Well these aren't mine, but they might help you....
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This next one is cabinets, but thought I'd share it just incase it inspired you...
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That's all I have in my fireplace album. I'll look in other rooms just incase there's something there.

Here's some more. This first one is a bit hard to see. I darkened it some in hopes to help.
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Another one with enclosed cabinets...
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These next couple are probably not the style you want, but someone else may like it if you don't.
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Ok, those were from my family room album. Lets see what else I have.......Later.....

And this next one is ZuZu's that if I remember right belongs to GW. I just love everything about her room.
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Not quite a regular fireplace, but it has bookcases beside it.
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Well that's all I had with bookcases from my living room album. I should check my bedroom album too though bedrooms with fireplaces don't normally have bookcases around them.
I hope you find one that rings that bell that says "YES! That's just what I want."

Here are some I have been collecting:

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LOL..Justgotabeme....hey..that's my fireplace up there. Except it's from when we first moved in. Here's a more updated photo. Actually I was thinking of asking for more help with the mantle again. I'm hating the flower arrangement up there all of the sudden. But don't want to hijack..will post my own thread soon.

LOL. Well you know I love it then! LOL. I'll have to add your name to my photo. I try to do that when I know whoes it is. I saved it because I wanted to show my hubby the beams on the ceiling. I'd been trying to tell him how I wanted to add beams in the Gentlemen's Parlor, but he needs pictures. So thanks! I love your whole room, by the way. Not just the beams. Are those love seats or full size sofas? Our room is set up very similar to yours too.

Here's mine with the silly dog in his favorite chair ..

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Thanks Justgotabeme! It's one full size sofa and one love seat.

Love the silly dog in his favorite chair! LOL

Thanks so much for the pictures Justgotabeme, Barb08075 and Pamghatten! If you count down pictures .. #7, #8 and #19 kind of have the feel of what I'm looking for. Where the bookcases and mantel kind of merge and the over mantel area gets framed out to highlight a piece of art, possibly with sconces on each side.

Lindybart .. beautiful fireplace, love the stone you chose!

Pam .. very cute silly dog :)

A big thank you from me, too, for posting all these beautiful inspiration pics! We are going to add bookcases and maybe small windows above to each side of our fireplace and I really needed some ideas.

Zipdee, we have similar tastes. I've found the perfect painting for above our fireplace and would love to have the additional trim/molding to highlight it. This is going to the top of DH's project list.

I LOVE those chairs in ZuZu's room!

Diana

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Here's mine. Forever tweaking the shelves, and it's fun. The FP had the brick going to the ceiling, with a ledge type mantel. We had the drywall put in over most of the brick, then put a new mantel over the drywall. We actually did this ten years ago and I'm stil very happy with it.

It's lovely, jjam, as are everyone else's. Love your ottoman/coffee table, too. That style is really starting to grow on me. I know, I'm late to the party. ; ) It just looks so much more useful than the usually type.

Diana

We'd know more about what you are looking to do, if we could see what you want to re-do. :)

Anyway, here is mine and it's a little different. When we bought the house, the builder had short windows in place and was planning to build shelves underneath them like a cottage look (ZuZu's). He already had the arches in place and the house had a Mediterranean look. My DH and I didn't think the cottage look went with the house, so we had the windows changed out. Also, we needed a place to put our antique tables. After the fireplace insert was put in, there was a ton of room on either side that the builder was going to close in as dead space.

I had a better idea!

Angelcub, I'm glad this post is helping you out too. I love the chairs in Zuzu's room also, they make you want to curl up with a good book and cup of tea. :)

Jjam .. beautiful fireplace, thank you posting it! I like the shadowbox you have up there too.

Newhomebuilder, love your fireplace too and lovely room! I wish I had windows on each side of mine, short or long .. all my fireplaces are on interior walls though. It made sense for them to do it that way here so two fireplaces could share a flue, but I've always loved the look of windows flanking them.

I think I have a few pics of this room on photobucket, I'll check and see. Right now we are using it for a TV room, but it's very redundant being used that way. It would serve a better purpose as my office and reading room. Unless watching a movie I hardly ever watch TV, so it would be nice if I had a place to curl up with a book when everyone else is using the TV area.

Okay I'm posting these pics with a forward. ;)

This room has never been done, it's where all my old stuff lives from previous house. I'm so excited when this room gets redone, this couch and loveseat go bye-bye .. the dogs and kids have not been kind to them. The paint color is not staying, I'm actually thinking about painting the room a pale blue. The bookcases are undersized, they need to be redone. The surround on the fireplace needs to be done, there's brick under there some place, but something possesed the PO to drywall over it. That needs to pulled off and tiled.

