Entertainment center / Brick Hearth

9 years ago

We have this odd cabinet system built in/on to the brick hearth. We are wondering what options we have to utilize the space for all our entertainment and sound equipment. The challenge is anything that would fit those pieces will push out further than the brick around the fireplace. Is another (better looking) built in an option or would a custom piece of furniture be best? The television is mounted and can be made center. The dropped ceiling above can and will be removed. Any ideas welcome! Thanks

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Joni Koenig Interiors

9 years ago

Can you remove the hearth to the right of the fp? if so, I would suggest a piece of furniture and center the tv.

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Comments (12)

kellynbailey
Original Author
9 years ago
I have thrown that idea of removing that portion of hearth to my husband before. He still likes the idea that the hearth provides a seating option when we have larger gatherings in the room. It may be a last resort if we can't get something to fit in the existing set up. Thanks!
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charaj00
9 years ago
Remove the two middle doors from the built in. Set up the A/V components on the now exposed shelves under the TV. Center the TV. This might create a job for a carpenter to extend the shelves across the width of the built-in. Repurpose the two unused cabinet doors as shelves or message boards or key/hat racks with additional knobs or hooks elsewhere in your house. I like the idea of hearth as seating but with some cushions.
katinparadise
9 years ago
Can you give us measurements of the space? Length and depth? It would help to know the width of your t.v. along with the depth of your deepest piece of equipment. It looks as though someone tried to make built ins with 2 kitchen cabinets. You may be able to do the same with a different combination of cabinetry.
kellynbailey
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, they did use kitchen cabinets for this set up. The TV is a 60" and the deepest piece of equipment needs 19" of space. The depth from the back wall to the brick face of the fireplace is 15.5", and there is 73.5" of space from the fireplace to the wall.
kellynbailey
Original Author
9 years ago
But after looking at it, we can turn the 19" piece to the side, so really the deepest piece is 12".
gustaruygers
9 years ago
The kitchen cabinets even have a kitchen counter top. I would remove the whole thing and find a rustic wood cabinet, the full length of the area and center the TV.
I would also try to give more dimension to the white paint on the fire playing. "Antique" it a bit .
katinparadise
9 years ago
Not sure of your style but how about something like this? It's 72" long and 15.25" deep, which should fit perfectly in your space. It sits low to the ground so it will resemble more of a built in. It's 21" high so should bring your t.v. down to a more reasonable viewing height. I can't get the pic to load but here's a link. https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Furniture-of-America-72-inch-Peyson-Modern-Tiered-TV-Stand/10297669/product.html
Carol R
9 years ago
Make everything in the tv area under the bulkhead black. It will accentuate the fireplace and the tv will disappear. It would be optimal to remove the existing cabinet and replace with a floating cabinet mounted a bit lower. There are some really nice options from Ikea.
Bruce Crawford
9 years ago
I lean twd CharaJ00's suggestion. Problem w/ centering TV on that wall is it will be offset to viewers, assuming seating is centered on wall. Re the soffit, that would be a great place to install a center channel spkr if you're going to have 7.1 audio system (which I recommend). If attic above ceiling, easy to mount ceiling speakers, too. My family room has side & rear channel spkrs in ceiling. Not possible in my den, those are on stands w/ flat wires under carpet.
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Brian Gannon
9 years ago
Remove the raised hearth all together. It is probably just a shell of bricks and the inside filled with sand. Buy a $200 small jack hammer and it will be out in a couple hours.

It would open the room and also open options to redo hearth, fireplace and whatever you decide on for cabinetry.
Bette P
9 years ago
Do you know if the hearth brick continues under those cabinets? If they do, I would mount a floating cabinet. Hiding the wires is a super nice clean look.
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