That alcove seems deep and if the TV is hung on the wall it may be difficult to see unless you sit directly in front. No to shelves above TV if you decide to do this. Never rely on a builder/contractor to make design decisions.

No to shelves above the TV. It will be too much going on. Nothing wrong with a bit of blank space for the eye to rest. I would mount the TV on the wall in the nook above the wooden case and put it on an arm that can be pulled out and angled a bit so it isn't sitting so deeply in the alcove while you are watching.

Andyco, we did a similar thing with our TV, though it is not in an alcove. On the left of the FP we had a big, solid built-in shelving unit with cabinets below. We left the cabs on the bottom but removed the shelving 7nit above, replacing it with open shelves…..looks much better. On the right side we mounted our TV on an extendable arm, and lower built-in cabs are on order. Because it DID look weirdly open and empty above the telly (we have 10’ ceilings with coffers) we added one shelf above it; we have a leaning, framed piece of art in the middle and a couple of pieces of pottery displayed there. We like the way it looks; it fills up the top, but doesn’t really add any clutter or business. Hope this helps.

Here are some examples of the features you want. Just make sure this is the correct location for the TV. They keep getting bigger in size and your space will not allow for a larger TV.

Yes the alcove is 24” deep, and 67” wide. That is why we want to make a wooden scaling, of the same width, but less deep. There will be cabinets below, to house the TV paraphernalia. I was thinking of a single shelf above the TV, which will be on a swing arm. Also, he said the lower cabinets, which house the TV accessories will need wire mesh fronts, whereas I was thinking of plain wooden doors. Is that correct?

This is something like I was thinking of.

Not sure if this would be too much next to the fireplace.

Also, he said the lower cabinets, which house the TV accessories will need wire mesh fronts, whereas I was thinking of plain wooden doors. Is that correct?

He's probably saying this because of components requiring a remote to operate. These days, separate boxes are becoming less and less necessary (most applications are built into the TV). I'd probably stick with solid doors to keep it simple.

Here is mine. This is just the TV section, which has additional shelves on both sides. No fireplace. Shelves above look fine, just keep the decor simple.

We used a 75" Samsung The Frame TV, so we didn't have to look at a black hole when not watching TV.