I like black, but It calls for more contemporary furnishings than you appear to have.

Black on black work well for hiding a TV

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Not sure you can get this kind of drama with yours being shorter

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I would scrap that mantle and get a solid wood one to span the entire thing. you can get a 2x6 or 4x8 2x8 fir beam at home depot and make one. beat it up, stain it, use lag bolts to hang it.

or, remove that mantle altogether. But that current one does not work at all.

would look like this,,,,,w/white

or, like this one. this would also look great in black.

you could do some wood wainscot type of trim for the upper half you'd like.

I do prefer the black. if you do this, paint the walls in a white or cream, and de clutter everything.

or, tile over it w/a thin brick veneer like this herringbone. this is gorgeous.