Custom Cabinet design help around fireplace hearth

13 years ago

Hi - this is my first post but we're really stuck. We are moving into this new home with this beautiful stone fireplace - image attached. This will be the family room with a TV and sofas and chairs. The cable outlets are on the left of the fireplace. We felt putting the TV above the fireplace would take away from the fireplace - so we are thinking to put TV on custom cabinet beside fireplace on both sides. Our goal is to make the fireplace the visual focus of the room. The trouble is the hearth. The hearth extends along the side of the fireplace. If the cabinet extends up to the hearth, the cabinet is going to have a 18" wall gap between the chimney and the edge of the cabinet. If the cabinet extends over the hearth and right up against the fireplace then we would hide a part of the hearth, and the cabinet would stick out quite a bit further than the stone of the fireplace (Cabinet needs to be at least 20" deep for cable box etc). Another option is corner cabinet and not let the cabinet touch the hearth at all (but do we do a corner on both sides of the fireplace?). How tall should we make the cabinet? I was thinking a little lower than the mantel to highlight the fireplace? What are your thoughts?

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motownmom

13 years ago

That is a really lovely fireplace, congrats on your new home!

I think you are confusing the location of the cable outlet with where you need to put the television. I have 2 cable outlets in my home, yet I have 4 high def tv's with their own cable boxes on 4 different floors. Cables can be hidden around carpet lines & moldings and can be as long as you like. Don't let that fact determine where you put the television.

Having said that, I always like bookshelves and cabinets next to fireplaces. To me it's a natural fit and makes the wall impactful. If you truly go with a built-in look, the base of the cabinet/bookshelf can be built as high as the hearth is. In other words, you'd have a facing on the bottom of the cabinet that takes the hearth into account. The shelving could then start where the hearth/cabinet base meets and be built up to the mantel height. Usually a built in cabinet will be the same depth as the fireplace, in your case maybe the same depth as the hearth?

An alternative would be to simply have the cabinets as wide as the wall area up to the hearth, then you can fill in that "side hearth" area next to the brick with a custom cabinet as wide as the hearth for small collectibles. Or it could be pilasters for a new mantle you build, as wide and deep as the fireplace stone on the wall.

However, is the white thing on the floor to the right of the firplace an air intake/register? If so, that would mean you need an open bottom on the cabinet unless you want to move it. Maybe it's just something else on the floor.

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Comments (6)

Karin Madgwick
13 years ago
You could have custom cabinets made with matching shelving.
The top of the cabinets could extend to the actual chimney and extra shelving continue up the wall on both sides. The cabinetry should be the same colour as the walls then the fire place would still be the feature. The shelving could act as a bookcase and display for special items. You could have lighting incorporated into the shelving.
lincoyable thanked Karin Madgwick
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Marcia Mondt Stine
13 years ago
We are building a new home and are having custom bookshelves on both sides of our fireplace along with a TV on top of fireplace. I think it will look fabulous!!!
lincoyable thanked Marcia Mondt Stine
lincoyable
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you. If I had the HDTV (60") on the left cabinet, what is the best way to bring the TV out to a viewing angle? I was thinking of mounting a Sanus Multidirectional TV Mount. When it's retracted it's flush with the cabinet. When it's out, then you can angle it in any direction depending on usage. The other option is to mount on the wall and have a lower cabinet, but then the TV stands out more?
maureenobx
13 years ago
We had a similar fireplace wall. We built bookcases on either side of the fireplace and put a flat screen tv on a swivel mounted to the wall at the back of the bookcase. We removed a shelf for the tv to fit and put the boxes on another shelf. The TV can be moved out to see it from anywhere in. He room and pushed into place when not in use. The bookcases hold books and various decorative items leaving the mantel and fireplace either clean or seasonally decorated.
lincoyable thanked maureenobx
nickmhar
12 years ago
Hi, not sure if you've begun your remodel here. We have the same problem of wanting to bring cabinets flush with the sides of a stone fire place but our hearth sticks out a little as well. Contact a stone mason, they can actually cut the hearth in place or pop it off and cut to the same size as the fireplace. The stones under the hearth can be swapped out for smaller to get the even edge that will welcome a flush built in cabinet.