I wouldn't make the storage any higher than is shown. The dimensions look pretty standard so should be ok. The mantle height should fall out of the design...if you have the 12" raised hearth, then the size of the firebox, then the surround should be proportional then the mantle will be so deep and that's where it sits. As drawn, it looks ok. I would want the window seat to be seat height, about 18" which is fine, allowing height of the cushions if any. I certainly wouldn't want it to match the hearth.

You will have to think in detail about the mantle design when you're ready...if it is going to wrap the brick, then it's going to need some space to die into so you'll need a facia board on the front of the shelves to receive it. Otherwise you can have the mantle stop before the corner in the brick and have the end turned there to die into the front wall. Or you can have a rustic beam that is supported by some bricks that are proud of the rest of the facade.

You should also think about lighting...if you want to run rope lighting along the front of the shelves or a more contemporary light attached to the top of the shelves. It helps to have the electrical go in with the cabinetry.

The rest is going to come out of the style in the space, which you haven't shared with us. For example, you could match the crown on the shelves to the crown in the kitchen area. Color, shape, etc. all depends on the style of the room....contemporary? traditional? country? If you're not sure, look through mags and books in the library for ideas.

1. How high are your ceilings? The storage area might be better at 36" inches high.

2. Given what you are displaying, the open shelves might be best at 9" or so. (The open shelves on my antique sideboard, where plates are displayed, are only 6" deep.) For this reason and others, you might also want to reduce the depth of the lower cabinets to 15-18" or even less, if they are still functional at that depth. 24" is the depth of a kitchen cabinet; you don't want this looking like a workspace.

3. If the shelves will be adjustable, you can play with this after you have them up. Personally, I would not expect a continuous line of shelf-mantel-shelf, since you already have a a strong line between the lower cabinets and the display shelves.

4. Yes, it's fine if the window seat is higher. The hearth seat isn't really a seat; it's a hearth.

5. Crown molding that's a smaller version of the mantel would tie the two pieces together. Also, if the shelves are wood, they will look nicer if their front edge is a little thicker than the average board. You can add a 1" trim strip across the front to give them a more substantial feel. This will also reinforce them and help keep them from drooping in the middle! Or you could go with glass shelves with lighting,

6. A dark stain that matches your island would set off the blue-and-white plates and Hummel figures nicely.

In addition to what has already been suggested, I wonder if you need a raised hearth. They take up visual room and serve very little purpose except to raise the firebox which may be exactly the reason you've requested yours. If you can, add an electrical outlet to the flat surface of the mantel. It's so nice for Christmas decorating and can also be used for an uplight. If you are considering using the shelves for coffee table sized books, you may want them a bit deeper than 9" which is standard for normal sized hard covers. I would rather build the shelves deeper and use false backs for display purposes, if necessary, to give myself maximum flexibility. Also, when I did my built-ins, I used drawers rather than shelves in the closed portion. It's lots easier to access items when you can pull a drawer out, but you do lose the flexibility of changing the shelf height inside. It all depends on how you think you will be using the space.

How are you planning to position furniture so that you can watch the tv?

How much have the builders done on the room so far? Is there a way you can put the FP angled in the TV corner, and put the TV where the FP is in the drawing?

Looking at your sketch again, you need to think very carefully about the lower storage units...as drawn, the drawers under the TV most likely won't open as they will hit the hardware on the doors of the other cabinet. Also think about how you want to access the dead space in the corner. Don't know if it's just the drawing, but there's something odd about the tv space overlapping the cabinets on the other wall. Make sure you know how heavy the tv will be so that it is supported properly on that faux wall they are building for you.

I agree with some of the other posters....the TV looks odd where you have it, even angled for watching. I would either angle the TV in the corner permanantly or I would angle the fireplace in the corner and the TV where the fireplace is now. As for the doors opening and hitting others, that is a consideration.

The TV doesn't work there at all. A corner fireplace would work much better, and then have the TV to the left with additional decorative shelves around it. Also, you might want to think about glass doors for the shelving, to minimize dusting the doo dads.

Wow everyone! Thanks for all the helpful feedback and comments! I have received lots of great tips. Here are some answers to your questions:

Annie, I think (stress on the word think) my style is more transitional. Although, I also like colonial. Your comments are very helpful indeed! Thanks for the warning about the drawers under the TV catching the hardward of adjacent cabinetry. I am also worried the TV will look odd being overlapped by the cabinetry on the other wall. I will look into this further. Maybe it is just the drawing.

Fun2BHere, thanks for your ideas! Great point about the light and drawers. I do really like the look of a fireplace with a hearth. I hope I can find a way to incorporate the hearth and not make it too busy.

Chibimimi, thanks for your input! The ceilings are 8 feet high. I forgot to mention that the dining room table and china cabinet (other side of great room) are in a natural oak finish just in case that alters your suggestion for dark wood built-ins. I was kinda of thinking of creamy white built-ins, but agree a dark wood does look nice with the dishes and Hummels.

Jmc01, thanks for your help.

The furniture will be as follows:

a)window seat as shown
b)a generous love seat will face the fireplace
c)a reclining chair and wing back chair will face the TV side.

