This is new construction? It looks like they pulled the whole wall forward to create a shelf/dust catcher.

I would be taking a sledgehammer to that myself. Way too deep to be really functional for anything. Unless you have a sculpture or vase collection?

not a new construction, just a house that needs some paint and new flooring. as mentioned, I won't be taking it down because it's too much to do...question is what would you guys if you had to keep this? thanks!

You have wiring in there - can you wire for lighting in the boxes and then use it for art/sculpture display as suggested?

A painting in the top one, tall sculpture or vases in the one to the left and then glass ware in the smaller two.

You can also paint the boxes a different colour than the walls to backdrop any art work you choose.

In the one to the left - you could add a false back to make it about 16" deep, add a shelf and use it for books.

I've moved a lot of walls and taking that out is probably way easier then you think, if the floor coverings aren't in yet now is the time to do it. Worth a least getting a bid to see how much and how long it would take. Making spaces that deep work with just decor is tough, so I would at least see about re-configuring the interior boxes into just 2 spaces; maybe add doors and a counter top to the lower for a bar area and mount the TV on the wall above it.

The upper area is way too high unless you intend to have the viewed mostly across the great room. I'd take it down and recover the space -- if that is not affordable right now, I'd cover the lower area with plywood,or drywall.

If you can't take it down, I'd just use it for display. Maybe by adding doors as recommended about. Then hang the tv on the open wall to the right of it. That lets you hang it at the correct viewing height.

thanks for your input everyone! I'm fairly new to any type of construction...so bear with me! is it possible to cover this all with dry wall and paint it to blend it all in? I plan to have a tv in this area. can't put the tv to the right of it because it's kind of where the dining nook is and would look a little odd.

If you don't take down, do you have an alternative place for your TV? I'd take it down, you'd be amazed at how easy to do.

Why don't you get a smaller tv to fit in the bottom cubby? It looks pretty large to me.

Would you put on the drywall yourself or have someone do it for you? If you're hiring, just ask them to remove the display bump out. It is not difficult and should not be much different in price.

I like it, I think you can make it work. It should be easy to take the partitions out of the lower section, which would open it up large enough to fit a regular flat-screen tv. Then I'd install shelves in the upper partition and use it for books/decorative touches.

I fall in the get rid of it now. It was probably wonderful back when everyone had deep tvs but it is not an asset any more. A good contractor could save the baseboard to reuse, cut that beast out and patch your drywall in less time than you will spend covering it up on your own. And then hang your own tv where you want it and know you just added to the value rather than lower it.

You could cover it but you'd lose a lot of valuable floor space- here's an idea to play off of how the bump out could become something else

It is hard to tell but if it is adding definition in a large room, then it may be a good idea to keep it (especially considering your mention of a dining nook right next to it). However, I would reconfigure the interior. I would raise the upper shelf higher and try to put a TV about midpoint. You could consider using woodshelves on the interior of it.

How about a bar? There is already an outlet for a mini fridge. Glass shelves in the highest space, placed in the middle~I would either mirror, wallpaper, or paint the back wall in a darker color to visually make it recede somewhat. In one of the two smaller areas you might even find a wine rack that would fit~ I once took out a trash compacter in my kitchen and found a 'faux' black wrought style that was a perfect fit. The other square could be used for bar paraphernalia, with an ice bucket holding it all.

Star, I was tying while you were posting something similar to my visual...how uncanny! IMO, it'a a perfect solution.

OR, tv above, beer cooler below, RED plastic glasses in smaller 'crannies'....NOT!

I know you've said you don't want to take it out, but it really is easy, I'd remove it all they way to the other side of the door. Then put a flat screen TV on the wall, maybe a low cabinet to hold other accessories. This will enlarge the room, unless your house is huge more space is always better.

Kismet I guess Patty! I was looking at a post jpmom just put up and that was a photo in the link.

If I was the OP, I'd look at the entire space and decide if I was letting someone else's design decision dictate how the room worked.

This will be YOUR home. You make decisions, and taking that shelving alcove out shouldn't be a big job.

That not only dictates function, but style.

