I would not do it. It puts unnecessary strain on your neck or forces people to lie back like the dead and it's hard enough to teach my kids to not slouch. You might not think the neck thing matters but we all get old .. if we're lucky. It also makes me feel like I'm in a bar, an airport, or a bad restaurant. Sorry, if that offends anyone, it's how I feel and so far all of my clients have agreed without needing any persuasion.But that doesn't mean it's wrong to do it. Only the owner's family needs to like it. To me it's just not that difficult to put the TV to one side with the great adjustable brackets now available. The proper height of a TV is easy to determine, just sit on a couch, look straight ahead, and have someone measure the point you feel comfortable looking at. Perhaps take an average of your family members. If I had to do it, I would at least put the fireplace box tight to the floor, the mantel low, and be able to enclose the TV when not in use. These things are not pretty. It would also help to recess it and tip it downward for better viewing and less reflected light. I was in an Italian restaurant in the 60's called Charlie's that had multiple gas fireplaces recessed into the wall above seated head height. Would that work?

HoosierGirl, go ahead the rest of us will appreciate it. I never understand why when someone asks for something here, gets it and then doesn't come back to comment at all. My only guess is that since the OPs name is unfamiliar they couldn't find the post. I don't always remember to click the box to get responses in my inbox and the last couple times I did remember it didn't work.

Sue we have a small TV in our bedroom. Technically it's too small but even when I had a console table for it in place of the piece I have now (which greatly restricts the size we could use) I would not get a larger screen. Just as you mentioned, I don't want the TV to be the focal point - it's not a media room. Our viewing distance is a lot farther than yours - close to 16' and our TV is a 23". But the reality is, when in bed the ONLY thing I watch is the 10pm news and possibly a bit of Nightline. Neither requires big screen viewing IMO. The only other time I watch that TV is if I'm ironing and for that I'm much closer so distance and screen size are not a factor. We used to have a console table as I said but it was a particle board piece of junk so I got rid of it. That viewing height was very similar to what we have now which is about 32". However, before we drilled the back of this cabinet the TV sat on top for a loooong time and that viewing height is about 48" - 50" and it was fine. In fact, my DH worried he wouldn't like it lower again but since I gave him no choice, he's adjusted ;-) These are taken with my head pretty much on my pillow as it would be for viewing. And I can also tell you that at night, I can't read the time on that Bose clock radio to save my life!!! As you can see here, the DVD player is shoved in behind the TV - we never used it so didn't bother to hook it back up.

This was taken a few years ago at the very beginning of the Christmas season, hence the garland on top of the entertainment center. We now have new sofas and chairs but the center remains the same. Jodi-