead that's firmly attached to the base, so you can bring it slightly off the wall, and I'd do wall to wall, hung from ceiling s fold sheers and a new roller blind instead of the verticals behind the bedhead, to soften the whole look. And also switch out the bedlinen as others have suggested. I think as oklouise said I think you'll save a boatload not plastering the walls. Barn doors are awesome. Can't wait to see your after pics once you choose which way to go. Good luck! :)

As others have suggested change the bed linen, Try adding a full width bed head, shutters etc, I love julies timber doors and colours they work so well with your new room

Please don’t render, after the earthquake in Melbourne we have fine cracks appearing in our rendered walls, don’t think I would ever render again, way too much maintenance.

What bad luck Julie Is it cracked internally and externally will a coat of paint cover them, but it all costs, can you claim insurance or is it deemed an Act of God. Years ago we experienced several earth quakes in the Pacific Islands when the insurance company decided not pay for damages ,hopefully the bricks underneath are ok. please let us know how you get on..

It has a hairline crack on the internal wall, I think a coat of paint will cover it, there doesn’t seem to be any structural damage to the bricks thank goodness, but will consider other options to render in the future, yes insurance companies definitely have the upper hand when trying to make a claim, thank you siriuskey ❤️