Remove the black tiling fireplace surround and replace with a stone or matte finish LARGE scale tile that reaches the ceiling. Color that ties to your countertop color. Add a mantel.

Perhaps looking at lots of gas fireplaces on Houzz photos will help and it also depends on your budget. You could narrow down your ideas and have a company or two come in to quote to help you decide. Given the tight space, I would go with clean and simple lines and no mantle. To keep budget lower, you could paint the wall a deep color and just add the stainless surround and a large piece of art above instead of using stone.

The fireplace is simply lost in the clutter on the wall next to it. Can the TV go to the right of the window and the sectional move back a bit? Or put the child's table to the right of the window and get a long console for the TV and move it away from the fireplace a bit.

groveraxel, do you mean putting the tv between the window and sliding doors? Im not sure there is much room?

chilifliper,
I would love to put a mantle up but I am wondering how it would look as the fire place and tile go right up to the window casing?

This alone will make the fireplace more focal:

I see there is not enough space for the TV to the right of the window, but the child's table works well there. So move the TV away from the fireplace and leave some space. Is it possible that the right speaker could be relocated?

groveraxle
a quick tidying up does wonders for the interm!
As for tv stands...would you have something tall like the one you photoshopped in (lovely by the way) or would you go with something lower profile?

These are some of my ideas for a fireplace and tv wall.

The floors will hopefully be changed out in a couple of years (who wants shiny black floors with kids and dogs!- what was the builder thinking) but I was hoping to start by doing the fireplace as I'm hoping it is the less costly change to make of the two.

So another question; since I do plan on doing the floors, is it better to retile the floors then the fireplace due to cutting of tiles and such or can I stick with my original plan to do fireplace first?

Also, I've decided no mantle but was wondering about the look of tiles vs. stone? It will likely be done in a some version of white. The wall colour will change as well to a white one day too.

Looks like you are looking for a more contemporary look. The last photo (where you tidied) gives a better sense of how lost the fireplace is among the current TV stand and big black speakers. You are smart to consider the whole space at once, even though you plan to do it in stages. You certainly can do the fireplace now and the floor later, and in the meantime, I suggest a large bold area rug.

I suggest you consider the TV wall at the same time you decide on the fireplace; think of them as a piece. I'm guessing those speakers are Hubby's pride and joy, but I'm also guessing a redesign of that whole wall (with new equipment) would be something he could get behind.

Let me mock up a few new looks for you and maybe it'll give you some ideas.

I faced your fireplace wall in stone veneer, though with that window, thickness may become an issue. Still, there are lots of modern surfaces that could be considered here, so I'll leave that research to you.

Then I concentrated on the TV wall, and since I happened to have some walls just laying around from a previous project, I stuck them in your room so you could see how Hubby might accommodate his TV accoutrement as part of the whole. And then I did a simple wall hung TV cabinet with no accoutrement showing (I hid it all in a closet with an RF remote system).

I added a bold rug (chosen with kids in mind) to hide the floor.

Here are two fireplaces clad in steel, oxidized stainless and corten:

Something to consider.

groveraxel the first and third options are amazing! Exactally what I was envisioning.I think we are going to replace the monster speakers with a new system and have them installed into the wall.
Behind the sofa is our desk which I have another post going...Im in search of a cabinet that holds all our computer pieces and will also act as a transition piece from kitchen to office. It would be a great place to store the remote system too. Have you seen anything?
This room is such a big project!

imani yes to ivory stonework and then repaint the walls a lighter colour! I think the tv wall should be a bit darker?

Fireplace wall simply painted black to match the tile:

For the office wall, I'd look at Ikea systems. You can combine desks with open and closed storage and make use of the whole wall in a cohesive, attractive way.

The office look is a bit busy for me. I was looking for a way to tie in the maple slab desk into the dark maple cuppards with some sort of transitional piece that had a door to contain the computer equiptement. But yes I do love the besta system; I use it in one of our bedrooms.

Thank you so much for all your help so far! We almost have some brick work picked out. I also want to start looking for rugs. What size would be proper?

Good tips for sizing your rug:

[https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-area-rug-rules-and-how-to-break-them-stsetivw-vs~222609[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-area-rug-rules-and-how-to-break-them-stsetivw-vs~222609)

[https://www.houzz.com/magazine/size-up-the-right-area-rug-for-your-room-stsetivw-vs~33334058[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/size-up-the-right-area-rug-for-your-room-stsetivw-vs~33334058)

Hi, well we are on our way here. Rug is purchased and we are in the midst of finalizing paint colours. Groveraxel, or anyone on here actually...would you be able to mock up a picture for me with those great photoshop skills please? Someone had mentioned putting stone from floor to ceiling on both the fireplace wall and the tv wall. I was wondering what it could look like? Many thanks!

