Oh wow srg, the surround is finished. It looks gorgeous!

Our TV wall is just in the planning stages, but I do have a drawing I can share.
It will be wired so the TV can go on either side with the top inner shelf being removable.

srg - that looks great! I'm also interested in seeing walls with a fireplace and TV. We're desiging a new home and our family room is currently designed to be like justgotabme's. For some reason I'm paranoid that I won't like looking to the left or right of the fireplace to watch TV and I definitely don't want it above the FP. But maybe I'm just being silly? And, if I said I don't watch a lot of TV I'd be lying ;-)

This is an old picture, nothing that's on the mantel in the pic or near the TV is still there. I have a large Palm next to the TV.

Room's a mess. lol

{{!gwi}}

here's ours :-) it is behind the top cab on the left. It is on a bracket so it can be pulled out and rotated from side to side. I am one of those who does not like to see the TV unless it is on.

Chris I don't think it will be weird at all, but it's easy for me to think that because we now have one of those huge TVs setting to the left of the fireplace and have had it on the other side too. We'll be able to angle the TV in the built in a bit as we do now so it should work out just fine.

What type of furniture do you have? We had a sectional that was like two full size couches. I loved it, but hubby didn't and it's his room (Gentleman's Parlor) so I had no choice but to go along with him in selling it. We've not replace it yet so we have our two recliners and another set of large glider rockers set in an L shape. It's quite comfy viewing from any one of the chairs.

SRG --- so fresh, clean, expensive-looking and sharp. Absolutely love it. Do you find those recessed lights you have above the TV cast a glare on the screen? I am considering getting some recessed lighting put in my living room and I was looking at placing some recessed on either side of my TV, about a couple of inches out from each side of the TV.

jockewing: thank you. the recessed lights above the TV are low voltage halogens that we have going around the perimeter of the room for accent lighting. we don't keep them on when we're watching TV. we have recessed LEDs that we use most of the time and they aren't so close to the tv/wall unit. the tv is also mounted on a very slight downward slant which reduces glare. we have no issues with it.

Srg, I love your TV wall. For me, TV is a part of our lives, so why try to hide it?

I love having our TV near the FP, I can enjoy a movie and a roaring fire at the same time! I'm glad we put the FP in the corner though, it saved a lot of wall space since the FP is so big.

I know some ppl cringe at the idea of a TV above a fireplace, but it works for our layout. Our couch is back far enough from the TV that there is no strain on the neck. (I would not recommend it in a small room.) Also, we have a kitchen island w/ seating behind the couch. Thus, we needed the TV to be high enough to easily view while in the kitchen. (I let the TV keep me company while I am cooking or doing paperwork at the island.)

PS. Please ignore my HAH's attempt to expose itself in the last photo :)

{{!gwi}}


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Lovely photos! This is something I struggle with in our family room as well.

For those of you who have your TV next to the fireplace, is your furniture centered on the fireplace? Does it make it difficult to view the TV from that angle? Does anyone have their TV mounted on wall next to fireplace, but without built-ins?

SRG-it looks like yours is centered on the fireplace, is that correct?

Maybe I'm just asking for more photos, with the perspective of your couch/chairs as well. :)

Drybean - I'm struggling with the same thing about having it to the left or right. See justgotabeme's response to my questions above. It appears to be very common so I guess it must not be awkward, however, I'd also love to know how people are centering their furniture - on the TV or on the fireplace?

drybean: our sectional is so big and we have a recliner so that it actually has the tv & the fireplace as central. i have watched TV laying down on the sectional side that is furthest from the tv (near the fireplace) and it's no problem watching tv.

this was before the fireplace was done.

the colors & perspective look odd in the pic i just posted (not to mention that it looked way more unfinished than it does now) but it still gives you an idea of how we positioned the furniture kind of encompassing both the tv & the fireplace almost equally.

Mine is in EC cabinet on wall right by french door. Hope this helps. Bonnie

Well I'd share a pictures of my room but it's too embarrassing. It's the Gentleman's Parlor and hubby has not yet decided what type of furniture he wants in there for sure and I don't think he cares right now since the surround and built ins are not built yet. We'll do them ourselves as we are everything else in our home. So until that's finished the furniture is just temporary. I've learned to just live with it that way. The Ladies' Parlor is almost finished. He's working on the baseboard and window trim, but that takes time when he only has weekends and is training for a marathon on one of those days so if once he comes home from running he's pretty much beat for the rest of the day. He's 58 years old, in great shape, but that wears him out.

Here's ours:

{{!gwi}}

Our FP wall didn't have shelves wide enough for the new TVs so we used the only remaining wall for that purpose. I had one decorator roll his eyes when he saw that we were turning the furniture toward the TV instead of the FP, but I like srg's comment; we are who we are, and this is how we live. When the family comes over we all gather around the TV to watch movies, games, etc. Didn't people gather around their radios before TVs came into play??

srg - that is a very nice tv wall!

Yes, tv is part of our lives, but it varies from family to family as to how big a part of our lives it is. It's a very small part of how we spend our time and I do not like looking at the "black hole" that is the tv when off. Therefore, ours is in an antique cabinet with doors closed when not in use.

Our fireplace is on a different wall.

tina

srg215, I LOVE your space. The fireplace is stunning and the shelving and TV look perfect.

lolauren, I love your fireplace and the TV looks just right over the mantle. It looks like a very comfortable and lovely space.

srg - Lovely space! Can you tell me where is your white pendant light on the kitchen island from?

I've shared mine on here before but here it is. Its still a work in progress since I haven't found the right combination of accessories yet.

LOVE this post! We'd like to get a larger TV.... but I have an entertainment center which I LOVE, and I've just never wanted to part with it. So the TV always had to fit the entertainment center....which we bought back in the late 90's....well, TV's have changed a lot since then! So...been in the back of my mind to get a new one at some point...maybe one that hangs on the wall...but don't think we can, we've got a VCR, DVD player, stereo hooked up to it, Wii....there'd be cords everywhere!

I LOVE the looks of the ones over the fireplace! A friend of mine has one like that....and she loves it too.

Angie

Sidney, seeing your picture makes me really want to get ours finished. I'm drooling here.

Thanks justgotabme. I hope you share the finished project with all of us.

Entertainment center by Hooker.

Please excuse the Halloween decor :) This was taken last fall.

You're welcome. I plan on sharing it, but please don't hold your breath. My hubby starts his hobby of umpiring college softball next month so it's not going to happen anytime soon unless I do it myself.
Lauren, that's a very nice entertainment center.

Wow...some beautiful built-ins shown here!
Srg_love your set-up & the fireplace is stunning!

I only wish I had space for built-ins large enough to conceal the TV. At first, I wasn't big on the TV over the fireplace, but now, I'm used to it.
It is a family room afterall and will leave the living room 'tv-free'

I was going to post ours, but I don't know if the OP is coming back!

lolauren - I can't for the life of me figure out what HAH stands for :) Also, can you tell me what your wall color is?

HoosierGirl, go ahead the rest of us will appreciate it.
I never understand why when someone asks for something here, gets it and then doesn't come back to comment at all.
My only guess is that since the OPs name is unfamiliar they couldn't find the post. I don't always remember to click the box
to get responses in my inbox and the last couple times I did remember it didn't work.

Okay, Justgotabeme, here 'tis. It's still not quite finished -- looking for the *perfect* item for above the French doors (and we will probably have the chair recovered eventually).

msrose ---- HAH = hide-a-hose (my central vacuum)...

The wall color is Pittsburgh Paints' "Moth Gray" at 75% strength. It's a gray/beige, but I only see the beige in my home. :)