Thanks for all the great ideas! I thought about putting a Christmas tree on my front porch however it would block a good bit of my dining room window. Not sure how that would look - I might just have to try it out. I usually just do candles in all of the front windows, lighted garland around the front door and a wreath. Pretty boring. I LOVE the sled and ice skate idea. How cute! I'm going to browse the Better Homes and Garden website now. I've always wanted to put lights in the front yard trees but never have attempted it. This might be my trial and error year! Lori

great article, just incase folks dont read it here is a clip from it "Will the heat from the fireplace harm the plasma TV? There are a few precautions to take before hanging a plasma screen TV over your fireplace. First, take a thermometer and tape it to the wall above the mantel, in the place where the plasma TV will reside. Then build a fire, and let it roar awhile. Now, check the thermometer. If the temperature is above 90 degrees F, then the area is receiving too much heat -- either escaping from the front of the fireplace and rising up the face, or radiating through the chimney to warm the outside wall -- for a plasma TV to hang there without receiving some modicum of residual damage. It would not be advisable to run the plasma for a long period of time while its environment is this hot. Though the Plasma TV has its own cooling system, the surrounding heat will force the Plasma display to work harder to cool itself, thus shortening the overall lifespan of the unit over time. A Plasma TV may still be run for short periods of time without harming the unit (even with the environment heat at 90 degrees F or above). If the plasma display is not turned on while a fire burn in the fireplace, then the unit will not be harmed at all even though the temperature surrounding the unit may be warm. Of course, this might not be an option for people living in places where winter lasts seemingly forever, and fires are an everyday fact of life. In such cases, you should be advised to monitor the amount of heat your plasma display is exposed to while it is running."

lascatx I love that fan! Thanks so much! Do you think having a 30inch fixture is to big to put over a 42inch round table....even if it is, I think this is by far the nicest fan I've seen. The other one I loved was another one at Lowes, but when I went to buy it the salesman said the light was no better than a night light, which was not good for me... Cat Mom your Fan is beautiful, but think it's to contemporary for my kitchen. Thanks for showing it to me.

Zipdee, I just had a brilliant idea. Since you already have white bookcases....and they are a little bit away from the current fireplace....what about building a surround to go around that one making it all look like it was done that way in the beginning. If you take a straight on photo showing the fireplace and the bookcases I'll do a virtual for you. Oh and if you have a straight on of the style of surround you like I'd put that one in there for you so you can see if that's what you really want. Can you tell I really don't want you to paint your current fireplace yet? Wish I could make you a new one and take that one. Our home is a Victorian Revival and I'd love a fireplace surround like that.