I was in Imprunetta, Italy this summer and loved all the terracotta (like your floor). A cute and quaint, pure Italian village. Look for Allison's thread on TV over fireplace . She just had some gorgeous slide away wall screens made for her European style home.

Cameron

Yes, do look at Allison's thread. It has one of the best TV over Fireplace solutions I've ever seen. I personally like open space high on the walls where you can have it, and if your walls are a nice color with a bit of texture, just let them make their own quiet statement. Would love to see a photo of your room.

Once you mount the tv, and add whatever decorative panels or cabinet doors or covering you choose, I wouldn't add anything different above that - I think it would look odd.

Let the TV and its covering be the art statement on the wall, and then the fireplace and surround be the other important part of the wall. I think you want to keep most of the focus on normal room height, so that all the components (windows, fireplace, tv/covering) look like a cohesive group.

What you could do is make the panels that cover the tv the third 'piece' in a series of three hanging above the fireplace - have two sets of panels that are in essence 'faux', each with its own decorative painting or design on it, and have something similar on the face of the real panels over the tv.

Besides, in a tuscan farmhouse, I am not sure you would ever see some huge clock or piece of architectural salvage up there. So if you are trying to stay true to the look, leave the rest of the space alone.

I am sure your home will be lovely - the pix you shared are terrific already!

wonbyherwits - I can't find Allison's thread. Is there some secret to using the search engine here? I'm usually very good at finding information on the web, but not here :(

jjam - if you go to www.poggiosecco.com and look at the post from Dec 12th there are a few good pix of the room there. They don't quite capture the full wall height, but fairly close.

les917 - i think you're right about the clock or architectural salvage... what about a fresco? if very faint and faded as if it has been there a very long time. Still too much?

Here is a link that might be useful: Il Poggio Secco

Pegkip,

After seeing your photos I can see Alison's tv solution working so well for you. Also, please don't put anything above the TV. Your walls are beautiful and you've got to let them breathe! I have 8 ft ceilings in my house and would give anything to have that wonderful space. I also love the balance that your higher ceilings give to your floors. Your home is going to be gorgeous. Alison's thread was just posted a couple of days ago; try TV above fireplace again or her name in the search and it should come up.

I'm sorry that I didn't get the subject line correct. Here's the link below.

BTW, since I've spent a lot of time in Italy, I can say that your house REALLY looks like it could be in Tuscany. (I have a blog about my last trip www.tourtuscany.blogspot.com).

So, I'd say try to get something Italian as your TV cover-up -- a frescoe screen would work, or shutters as a screen. Since you have wrought iron on your door, you might even do a wrought iron on rustic wood as sliding panels to hide the TV.

hmmm....I just looked at your photos again -- your tv hangs on the wall but won't be recessed into a niche. That will make covering it more difficult, but a "box" could be built to frame a niche for it.

As for big clocks, I saw them on village towers, but not inside homes.

What are you planning to do for window coverings? Will your windows have grilles/muntins?

Here are a few photos from my trip that might help with some Italian design details that can be used for decor.

A door detail from Lucca:

Bargello wall in Florence:

Colle val d'Elsa shutters:

A clock in Lucca:

Here is a link that might be useful: Allison's tv niche

I bumped up Alison's thread about her truly gorgeous home -- and wonderful fireplace/TV for you!

Hope this helps! :)

LOL....I don't have much to add besides thanks for the compliments. :D

Cameron had some great ideas, pegkip. Mine has copper panels since we have so much other copper inside/outside the house. I can see something with either carved wooden panels or iron to mimic your front doors.

Have you seen the media cabinets carried by Horchow and Neiman Marcus? I cannot remember the name of the company that makes them but can find out since they have many more on their websites. They would work with a tv hung on the wall (no niche like we have). Some good ideas if nothing else.

You've done a wonderful job on your home....oh, and fyi, during construction, I thought the large areas of walls in the great room and master bedroom (both cathedral ceilings) would bother me but once furniture was in the rooms they were fine.

I'm glad you said that about the search engine here... I can never find anything either!

Here is Allison's thread for you... and I could find it because it's on this front page. Otherwise I'd have had to look for it the old fashioned way.

I'll repeat your question -- folks, is there some trick to using the GW search engine?

Here is a link that might be useful: Custom TV and TV Niche Doors - Lot of Photos

Yes -- I found the thread by typing in

Allison + TV

Thanks wonby. I'll try something like that next time.

Cameron, Allison, teacats, oceanna... thanks so much! It's the smallest details that really make all difference, isn't it?

Allison, your home is gorgeous inside and out. It must be a joy living in such a beautiful space! I love, love, love your unfitted kitchen. I wanted to do something like that but our space was a bit too small and DH was resistant. My single victory was talking him out of the granite countertops he wanted...

Cameron, I thought I was the only person running around Colle val d'Elsa and some other non-touristy parts of Italia with my face constantly hidden behind my camera :) I never tire of looking at these kinds of photos, thanks for sharing yours!

DH provided a niche and hook ups for the a/v wiring, but not for the TV itself. We would have needed to do a bump out of some sort to accommodate that and the Isokern has an operable flue, so the heat that builds up would have been a problem for the TV, I think.

Allison, you find that it is uncomfortable to view the TV at that height? In fact DH has wired every TV hook-up in the house fairly high on the walls. A mistake, methinks....

Cameron, you asked about window coverings... maybe we'll have nothing at all. The home is on 8 acres and we are a good 200+ yards from the nearest neighbor. I had thought about installing some decorative iron grilles in the upper 2x2 windows. So I think you're right; a box faced with iron grilles would work, but that would weigh quite a bit and we'd have to make that a seriously strong box. Unless I used some of those rubber floor mats that look like wrought iron!

That big, featureless wall has been problematic for me from the planning stage; I'll do as you recommend Allison, and just wait until the furniture is in and I've lived in the space for a while before deciding which way to go.

I shall practice restraint. I shall practice restraint. I shall practice restraint.

Thank you, Pegkip. Some days I don't know what I like more - the lake view, ridge view or the privacy. DH says out loud daily "I love our house." lol I've bookmarked your blog and look forward to seeing your kitchen. I was wondering what you came up with!

The tv is about a six to ten inches too high...but I'm used to it now. The sofa is back about 24ft so it's actually not that bad. I wanted to leave room on the mantel to place things without a folding screen knocking them off....if only I had thought about the sliding panels during construction.

The guys said my slides hold up 50lbs each. There are two of the larger slides and two smaller ones. I figure that's good for 140lbs. Enough to hold iron grills.

They have not called about bringing table top today >:( but when they do, I will ask them who they ordered the slides from. I had told them ORB only.

We don't have curtains either, even in the bedrooms. We did go back and do window film a few months ago - lots of heat in a few of the lake facing rooms in the winter.

Oh, another thought...instead of using a prepurchased iron grill or something too heavy - you can purchase single balusters, setting them into predrilled holes inside top and bottom of each wooden panel. Hope that makes sense, it's early!

Here is a link that might be useful: Balusters

Pegkip -- if you were in Colle val d'Elsa, did you get the award wining gelato from Lido? The old guy is such a trip. He doesn't speak a word of English, but we got along great. Such fun, such memories -- take those photos of Italy and convert them to sepia tones and frame them! You've got some great art for your Italian villa.

These are of Florence, but I have some narrow streets of Volterra, and CVdE, too.

I can't tell you how envious I am of having empty space on walls. Treasure it! I can't wait to see your room as it progresses, pegkip. It's going to be incredible