Ask your builder if he has a design degree? My guess is he doesn't based on what he suggested.

How about something like this? The bookshelves on either side help to make it feel more balanced and the stone going to the ceiling helps to pull your eye towards the fireplace.

I have a separate kitchen and a little TV so I can watch the evening news. But my friend's kitchen is open to the great room and she can see the TV with no trouble. The problem is, when she's prepping she has pots boiling and oven cooling fan blowing and even the hood fan, while quiet, makes a little noise. She'd have to turn the great room TV volume way up to be able to hear (not to mention, she doesn't ally's want to watch the same thing the kids or her DH are watching) So she will has a little TV tucked in a corner of the kitchen cabinets, just for her while cooking.

Not helpful to you, I'm sure, but I don't think I'd want my attention drawn to something in another room while I'm cooking.

I like cpartist's suggestions. I also think you're builder is wrong. (Top heavy? It looks better!)

My view from kitchen to great room is similar to yours. I love it, because I can prep/cook/etc. and still watch TV. I may have to turn the volume up slightly, but for most things I do in the kitchen, it's lovely.

Your sketch (or your builder's) has three separate, individual and unrelated elements: the walls, the fireplace and the casework for the TV. Nothing dominates--everything competes visually. Dominance is one principle for good design.

Cpartist's sketch is much more unified: fireplace and casework are unified together and dominate the wall, leaving only a small portion of the wall visible. For increased dominance and unity, you might consider some type of fascia or crown molding which is in keeping with your house architecture. You could align it and run it full-width, across the top of the door and all casework. An option for the heavy-appearing masonry above the mantle would be to use wood paneling, finished to match your casework.

In choosing your design and finishes don't forget to coordinate the door and frame to the left, if there is one.

As for the TV, I'm not sure how far away the kitchen actually is from the TV location, but even if you can adequately see the video, I'm not sure you will be able to hear the audio, unless you have wired speakers in the kitchen. What are the chances of a well located and designed TV in the kitchen--perhaps a flip down flat screen under an upper cabinet?

Good luck with your project.

I agree with Virgil about coordinating the door and frame. I didn't know what you were planning so left that out. I also like his idea of the fascia or crown molding.

Wow! Thank you all for your input. I was not expecting this kind of help! What an excellent group of people you all are.

Cpartist - We love your design I added a crown molding across the top full width and plan on adjusting the shelf's on the bottom to accommodate the media equipment.

Virgil: Thank you for your input. Love the panel idea!!

Thanks again for the help.

Dave & Cassandra

Terrific. The crown molding sounds just like what is needed. Be sure to post a photo when it's finished! :)

On the bottom shelves you can even make them with doors and glass fronts if you want. I kept it simple because I wasn't sure how you wanted to do it.

What "messes things up", and I apologize for the use of a highly technical design phrase, is the ceiling peak screams symmetry so any other location for the fireplace looks odd. Too bad most of it is built. Probably the result of a designer who wasn't thinking this whole thing thru.

At this point, I'd bulkhead the "gable" so to visually isolate the ceiling from the TV/fireplace unit like this:

And then you're free to do something like this:

Regarding watching TV while you're making a racket in the kitchen -- I use headphones! You can get wireless headphones that connect to your TV, or if you use a Roku you can get the version of the Roku where the remote has a headphone jack built in. We actually had speakers in the kitchen in our last house, but I preferred the headphones anyway. In our temporary apartment, I can't have the TV sound on while the kids are napping, so the headphones give me a chance to get caught up on my list of shows that my husband won't watch with me in the evenings. :)