Do you mean guidelines in terms of safety, or in terms of decorating/design? I can tell you that my furniture is really close to my fireplace, because my living room is so narrow. The edge of the stand that my flat-screen TV is on is about 3" from the edge of the brick on the fireplace! On the other side, I have a chair that is maybe 18" from the fireplace. Ours is a gas-insert fireplace, so perhaps safety isn't an issue as much as a wood-burning fireplace, and design-wise, I like to think of it as cozy LOL. I don't have any good pics of the whole room, but this gives you an idea of how tight the area is around my fireplace.

Thanks! Does your TV stand that's 3" away get hot? I just don't want to damage (or ignite!) our furniture. 24" away is about as close as I would be putting anything.

Anyone else?

No, it doesn't get hot, but that may be because it's a gas fireplace? Not sure... I don't know the science behind it, but the heat from our "fire" seems to go mainly straight out, not radiate toward the sides, if that makes sense. Also, if you look at the right side of the pic, although the TV stand is very close to the brick, it's still pretty far away from the actual fireplace opening.

From what I have read (insurance and government suggestions) all furniture should be at least 3' (36") from any type of fireplace.