It doesn't hurt to get an estimate to take it out so you can envision the room without it driving decisions so heavily.

Built-in units can be stunning, and that's...not.

My in-laws have one of those rectangular tv holes over their gas FP, but they hate the height and have it filled with knick knacks.

It looks like a tv hole filled with knick knacks.

Put some cushions in them and get a few cats. they will love it.

Not sure if it would work but could you put your TV on a "pull out arm" do they call it articulating arm? An arm that holds your TV close to the wall and when you want to watch it, pull the TV out and lower it when you want to watch it. I have seen them but don't know what they are called. That would work on the top section. For the bottom section, can you put a shelf in it for your TV boxes and some books on the bottom? For the two small places on the right side, have a carpenter put one door on them? Or put a mirror in the back and put something pretty in them.

I think it could easily transform to useful, deep or not, but would require some reconfig that could be somewhat costly (would need a carpenter who could do drywall.

Could you have a TV that covers the three bottom cubbies, or would that be too low?

Or I'd just get a smaller TV for the left cubby, then add rustic shelves for the other ones.

Or

Or remove the dividers and reconfigure with shelves or built-ins.

I'm also in the rip it out camp...or certainly get a price for ripping it out. Now would be an excellent time to get it done with the floor not in place. It's not as big a deal as you might think. Especially since most likely you won't want to fix it later.

@aktillery9 - wow that looks great, I'll have to look into dry wall, hopefully it's not expensive to do. and thanks @nosoccermom for your suggestions as well, all were helpful!!! will keep you guys posted :)

Personally covered a fp that I did not have a use for and needed for my TV. I just took a couple of large pieces of what looked like plank wood and nailed them in place. Take a look at home depot and look for any sort of 4X8 or larger sheets of plywood or material that looks like horizontal boards. I might have even used outdoor material I can't remember.

If you keep it and drywall it over, make sure all the electrical outlets get moved to the new drywall. Seems obvious but you'd be surprised what gets missed. Also if you're going to hang the tv make sure that the proper bracing is installed.

What about tongue and groove flooring planks?

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That is a great idea Nosoccermom! Plus that would be so easy to do!

can anyone give me in estimate of how much it would be to knock it down or put dry wall over to cover it? I live in Orlando, FL if that helps.

If you can't get rid of it, put book shelves in the bottom left to look like a built in bookcase, baskets in the two smaller ones to hold DVDs, remotes, etc, and cover the top area and mount the tv flush against it. You could also maybe fit an electric fireplace in that bottom left one and make it look built in if you don't have one in the room already. If that's doable with venting and clearances and all.

If you contract out. Reconfiguring cubbies will be more expensive than ripping out or covering up.

Kaci, I would look online for framers in your area to get an idea of cost to knock it out. They could likely get you in touch with drywallers as well.

Your real estate agent may know of a good handyman. Many agents have good relationships with contractors and handymen because being able to get home issues fixed quickly and reliably helps sales go through more easily.

My DH, who is a DIYer, could do the whole job. So I think a good handyman should be able to knock it out, do the drywall repair, add the trim and paint.

I have no idea how much to reconfigure because that would involve a carpenter and an electrician. If the carpenter doesn't do drywall then you have to budget a separate fee for that. It is hard to tell from the pic but the unit may have been installed to even out the wall plane due to the ledge at the top? Odd to remedy- means expensive.

Who is doing the painting and flooring for you- they may know someone to give you an estimate for removal? You know it doesn't work for you the way it is. If you knock it out but keep the electrical exactly where it is and they are configured for your electronics already it might be less that $1000 assuming you are just going to have shiplap or something similar installed. That way all you need is materials and box extentions for electrical. It you do not have the appropriate electronic stuff behind the wall for HDMI, cable, satellite etc then that is where you have to start start. Check the electric and out lets for electronics if that is where you want to put the tv first.

Call someone to get a bid - that should be free. It is always less $ to rip out and start fresh than to try to work around something that doesn't work right. The demo isn't the expensive part.

if the electrical and electronic connections are fine where they are at, the least expensive route would be to put the tv on top hung from an arm the will allow it to be pulled out and repositioned as needed. Then you can use the lower large area for components and put shelving in as needed. Hired out would still cost the same to keep it like it is just installing tv and shelves. You might as well get some bids to do it the way you want.

