sorry I took so long to post--I had to dig my pictures out I think I did what you are talking about....your raised hearth may be a problem--we took ours out when we took off the brick. We used granite as the surround/hearth that matches the granite in our kitchen (we took down 2 1/2 walls to open this space up) We ordered cabinets about 12" deep for both sides of the fireplace. We had NO windows, so we added 2 above the cabinets. We ordered fluted colums for the sides, and plenty of solid cherry flat stock. My carpenter built out the fireplace in steps. The uprights are boxes 4" deep, then the crosspiece support for the mantle is a box 6" deep My only regret is that the cabs are actually very small, and we don't have as much storage for our books as I would have liked--I think if I had it to do over--I would do open bookshelves the whole way across. and for comparison, here is the "before"

Thanks for the great points. I had planned on a deeper storage area on the bottom for electronics which are 13" and 15". The depth to the window molding is 15" so I would have to do a step-out to get the depth for the components. Don't know how that would look - because, obviously, LOL, I'm no designer. I hope I find one :-) The tip about the height is great - helps a lot. Panel isn't out of the question, especially if it looks better that way. Incorporating a new mantel isn't out of the question either. The ceiling is 12' so I wouldn't want it that tall. I'm just about ready to forget about it and just get something smaller for the TV, build bookshelves on another wall and move on to something else.

This room is part of the open living area. The kitchen cabinets are not Arts and Crafts style nor are the doors throughout the house. The arch between the columns has the same sort of curve as the cabinets. The mantel doesn't match the rest of the architecture. "> "> The dining area has a sofa in it but it will be gone soon - if you can picture it without the sofa and with a round mission table. "> "> "> I don't like the wite appliances but will have to live with them for a while. The kitchen isn't layed out right and has too much room in the center - I'm going to add a small work table in the middle. So much to do!

I think some of this can be attributed to many homeowner's desire to get away from the "just because" decorative feature. If you don't have a strong idea of what you'll fill them with, what you see is a whole bunch of empty shelves to fill. I've seen too many of these spaces filled with junk, just to feel like it's "decorated". Some of this might also be due to the minimalist design focus that some homeowners are after. A lot of "stuff", even artfully placed, doesn't necessarily lend itself to that. A curveball? Built-ins used to function as media centers to house equipment, and as book shelves. Technology takes out the need for large media spaces, and fewer and fewer people have a ton of books. Maybe a big ol' Kindle collection, but fewer books. Finally, I have no idea- if a person wanted them- why you'd wait until house was finished to have a carpenter build and install. Why wait until your flooring is in, all drywall and painting is finished? Why wait until you get to live with construction? And no- in my area, after work isn't even close to being less expensive than doing it during construction, due to all of that.