We are renovating our 70's cedar clad pole house. My husband painted between the ceiling beams in the kitchen/dining/living open space. He has just finished laying parquetry on the floor. We felt it was in keeping with the wood but felt the ceiling needed lightening up. It definitely brightened the place. I love it. I also sprayed some light fittings that were green fake verdigris with white paint. That also updated without detracting from the retro feel. Our kitchen has cupboards painted white and some drawer fronts in a wood finish.

Sounds like you've made a decision not to cover any of the brick. Just to answer your question - the masonry adhesive is applied to the brick surface (not the Gyprock) in blobs approx 450mm apart. It sets pretty hard so to remove it at a later time you'd probably have to chisel it off. Any residue left in the surface of the brick could be touched up with brick coloured paint. Apparently you can also use cornice adhesive. Same way of removing & hydrochloric acid would remove any residue.

I like the colours you’ve suggested. I find neutrals restful. Do you have a sample of your cabinetry? An easy way to get a coordinated look, without whites clashing, is to have the white colour matched at the paint shop to the cabinetry. The colour match will tell you if White Beach is on the right track. I’d consider a more plainer white for the trim ie Natural White as suggested above or Berkshire White. For your splashback - could the budget stretch to the benchtop material? If not a tile colour that picks up one of the benchtop fleck colours will give you a coordinated look. Sounds lovely. Come back and post the completed pics.

The best way to cover dark is to use a grey tinted primer first. Talk to a paint specialist. Dulux on line may help