Hi all,

We can't have a real fireplace in our home, so we want to build a fake one. I've seen a lot of nice ones, where people put candles or logs or even books and looks great, but I'm not sure how to go about designing this space.
The room is a bit a narrow (about 10'), so we don't want to lose too much space with this fake fireplace. And our TV (42" - so really 39"x24") has to go on top of it. The house is modern, so this would have to fit in with the decor. I attached a picture of one fireplace I like, but I think the TV Is mounted too high and I'm not sure we can do as much depth of the hole (you know what I mean :))

So here are my questions:

How deep should the "hole" be so that it's functional and I can still put something in it? I was thinking 9", but I'm not sure that's deep enough.

In relation to the TV, how big should the hole be?

How high can the TV go so that it's still ok to watch from the sofa? I often see people mounting their TV too high above a fireplace and it just seems uncomfortable to watch from a sitting position.

Thanks for your advice in advance!