It depends on the fireplace and room decor, and greatly depends on the type of glass doors you consider. Glass doors tend to have a more modern look about them, although there are some very specialized designs that can look more traditional or rustic. Below is a perfect example of a fireplace where most people might think glass doors would not look good. As you get to Fig. 3, you can see how they might work. Of course, every fireplace is different in the context of the room, but proper treatments can be made with glass doors in most styles if you stay away from the home centers and look for something more custom. I am not completely advocating for glass doors as there are some other very attractive ways to treat a fireplace and protect from sparks. Yet, in many cases, glass doors are required by building codes, or are necessary to keep out a very cold draft. If they are custom made to fit the fireplace and room decor, you might be surprised at how nice they can look. Fig. 1: Typical custom made glass door. This is a little too stark and modern for this fireplace if it is in a more traditional setting. I personally am not a fan of this look, but this is a very popular custom made door due to the simplicity in design and somewhat narrow frame. In this case, the finish can make a big difference. This is a dark classic bronze. Fig. 2: Solid Brass glass door with a casting trim in an antique brass finish. This looks much better, particularly with the andirons visible inside. Fig. 3: This is the same solid brass glass door in Fig. 2, but with wire mesh inserted in front of the glass. The mesh minimizes the reflection in the glass, so it literally disappears. This softens the look giving it a more traditional appearance. So your husband can have the glass, but you don't have to see it. Fig. 4: This is a very Traditional treatment with a framed mesh curtain and andirons. Quite in line with the period style of the mantel. If glass doors were not required in this application, this would be a treatment I would recommend. Email me some pictures of your fireplace and I will show you how some well thought out treatments will look on your fireplace so you and your husband can reach common ground. Follow the instructions here for sending pictures: Free Fireplace Design Service

I have a post on here asking about my office color. And your hooker piece is EXACTLY the one I am eyeing for my office..... in the same color way. Have you seen it IRL? It's not a solid black. It's rubbed with some reds and bronzes, etc. It's really beautiful, so those who suggested the rub have a great idea. That's the beauty of hooker... they do several "layers" and their pieces have so much dimension. I love the piece your hubby made. It's beautiful! I wish he could whip one up for me, too. :o) ha, ha. I vote for painting it like hooker. If you get the doors faux finished with the brown on the doors, that will pull in your leather sectional. And the black really doesn't look like a black hole IRL. Your photoshopped hooker piece isn't doing it justice. Seriously jaw-dropping in person. So I vote for the black. I do see you are thinking espresso, and that would look good. But if you don't FLIP over the espresso, please consider the black rub. Have your painter do a few colors dry brushed onto the black. I think you'll love it!! :o)

A note: every set of prefab metal shelves I've ever seen -- whether expensive or inexpensive -- has at least one too few shelves. There's always a ton of wasted space above items--which suckers me into setting stuff *on top of* the bins, etc., and then it's a pain to get them out, bcs I have to get the junk out of the way before I can pull the box out. Some shelving units will let you purchase extra shelves, and if there are lots of holes, you can make a shelf if you'd like out of wood, and then install bolts through the holes as shelf supports. So that's my input. You can end up with that "seductive gap" problem if you use wall-mounted shelves with angled shelf supports: you can't slide the box all the way back through the shelf support, so you have to mount it a little higher.

Annette, you need a *bigger* armoire! lol Mine has 3 doors. The two on the left open and that's where I have the tv. I had someone add the shelves. One holds a 40" tv the other holds books. The door on the right has drawers where I keep a lot of decorating stuff. It's a French Anitque, and the type with three doors are not as easy to find as two door. It was probably less expensive at the antique store rhan a new cabinet would have been. Consignment/antique stores, an estate sale, or an auction are your best bets. Ikea shelves will break down from the weight of the books after a period of time. That's been DD 's experience. You need solid wood.