Here are some pics that I have found of other built ins...our ceilings are 9 ft and the mantle isn't that tall. We are going for a rustic bungalow look..

Or this..

Looks like you might be planning to mount your tv above fireplace? If so, maybe you could do something like this that will help diminish the dominance of the TV in the space. Maybe incorporate the windows into the design instead of stopping below them
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I have a similar fireplace and like your 1st pic. The mantle would need to be beefed up though, which shouldn't be a problem.

Chick, really like your pic. Everything seems to fit, even with the storage bumped out. Usually this option is shown like it was an afterthought.

I like the first pic best but it's also the one with no TV which may be part of the reason it looks better. I think that's the height you should go for.

I like the first pic as well. You could make your room look pretty much the same. I love it!

I would not build anything in, I would put the entertainment things including the tb on a shelf or whatever for a short time and live in the place for a bit before I started adding built ins. There are smaller cable boxes (a), a tv over the fireplace is not always desirable (b), and built ins are hard to undo (c). That is a nice fp wall but it does not have to be the wall where all your "stuff" goes, does it? If you must have it all there then I like pic one but wonder where is the tv??

I forgot to say...the tv is going over the fireplace. We are having a tv enclosure custom built to encase it. We are trying to figure out what to do with the cable box. There isnt a smaller box...it is 8.5 inches deep and 11 inches wide. How can we get this to look good? Thanks alot

Technicolor...I like your pic...how would we encorporate the windows? Our tv is a 50 inch tv...so it wont look as big as the one in your pic. Our mantle is 6 ft wide at the top...our tv is 47 inches wide..

Like the first pic, but how would you bridge the space between the hearth at the bottom and the built-in? A filler?

I think your plan is fine and I would mimic picture one, starting the shelves midpoint between the mantle and where the stone starts.

Nosoccermom....Are you referring to the height of the shelves? Are you saying start the shelves about 9 inches down from the top of the mantle? That would be the midpoint between the top and where the stone starts around the fireplace. How do I utilize the space where the stone hearth sticks out on the sides of the mantle legs? It looks like we should beef up the top of the mantle and make it a few inches thicker..

Can u help?

Matt, if you actually intend to store books on these bookshelves, 9 inches is no longer deep enough, no matter what some old references might indicate. Modern books have grown larger. I'd say no shallower than 11-12".

Your climate and the exposure to harsh temperatures of that wall would dictate whether recessing into it would be okay. You wouldn't want that end of the room to be cold in winter and/or hot in summer.

Since it appears you'd mainly do built-ins in to hide a cable box, though, you might want to take the advice not to. The future of cable's questionable, with more and more people going "zero-TV," a misleading term since they've just gone to streaming programs by Internet. Maybe it's popular because people get to say they don't have a TV? In any case, still have to find a place for a screen, but no cable box. For now you could use an IR relay to operate a wireless box hidden in a little side table by a chair.

BTW, those pictures are cute, but it seems to me your biggest design problem could be scale if the TV screen weren't smaller than the fire box, which is fairly compact.

No, I was referring to the space where the stone sticks out. If you start your shelves, i.e. the vertical side of your shelves, there, what would you do with the space above the stone and between mantle? Also, I personally would have the top of your shelves closer to below the mantle, maybe 7 inches, kind of like in your first picture.
Interested in your solution because my fireplace looks very much the same.

The good news is that yours is probably the most common fireplace/window configuration of the American Bungalow from 1900 - 1950; there are oodles of photos available.

You could build out along the sides of the hearth but not touch it, although this wouldn't be my preferred solution:

If you can't recess into the walls, you might look into building out the hearth?

Also: you might consider doing glass doors on the shelves to right and left of the fireplace, for the sake of keeping them cleaner/easier to clean. (Not sure if your fireplace is functional?)

I just checked the custom built-ins in this house and they are all 11 1/2" deep. I have decades of books and all fit neatly, I wouldn't want them any more shallow if I had a choice (understanding that few homes are perfect :))

But back to the cable box, I wouldn't design something permanent around them, I'd let one extend into the room first before tearing into a wall for depth.

I don't know your company, but in the last year I've replaced (or added in one room, hadn't planned originally to be watching TV in that space) three cable boxes...the oldest in my office is a whopping 13" deep, more than 17" wide (and silver which doesn't go with my décor). The other two, all three of them Comcast, only 7x9". And a discreet black.

We hired a high end carpenter to design ours...He is going to bulk up our mantle and build shelves similar to the 1st pic. I will post pics..it will be done this week..We may build our hearth out as well...but, we are trying to avoid extra stonework..

Get an Apple TV, it's about 3" square and you can fit it anywhere - and better than cable!

That's great, Matt. And will be done this week! Looking forward to the pix.

We finally got our built-ins finished...They are just primed in this pic.. We are vvery happy.. Thanks for all you help!

Here are our parlor built-ins. They are only primed as well. We are adding a pad for a bench seat under the windows..

Matt, those are wonderful! One would never guess they were not original to the place, and they give so much character and such useful storage! We just bought a bungalow and will be working on decorating it soon, this thread has been so useful and inspiring to me. Please post pictures again as you finish the rooms!!!

That looks really nice! I keep on scrolling up to see how you addressed the hearth that stuck out. So, you made the side upright of the fireplace wider, right? But did you also get a completely new mantle or is that somehow beefed up?

Hey...we beefed the mantle up by widening the legs so it could meet the shelves and also made the top 2 inches thicker as well as 3 inches deeper. The shelves are 10 inches deep...so we can put our cable box on them. The hearth sticks out 12.5 inches...so it sticks out 2.5 inches past the shelves. We paid $1400 for the living room and $1100 for the parlor built-ins. He wasnt cheap...but was highly recommended by several high end builders. I think it was well worth it. He also made this kitchen range hood for us...we are painting our cherry cabinets a cream color. People think we are crazy for ppainting nice cherry cabinets....but my wife doesnt like cherry. We are staing our red oak floors dark walnut...I am a little scared to go this dark.

Wow looks awesome!! can't wait to see the finished kitchen