We plan to put an arm on the TV so it can be angled to face whatever seating we want to use. This is our secondary TV, as there will be one in a games room downstairs for the kids.

Oakleyok,

Thanks for your input. We did consider having the fireplace in the corner. However, visually I like the look of a fireplace centred with two built-ins on either side. Now that the room is framed with windows installed (no framing for fireplace or built-ins done though) I see that having the TV in either the corner or where it is in our proposed layout is optimal to avoid light cast on screen as the TV is an LCD TV.

Thanks and any more ideas welcome!

Carol

I love the tv tucked in where it is, pulled out and angled for watching and pushed back when not. It is such a brilliant solution to those huge ugly screens dominating decor, competing with a beautiful feature like a fireplace.

Hi Hollysprings and grandmaof3,

Thanks for your input! I didn't see your comments until I had posted my above comments. Thanks for letting me know I should re-visit the TV location. We did initially have the TV place in the corner permanently. However, that allowed us only to have lower storage to the right of the fireplace, without the upper display storage. I do like the look of symmetry of having display shelves on either side of the fireplace. I will take another look to see if we can go back to a corner area for the TV. Having the TV where the fireplace is proposed does seem to get us into trouble with TV glare unless we are always closing blinds (we tried moving the TV to various locations to see how the windows glared on the TV). Just not sure what to do.

Thanks,

Carol

Hi Olychick,

I appreciate your vote of confidence. I really don't want the focal point to be the TV, but I still want to be able to angle the TV for good viewing when needed. I was hoping we had arrived at a good compromise between TV and firplace. However, I don't want the TV to look awkward as others have suggested.

Carol

Well, if you are worried (I wouldn't be) there is probably some way to design doors (maybe one that flips up)? to hide it when not in use. To me, awkward is just about every room with a tv as the focal point, fighting with a beautiful fireplace, a gorgeous view, etc. Trust yourself, I think you will love this set-up. Kind of like this...if you can do it so the tv can clear the hardware when you angle it.

{{!gwi}}

Thanks again, Olychick. That is a great door to cover TV when not in use! It will take up less width than the slide inward doors we had talked about, and will likely be easier to use. You said "trust yourself". That made me LOL. That is a major problem for me, coupled with being a perfectionist. I have no design talent, and have been cross checking everything with my designer and/or Gardenweb. I also think I am utterly burnt out with all the decisions we have been faced with, so am becoming even less decisive.

Carol

I understand your dilemma. When we added on, the first placement in the Plans was the TV, then the FP. lol. How many inches are between the two? In the picture it looks crowded, but it could be the drawing. And that's where the problem is. If it's crowded the eye will still go to the TV.

I would hate to see you go through a large expense like this and slap your forehead after it's all done. Been there done that with other stuff.

One thought which could prevent glare would be to put the TV where the FP is, and do the built-in's around the TV. The TV can be in it's own built-in, but scooted back to prevent glare.

The FP can be in the corner at an angle with no built-in's around it.

Either way, I can't wait to see your room! What type of room is it?

Hi Oakleyok,

Thanks for your continued help. The distance between the TV and side of fireplace is 37.5"(built-ins on this side of fireplace will be 37.5" as well). The AutoCad drawing shows a larger TV than we own (it shows one that is 55"). Ours is 45" wide, so if you are looking at the AutoCad drawing (not artist sketch) it shows the TV more hidden behind the fireplace bump out than will be the case. I think my designer corrected this issue in our artist sketch, but I will double check with her. We do plan to have it behind closed doors when not in use.

I do think your idea of having the TV recessed to avoid glare is definitely worth pursuing. I will get my DH to help me move the TV into this location and put blockers so to speak on each side. I fear it will still get light reflected on it from one of the three windows that are opposite that side (2 in dining room and one it kitchen). For some reason, the inspiration fireplaces that I like the most always seem to be ones that are centred in a room, rather than on a corner - maybe I need to keep searching.

BTW, the room with fireplace and TV is our great room. It is part of a long rectangle with the opposite side being our dining room. Just off the dining room is our kitchen which means the total space forms an L shape - all open concept.

Thanks again. Let me know if your have any more thoughts.

Carol

I like the fireplace centered on the wall with symmetrical cabinetry around it.

I think I would design the cabinetry to accommodate the tv on the same wall as the fireplace...it really looks odd in the corner.... I'd probably put it to the left of the fireplace. I would then put the display shelves on the right side and have them go around the corner to create a display nook. With lighting it would be beautiful.

Be sure you are looking at the tv when it's on...the backlighting of the LCD should offset the glare.

Also I looked into getting glass shelves, but it got expensive to grind in a notch to support decorative plates. Wood shelves solved that issue.

Hi Annie,

Thanks again for your help. I think your idea with the display on right of fireplace and TV to the left of fireplace with corner wrap display around sounds very attractive. The TV on the left will be in the path of light, however. Darn TV! I will double test to be sure, but it will need to wait until daylight hours (and yes on our first test we had the TV on). We have three big windows on south wall (side of the window seat), 3 on west wall (one of them sort of north/west as it angles into room from kitchen), and one on the east wall. The staircase is located on the north wall. The many windows that my DH pleaded for have reduced our wall space, and are now reflecting on his TV.

