I think it looks better to not have the TV in the center. It always looks like TV worship to me when it is in the middle, as though the TV were the most Important Thing In The Room, which it may very well be but we never admit it.

I would be concerned on balancing the depth though. If the TV section is 15" deep, maybe it wouldn't matter if it were on the end, but at least consider if it would look weird having just one section extra deep. Might be fine, or you might be able to recess the components into the wall between the studs and keep the whole thing 12".

When we bought this house, I thought it odd that the fireplace and built in's weren't balanced but I have become accustomed to the look.

fori, I was thinking about the fact that the protrusion of 15" at one end might be more of an issue than the fact that the tv is not centered. I might be able to move the TV (15" section) down more toward the middle and have a narrower section of bookshelves on the other side, although it wouldn't be centered. Point taken about the tv being displayed as though the most important thing in the room.

Thanks for the photo flymom65. I've been trying to find some where the tv and/or fireplace wasn't centered just to get an idea of how it might look. Not bad. Is there anymore bookshelves to the left of the fireplace or is all on just the one side?

Here's mine, off to the right of the fireplace.

No shelves on the other side, just the doorway into the kitchen. Many of the homes in our development are built this way.

clt3, your built ins are really nice. I think that the tv at one end or not centered would work fine. I just need to figure out about the 15" vs the 12" depth. I would really like to get away with all 12", which would work except for those darned components!

I originally wanted to recess it into the wall, which would require going a foot or two into our garage. My husband won't go for that, plus it would then require a beam in the ceiling and a professional to do it. My familyroom is narrow and this is taking away actual floor space.

kmarcel, when you think about the dimension you need, cutting into the drywall between the studs only in the places where you need to stash the components (I assume that will be in the lower portion of the arrangement) will give you the additional 3" you'd get from a 15" depth. And you wouldn't compromise the integrity of the structure, either.

The other thought would be to increase the depth only in the bottom bit under the television, which would keep you from having to intrude into your room at and above eye level.

bronwynsmom,those are both good ideas. I think if I had to go the 15" depth from the wall, not going in between studs, then I would just do it under the TV. My thought was to purchase a nice unfinished TV stand with doors and then build all the other bookshelves around it. As my plan is for all of it to be painted white. My husband has built book shelves and they look nice. But I think for the doors might be easier to buy that separate piece.

That could work.

We did exactly that to house the TV in our current library/den. The stand, which came from Crate & Barrel, fits up under the lowest of three shelves we had made to connect two inexpensive unfinished bookcases.

I painted the whole business to match the walls, and we set the bookcases up on wooden bases made as tall as the baseboard, which enabled us to push the bookcases back flush against the wall. (Sorry about the fuzzy photo.)

Make sure you buy one with glass or open screening in the doors so that you don't have to open them into the space to make your remotes able to communicate with them.