You might check for art here:

http://www.houzz.com/projects/1295077/art-original-abstract-paintings

Don't do it. Wayyyyyyyyy toooooooooo much stone.

many thanks for that groveraxel! All that stone would have been a major mistake!

tonights project is finding a replacent for the ceiling fan....

The close proximity of the window makes doing much beside painting the angled wall above the fireplace difficult -- it would interfere with adding a mantel or even adding the thickness of faux stone or brick.

Consider painting the fireplace wall an accent color and then adding something above the fireplace -- a nice clock or some unusual shelves above it -- shelves that are not very deep and not overall as wide as the wall.

https://img1.etsystatic.com/133/0/6977484/il_340x270.895543185_2i88.jpg

http://st.houzz.com/simgs/222121cb0f1d60da_4-8368/modern-wall-shelves.jpg

You wouldn't want curtains or drapes next to the fireplace; however, you could control light/privacy by adding wood shutters -- reducing glare on the tv screen --

http://www.period-homes.com/brochure/images/Shutter3.jpg

or add white mini-blinds inside the window frame -- they mostly visually disappear.

If you don't want to cover your window(s), you might consider adding a stained glass sun catcher panels.

https://www.google.com/search?q=images+stained+glass+suncatcher+window+size&biw=1360&bih=673&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7s42G7drKAhXJFz4KHeDACiMQsAQIHg

For your next tv stand, you could choose something unconventional. I'm currently using a 4' high 4' wide oak hutch w/glass doors that I bought from a used furniture / antique store as a bookcase with my tv sitting on it.

Something else to consider as you purchase additional furnishings, including but not limited to the tv stand you mentioned needing, is that in a small room, a tv stand with glass doors can serve as a bookcase or curio cabinet

http://www.sauder.com/GetMedia/14cb3c02-4a62-46f8-befa-d473c0fd6561/414721.jpg

or with solid doors, it can be used for storage. If the tv stand/cabiinet has the right sized shelving/doors, it could serve as a place for a small dog's bed -- with doors, the dog bed could be hidden when you have company and don't want the dog present.

A coffee table open underneath could also double as a space for a small dog's bed

https://ashleyfurniture.scene7.com/is/image/AshleyFurniture/T580-1?$AFHS-PDP-Main$

a long rectangular ottoman

http://www.sumpto.com/wp-content/uploads/white-leather-rectangular-storage-ottoman-bench.jpg

can have storage within it and/or serve as a window seat and/or even serve as a toddler's climbing/play/nap space.

Check out your nearest Habitat for Humanity Restore store and any Good Will or any of the larger church sponsored thrift stores for bargains, including on used furnishings.

My favorite, not-horribly expensive, modern ceiling fan is the Emerson Loft:

It comes in a bunch of finishes, but it doesn't have a light kit (which is OK with me since I've never found a light kit that looks really good or gives good light anyway).

Minka Aire has some beautiful fans too, but they're pricier.

as for lighting, I think I am going to look for something non fan. We have central air and really don't need it. Likely a flush or semi flush mount as it is the only fixture on the ceiling; I'm hesitant to have something too visual up there. We have poor lighting throughout the area so want it to give off light but not be too much visually. That being said, as it is the only piece up there it might be fun to add something visually interesting. Its awkward in that it is not over the sitting area but behind the sofa.

Paint the fireplace wall a deep grey; the other walls, light grey. Take out all the red décor and put in silver, chrome metallic's. Put a contemporary chrome or silver mirror over fireplace --Stunning!

I am back to work in this space again. I am thinking of painting the tv wall a grey blue colour. Fireplace has been retiled in white and I am still looking at ceiling lighting.

So give us a photo of the new fireplace/TV walls and let's see what we can do.

I am thinking of a dark greyish blue for the tv wall. We have a white witha live edge maple top tv console on route: 72" long 30 "high-a custom piece so no pictures yet. Its a contemporary piece.

greyish blue wall/ dark indio tv walls? I was then thinking of 3 floating shelves to the right of the tv with the rest of the walls will be done in white.

Wait on the wall color till the TV console is in place. From a practical standpoint, I think the TV will need to shift toward the fireplace and the shelves go on the left. If the shelves are on the right, people on the sectional facing the window won't be able to see the TV.