Least expensive would be to keep the drywall intact around the perimeter and gut the interior partitions leaving the plugs etc where they are. Then install painted shelving where you want it and case over the drywall opening. A handy guy could do that in a couple days for under $1500 around my area.

thanks all, you've been a great help! will keep you guys posted on what the end result will be :)

Something doesn't want me to post, but I will try once more to vote for taking it out now. Second choice would be to keep the sides and reconfigure. Flooring repair or replacement plus paint will make the job much more costly down the road. The space appears to have been built for tube TV's and takes up much more room than needed. Closing it up means losing that space. Losing square footage and function devalues your home. Moving the electrical may cost more than getting help with drywall work and will cost a lot more than leanring to DIY on the drywall.

I am a SAHM with 2 kids in college now and clearly seeing that the built-in is not structural, I woud do that project myself. You might get lucky and just have patching if the drywall runs across the back, but most likely you will have to fill in where the walls attach or do the entire area. One approach takes more materials but less labor and one may be less materials and more labor -- but either way it looks like one or two sheets of drywall, some tape and joint compound. $100 in materials to remove. Reconfiguring is likely to require additional materials and time. That doens't include painting, but you have to paint anyway so it isn't an added cost at this point.

If you are really going to consider closing it up, at least think about making it a closet or something from the other side. But that will take more work and cost more than simply removing it now.

Just based on the one photo you posted, I would rip it out, but you really should post a photo of the whole area, or a floor plan, to get the best suggestions.

Rip-it-out = $$$, which may not be available asap. Don't jump the gun on doing anything you may be sorry for down the road. And i'm agreeing with lazcatz, could definitely be a DIY project, with a little help from a possible youtube video.

We have something similar to yours in our basement family room.....only an entire wall and deep as well. We have a center opening like yours for a tv that is not quite as low as yours, and 3 deep drywall shelves on each side.

We bought a 40" tv....couldn't fit anything larger and it works fine. For now I have a combination of books, photographs and a few odds and ends sitting among them. Not the ideal situation, but it's not in our main living area (we don't have a tv in the main living area).

You could always put deep baskets in the two openings on the right (for blankets, pillows, magazines, etc).

I like Robo's idea above.

This doesn't look that easy to rip out. Is there a recess on top of the right side wall, too?

This is similar to what Annie suggested, but using rough sawn cedar siding, it's main use being exterior siding. We used it years ago in a FR, covering 3 walls completely and above the fireplace~we applied it vertically. It's fairly thick so don't think you would need to go thru all the trouble of applying drywall. It's a rough wood, and needs either paint, stain, or even a clear varnish. We decided on stain since we did want it to look more rustic. It's very absorbent and requires at least two coats.

Do the shelves extend from the wall or are they recessed into it? The first pic looks like the construction was tacked on the wall, the second picture looks like it is recessed into the wall and the construction more complicated.

I would still make some effort to find out how much it would be to remove it but it may be a bigger issue than we first thought.

The ceiling looks to be 12 feet tall and the the dry walled shelves look very deep. like at least 30 inches deep. The whole system is not supporting anything that I can tell and I would tear it out now while you can. I think you could do it yourself, but I can't imagine it being expensive to take out. If you did leave everything there and dry wall the bottom 3 openings, you would still have that huge deep opening on top, which would look top heavy to me.

I'm in Tampa and live in a Ryland built home. Luckily the house we bought had a blank family room wall but most in our neighborhood have those huge build-outs for the big TV's on a 22 foot high wall.

I would really urge you to get rid of the wall now... even if you don't have plans right away, you can at least put flooring down where it used to be. Then live in the space awhile and decide what you want. We ended up building a stone wall with fireplace with shelving on the sides. So happy we had a clean slate to start with.

What function does the room on the other side serve? Just an idea, if it makes sense, dry wall this space and cut in a door to create a closet for the other room?