I would put shelving or door to cover TV cords and declutter.

Try removing everything except the TV from the mantle. Then center the TV on the space. Buy a pair of small vertical pictures and place one on each side of the TV. An alternative would be to move the TV to the left on the mantle and place two horizontal paintings, one above the other, to the right.

Edit the items in the bookcase niche until they look more presentable. Then find something to put in front of the cords, etc. that are in the big open niche. What comes to mind is either a piece of art leaning against something like a stack of books that will hold it upright, or a large round decorative tray on a stand.

Can you post a picture of a wide view of the fireplace and the room?

Here I tried Carolyne's ideas.

Thanks, celery girl, the space is looking much neater and better in your photo!

Wow, this is great! Thank you both so much!!

You are welcome. We'd love to see a photo when you get done with this project!

Also, could you wall mount your TV? I think that would look best, and you wouldn't need any art on either side of it.

FYI and MANTLE is a cloak, and MANTEL is a shelf that wraps around a fireplace chimney. I get confused too.....lol.

Hi Betsy,

Thank you for the tips! There is a lot of potential storage space there that I'd like to use. I love that idea too. Any thoughts on color? (I have cherry cabinets and a black buffet in the adjacent room).

I didn't opt to mount the tv initially because of cost but I have been reconsidering - it would look cleaner!

@d_gw - To the right of the fireplace is a staircase heading down so that is the whole wall

I asked to see a picture of the whole room so we can see the fireplace wall in context with the rest of your decor and how the wall relates to the rest of the room.

You'd be surprised how often advice changes when a clever poster gets an idea because they were able to see the whole room.

You've gotten good advice, good luck with your new choices.

To give any advice on color, we'd need to see more photos of the colors you have used, and we'd also need to hear about colors you might be considering. Actually, I like the white that it is, but maybe could suggest a color you could use in the room if we could see the furniture that is there.