It is too bad we can't figure out a way to have the TV in the corner or just beside the window seat and not have it look odd or awkward. As I stare at the area in real life, it seems doable somehow.

Anyway, tomorrow I will re-test to see if there are any other positions the TV can go in and not have the picture ruined by glare from windows.

Carol

The other thing is to add window treatments for light control...then you can put the tv where you want....they can be duettes so they almost disappear when open.

Onteriomom,
I didn't read any responses, but looked ay your
rendering and think it looked cramed in on the right
side.
Our daughters great room is 21 x 21, her wall units on both sides are equal...

Her tv is on the wall between two windows -- opposite the sofa. I don't know where your sofa is going to be, but
you could easily put a tv in either of these units.
her room has windows on three walls, so it's gets a lot
of light, and tv viewing during the day is not a problem.
The flats screen tv's are much more forgiving of light than the old tube tv's
J

Hi Annie,

Thanks again for your ideas. I will look into these duettes. In my view natural light wins over TV use, but I think my sons might disagree LOL. I also plan to see if we can get a different TV. The current one is a plasma (not an LCD as I posted above). This plasma can go down in the games room in the basement, and we will try to find a TV that can handle natural light better. Anyone know what kind of TV is more tolerant of natural light?

I am worried if we place the TV directly beside the fireplace it will compete for focal point with the fireplace. Perhaps we could still put it behind doors?

Thanks.

Carol

I wanted to post this one as well, but hit submit in
error.

This is the wall behind the sofa. Her tv is opposite
the picture window.

Hi Joann,

Thanks for posting the picture of your daughter's fireplace and built ins - very attractive set-up. I like the idea of putting our TV on a different wall entirely from the fireplace as your daughter has done. However, we are limited to the 76" of room on the wall adjacent to the fireplace wall. Having the TV in that 76" seems to look crammed on paper. We currently have the TV in this 76" of wall space and it does not look tight, but no fireplace or builts ins are in place to fill it up. BTW, it is our new plasma TV that has the glare problem way more than our old tube TV did. Maybe there are other new TV options that are less glare bothered.

Thanks again for your input.

Carol

Ontario Mom, I don't know if this will fit in your room but it is one of my inspiration pics that I used to design my fp. The TV is behind the double door. I ended up putting all the cabinetry on one wall but I still like this arrangement.

Sidney,

Thanks so much for posting that picture as a creative solution. I think we should have the space to do something similar to what your posted, but would need to go down to displaying plates on one side with TV on the other. I certainly like the fireplace with built ins that you chose to do in your home as it achieves what I am trying to do as well - fireplace as the real focus, and TV hidden or down played. Do you find having your TV on a swing out arm convient? In real life do you have the TV swung out most of the time, and only hidden on the occasion? Do you have any issues with glare from windows on your set-up?

Thanks again Sidney for your help. Hopefully, at some point I will have a nice fireplace with built-ins like you do.

Carol

oops, please change convient to convenient.

Carol

Carol, an LCD will definitely help with glare. I'd get the LCD and put the Plasma in the game room like you said.

What type of window treatments will be in the LR? One way to put a TV in front of a window is to use shutters. Shutters help serve as a "wall" in itself.

I sure hope you find a solution!

Carol,thank you for the kind words. The roll out tray is very convenient. It's get plenty of use every day. As for how often the TV is tucked away...whenever DH is in the room he opens the doors and rolls the TV out. When I come into the room I turn the TV off and roll it back behind closed doors. LOL.

The room has lots of day light and the wall next to the TV is all windows and we have never had problems with glare but I think it is because we normally pivot the TV away from the windows toward the center of the room.

I can't wait to see what you end up with...I know it will be great.

Hi Sidney,

Thanks for the chuckle as I envisioned you closing the TV cupboard, and your DH opening it. My sons would be the ones continually opening it around here.

Can I ask you where you got your pull-out and swivel hardware for your TV? I would want a high quality device, as it will get used plenty around here too.

Thanks,

Carol

Carol,

I sent a message to our cabinet builder asking him where he ordered the hardware. I'll let you know when I hear back. The tray is pretty sturdy.......I recall that he special ordered the hardware to make sure it would hold up.

We have built-ins flanking the fireplace and the TV is on another wall. The fireplace is opposite the sofa, and the TV is opposite the pair of chairs.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Porkandham,

That is a beautiful fireplace with built ins. I like where you have your TV as the TV does not spoil the look of your fireplace.

Would you be able to tell me how deep your built-ins are, and possible how deep the fireplace is?

Thanks,

Carol

The cabinet part is 31.5"H, and the counter is 22" D. The shelves are 11.75"D.

The drywall protrudes about 2.5" from the counter. The surround is about 5" D.

I hope those measurements help. Let me know if you were looking for something else.

Porkandham,

I am very happy to have those measurements. Thank you taking the time to get them for me!

Carol