center the tv over the firebox or it will look wronger.

I would not put the tv there, for reasons the last poster said. I would find the most beautiful tall vase, put it to the left of the fireplace, have it nicely arranged, that will balance the area, also nice piece of a local artist artwork on the mantle. It's all about balance.

katbv... its not that i dont agree about the tv. but where over the mantel do you put the art...centered on the firebox or on the wall?

I believe, over the firebox

You can minimize the effect if you carry the mantel all the way across the wall and tile everything underneath the mantel instead of just around the firebox. I would still find another place for the TV, and do an arrangement of art and objects on the mantel to balance what lies below.

I don't see many options other than re-tiling the fireplace like in this photos

Looks like a firebox and a flue pipe surrounded by drywall. You should be able to take it apart and rebuild it properly. This will give you the opportunity to retire both hearth and fireplace. It cost us $3k to remove a similar fireplace in the Tampa region of FL, including wall and ceiling repair. To rebuild might cost you a little more, depending on where you're located. And if you don't use it, you can always remove it totally.

That's retile the fireplace!

Groveraxle. I like the look. How did you do that. I wonder what it would look like with tile?

Slate tile and reclaimed brick veneer:

I like what Grover did as well. of you're looking for a simpler or temporary option, you can centre the tv over the fireplace and put up floating shelves to the left

Build in shelving to the left of the fireplace and store wood and/or kindling in it if it's a wood burning fireplace. Build the mantle all the way across so that it makes it appear more seamless.

Then you can either center the tv above the space and not centered above the fireplace itself or add longer shelves above the mantle to create a larger built in.

You could add art or a mirror or lighting or a pop of color above the mantle as well.

Groveraxle. Which program do you use?

Patrick, I use Photoshop Elements. It's Photoshop's skinnier, cheaper cousin.