I say if your going to do something, do it right. Stone it. It looks tacky when people do things half way.

Thanks, we originally said we were going to do this but were advised it may look "cave like"......then we started second guessing ourselves.

Hi I hope this helps - my husband did all of this himself -
Ok I TOTALLY forgot to take the "absolutely before photo" this room had dark paneling throughout and the fireplace hearth was wall-to-wall and there were dark beams across the top of the ceiling.
Photo 1: Remove carpet. Tear down paneling & walls & ceiling & re-drywall all of it. Had 2 existing recessed lights - now has 6 canned lights. Drywall over the top of the brick fireplace. Replaced windows around fireplace (now they open) removed wall-to-wall hearth & left it only in front of the fireplace.
Photo 2: Stone the fireplace - over top of the brick and build new mantle. Add black marble to hearth. Paint. New carpet. I did keep mom's drapes (they were expensive & I picked them out! ;) and bigscreen TV over the fireplace ~ * note this now renders the fireplace as an ornamental focal point for the room and it is no longer functional as the heat from a fire would ruin the TV - but I didnt want to track wood droppings etc thru the house. I did recycle the existing uh? insert? and it is permanently cemented into the opening ~ I couldn't find a new one that I liked and they are extremely expensive!

PS - if I had this to "do over" - I would have done something different with the marble hearth - in matching stone - actually that is what I wanted at the time but it was nearly impossible. When you buy that cultured stone - you have A LOT of waste because you are cherry picking through the boxes to get something that fits > I bought 6 boxes - corner piece fitting stones come in a separate box - I have 4 boxes left over that didnt get used > there was no way to make it work for the hearth. My biggest problem with this room is the 9ft patio door & fireplace make it hard to arrange the furniture. I got a sectional & created my own problem with wearing of the carpet in the "playpen area". Otherwise - the only other thing is I wish there was some kind of "built-in" hidden storage for the TV receiver & DVD player (the wires for them are hidden in the hearth - it is hollow, but then your remotes wouldn't work? I dont know. Other than that I love it! These are photos of the rest of the room - hard to take pictures in here...

PS - if I had this to "do over" - I would have done something different with the marble hearth - in matching stone - actually that is what I wanted at the time but it was nearly impossible. When you buy that cultured stone - you have A LOT of waste because you are cherry picking through the boxes to get something that fits > I bought 6 boxes - corner piece fitting stones come in a separate box - I have 4 boxes left over that didnt get used > there was no way to make it work for the hearth. My biggest problem with this room is the 9ft patio door & fireplace make it hard to arrange the furniture. I got a sectional & created my own problem with wearing of the carpet in the "playpen area". Otherwise - the only other thing is I wish there was some kind of "built-in" hidden storage for the TV receiver & DVD player (the wires for them are hidden in the hearth - it is hollow, but then your remotes wouldn't work? I dont know. Other than that I love it! These are photos of the rest of the room - hard to take pictures in here...

whoops! I didnt mean to load them up twice - sorry about that - it was taking so long - I thought it didnt work and tried again!

Found another before photo

well thats no good... try this one...

Thank you ladytamara, your fireplace looks very nice!

Here is a better photo of what we are doing with the fireplace

its coming right along! You have the same problem I have long narrow room but with TWO big windows to contend with! Yikes! My best advice is avoid the sectional! LOL - since your wall behind the fireplace doesnt have the windows like mine does, and you've already got the spot for the TV... I think I would put shelves in there, maybe not "permanently fixed to the wall type" but "removal" in case you get sick of them eventually. - oh i see you are doing cabinets half way up - that would probably look nice with some matching pictures/art/photos above the shelves since they wont go all the way up - I like those baskets that they have for shelves and you can find them in all colors & they are good for hiding "junk" that collects around the TV like magazines & video game accessories, dvds etc. keeps your junk handy where it needs to be but disguises it well so it looks tidy! Dont forget to factor in hiding those TV wires > that is a little tricky!

I would stone it and paint your side walls a dark color since your room is narrow. Pick a color that blends in with the darkest stone color of the fireplace. This will draw your eye to that end of the room and pop the stone. Plus, it makes the room seem bigger and wider. Not so cut up.

You know what would also look really cool? A dark stained wide wood plank laid horizontally in the box. Being able to see the wood behind the smaller tv would look cool, the dark color helping the black tv blend in. The wood also is easier to deal with if you need to get back there for wiring, etc. It would look even more custom and "designed" rather than just stone all the way. Lastly, I think it might give you a little bit more space inside the box, as the stone takes up more room.

PS the "cave-like" comment makes no sense! That little bit isn't what would make it cave-like. It's what you do with the whole room.

I really would not put stone in the television niche. It would draw attention to the area for no good reason. I think it should be the same material as the walls, i.e. dry wall. You want the attention on a beautiful focal point, which would be the fireplace, not the television. We have entertainment niches all over southern california, and unless it's a built-in cabinet, it should be drywall. I did see a model home where they painted the niche a bold rusty orange color to go with other parts of the decor, but there were also floating wood shelves with items displayed on them taking the attention off the t.v. in a good way. And it was a large niche. have fun with your projects!

So much to think about!! Thank you everyone for all the ideas! I am still torn on what to to do?! I have been looking for photos to see finished products but so far have not had much luck (I am a visual person and find it hard to imagine the finished product). Thank you all for the great ideas!

Hi Everyone - Thanks again for your help! Here is the finished product. We ended up going stone against the back wall and then staining wood planks along the side planks to match our mantle

Hey, is that the planks behind the tv, like I suggested? That's great!