I do not know if your fireplace is more traditional. I wanted my fireplace to be clean looking. I wish I had more space to make the doors wider. the white plates you can see thru the glass are the outlets for the DVD and sound system. The Flat TV was to be above the fireplace. The glass has some texture but the picture do not show it. We built the house last year and we sold it :) Hope this helps.

brutuses, what you are doing is exactly what I would like to do. The space is only 187 inches. I have more wall space room to the left of the slider (see pics below), but the deck does not continue there--so I can't have the slider going outside to nowhere. I do have room to do five foot sliders or french doors on either side of the fireplace. However, the problem is that we would have to custom order the doors at a much higher expense--and the bigger problem is that if we just do five foot doors, the floor vent will be in the spot where the fireplace is and will need to be plugged. If we do a six foot slider we can get a stock door, and the fireplace will be shifted over enough such that we can keep the vent and we can just keep the four foot window on the other side. I just don't know if that will look weird given the different widths of the glass on either side. Another option is to have the fireplace where the slider is now and then just have a slider on the other side of the fireplace where the four foot windows are now. Below are pics of the entire wall. We have a dining room set at one end (no windows on that part of the wall) and then the rest of the room is a living room area and the entire wall in that part of the room is the slider/windows. But I don't know if that will look even stranger with a strecth of wall space with no windows--the first part of the wall being the dining room hutch, then a fireplace, and then a slider or french doors--ie window on only one side of the fireplace. all opinions very welcome!!!

If there wasn't the porch then it might be worth it, but it doesn't look like it would be. Try things like decorating your shelves and adding artwork above the fireplace with color. Below we have included some ideas that might just help.

Its a nice looking fireplace, just the way it is. Add some decor to it, as you can. Hopefully, your health problems have improved. I agree, the window is not a good thing to have there. Use that elsewhere in your decor. If you have thrift stores in your area, it might be time, to visit them all, looking for decor that will look good on the fireplace and with your current furnishings. You may be very surprised what you will find, and for a very low price too.