I'm going to bravely say this and no one is allowed to yell at me .. I know it's heresy and all .. but I'm going to paint, yes I said it .. paint the fireplace. ;) I did it in the front room and love it, I can't be talked out of it .. even if you all call me bad names. :D

Here's a few pics, none of them are dead on though.

Ha! Between the sheer ugliness of the room and saying I'm going to paint perfectly good wood .. I've shocked you all into silence :D *LOL*

That's okay .. I really appreciate the inspiration pics you all put up and if anyone has more, I'd love to see them. :)

Oh gosh no zipdee...that room is NOT ugly. I've seen some of your beautiful transformations and I know if you say you're painting the fireplace that it'll turn out gorgeous! So, you're going to completely knock down the drywall around the fireplace and redo the built in's? I could really see a nice beefy mantle up there too. I wish I still had photoshop on this computer to play around with it. I guess you can't really figure out the paint until you get new furniture too, right? Or do you have something in mind already? Love all the cuties on the couch/chair!

LOL zipdee! Go ahead and paint away. I'll even stop by this afternoon and help you. (I am a big painted wood fan.) The fourth pic that Barbie posted was my inspiration for my FR even though I don't have bookcases.

Good luck and keep us updated with your progress.

Sorry Justgotabme, I really like the mantels white.

KK .. Stop on by and bring your cute pups, we'll have a painting party :)

Lindy .. What I'd like to do is rip out these bookcases, cut out the dry wall that goes up to the mantel and make larger bookcases to basically extend wall to mantel on each side. Above the mantel frame out with mouldings and paint white to frame a piece of art and paint the existing mantel the same color. The arrows on the side (the surround) .. that's drywall that I temp. painted black, it needs to come off and be tiled. There is brick under the dry wall, but I'd imagine it's not in great shape. The bottom arrow is the hearth and it needs to be tiled too.

I have an very large old oak teacher's I'm going to be using in here. I need to find two large comfy chairs to go on either side of the fireplace for reading. I'm looking for two vintage club type chairs I can either have slipcovers made for or send to the reupholster.

This is from a basement we remodeled a few years ago.
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This is another, no cabinet on other side.
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This is a corner cabinet I built next to a fireplace, to hide a TV.

This is another basement with a lot of cabinets around a fireplace.

Casey

Casey, thank you so mcuh for the fantastic inspirations pics! You do such beautiful work!

I'm crying even more now that I've seen what you will be painting!

Love the fireplace and wood floors! Love the shelves. However, I'm with justgotabme. I love, love, love, the wood on the fireplace. I know you said that you can't be talked out of painting it, but I wondered if you would consider photoshopping some other colors in the room WITH it, just to be certain. It has such charm, especially since you said that you want to bring in an old desk. It would be so warm together. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for being on my side Joanie!
And if you ever plan on selling the fireplace unpainted will be a big selling point.

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.

Thanks so much for the help Joanie and JGBM! Sorry to be hard headed, but this is something I'm not going to budge on. I can't get the look I'm after by leaving the mantel not painted. This is our forever house, we own an established business and resale is not a worry for me. They'll probably take me out of this house feet first, which is one of the reasons we've been slowly going through each room and getting just how I want it. I very much appreciate all your help and concern .. I knew painting the mantel probably wasn't going to go over well. This will be my office though and I'll spend a lot of time in here, so it's important to me that I'll be happy and comfortable when I'm finished.

Zipdee, you just haul out your brushes and paint away.

It's wood. It's not gold, it's not ivory from Queen Victoria's vaults, it's not an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. Most important, it's your house. Declare your own independence... I think it will look great.

I've really enjoyed this thread. I have a fireplace in a room that was originally a dining room, but I'm turning it into a library. I thought I wanted the fireplace to be flanked with bookcases up to the ceiling, but now that I've seen all these pictures, I'm thinking to have them built just below the top of the fireplace on either side. We'll be putting up wainscoting, too. And I'm using zuzu's inspiration of the four chairs with the table in the middle. I think this will be a good place for my dh to play chess and maybe a board game? Now, if I can just find the time to put the plan in action!

Thanks, for all the inspirations!!

p.s. Casey, I LOVE that tin ceiling!

Here's mine I just painted...

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