I usually prefer wall-to-wall treatments, but in this case I'd bring them in by perhaps 24 inches on each side -- I think the symmetry of the window wall would be disturbed by having the illusion of wall coming so close to the window -- if that makes sense to you?I'd also love to see luscious drapes pulled to the outside of each window, and if you did do that at any stage you would need the wall space to open them properly. I'll post if I find any pics that might be useful.

I would not add big heavy looking bookcases. Why not keep it clean and sleek, Mount the TV over a floating unit. The days of the big wall units are moving on;)

That's interesting -- I've been browsing walls, and most of those that I mused over for your purposes were of the floating cabinet (a la Margo) and not a lot else variety. Maybe a shelf or three. Of course a lot depends on how much storage you need there.

Hi Rina- I hestitate to come on a thread that you answer as you are the graceful swan and I am the boorish ox;) I guess I felt brave this morning!

Big laugh. Can't you just see the meeting? Have you ever seen swans fight? Not graceful. Quite horrid. They make oxen look extremely refined.

Are the built in bookcases "movin' on" because people are buying fewer books, or because built ins add a good bit to the new construction budget? We built a very open floor plan (a KITCHEN with gathering/seating/eating areas). We are beyond pleased with our simple retirement space. Bookcases with storage below were a priority for us, even after donating carloads of books to Habitat Restore, the libraries in two cities and our across the street neighbors. The built ins house or display books, the 54" TV, pottery, baskets, teapot collection, small paintings....all seriously and ruthlessly culled. I do not find them bulky or dominating the space, rather I find that the built ins facilitate organization and clutter control.

A side note: one library was beyond pleased to receive the collections of civil war, world war and Vietnam war books. She stated that many of the teachers were now requiring that the students research "in the books", because many had no idea how to do so!

Disclosure: I am the first to dash to Google ...

Or you could get a nice console and mount the TV over that. Add a palm in the corner by the window.

Bookcases might interfere with your window on the right of the fireplace. Also, bookcases tend to collect stuff which can look busy.

do you have a budget?

your mantel is traditional and i would take that into consideration when shopping for shelves

one suggestion that I have is to use an "in wall" mount so that the TV is almost flush with the wall. the mount fits between the studs in a pre-fab box that holds the articulating arm.

i would take molding build it up to make a frame on the wall around the TV. When you're not using the TV, I would leave the TV flush with its frame. Depending on your TV, you can use a USB stick and feed images to the screen so that it looks like a framed painting.

i would look for floating wall shelves to arrange on the wall to meet your needs. i would use one of the shelves for the cable box, DVD player, etc.

http://www.smartfurniture.com/shelves/wallshelves.html

if you want to look for ready made shelving units, you might look at room and board, west elm, and the like.

The window is going to throw off the look of built-ins so find yourself a nice credenza for the TV with some shelves for a few books and knick-knacks and call it good. Add some nice art work that reflects your personality and you'll have a beautiful room.

Great call moving the TV! I would also remove the wood trim around fireplace, it is really distorting the room. A mantle should not be that high. You may need to touch up the wall where trim is removed.

Also, it would be nearly impossible to watch tv where current TV is placed.

I wouldn't do built ins on the right wall. But you may want to consider built in window seats with storage on either side of fireplace.

As for TV placement, can you please send a photo of your room from another angle so we can see the left wall?

On second thought, once you remove the wood trim around fireplace - the TV could probably just shift down to a more normal height. You can hide TV components in the window seats I suggested by using an IR Blaster. Here is a picture of our setup that would be pretty similar to yours.

wow thanks for all the responses. I'm not planning on doing anything more to the fireplace, I just finished updating it. I consider it mod not traditional, its got brushed aluminum tile with a 3d look and sheet metal on the floor. I feel like I'm being deferred against the built in look because of the placement of window. Its a very large great room, so I didn't think it would take away. Perhaps I should keep it shallow. How about something like this:

It depends on what is on the other side of the room. The concern is that a built in may cause the room to loose symmetry, no matter what depth. However a piece of furniture isn't as obtrusive and won't throw the entire room out of whack.

It would be so much cheaper to just remove the wood trim around your fireplace & lower your TV + you will have more seating options and perfect symmetry + it keeps your mod style + you won't have to buy anything else.

Anyway that's what I would do. If not that, then a piece of furniture.

Maybe this pic can help you with the tricky solution of the window and builtins