I would consult an interior designer in person, there is a lot going on with what you want to do and drastically changes the footprint of the space on the whole. as I see a doorway to the right windows to the left, the room doesnt seem to have that much depth, there is a dining table in this space as well... more pictures, dimensional drawing of room, would help us but I feel like there are more challenges here.

RL beat me to it. A builder is not a designer.

Thanks both of you. I cannot see us affording a designer for our house. I guess my main question is, is this a normal thing to occur as a roadbock to updating the house. Yes our room Is not deep, but long. The desk on the left side of the will move out of the space, and the dining table will move to the door side, so the space will fit better.

I understand changing the footprint, I am more interested about matching the exterior to the interior when updating your house.

I really like your last photo with the stone and the shelves but off center
But I would put TV lower
And I think shelves should not have so much space between them
Have you thought of balancing heavier objects against each other - like if the movement is geared to the left
A builtin bookcase and fireplace go to right
With the tv next - kind of cascading to balance ?

Some other angles, please note the tv cabinet is pulled out from the wall while we were measuring

Well now it does seem more long and narrow.
Sit in your couch and pick the best tv height that won't kill your neck.
Especially with such a narrow room?
So the kitchen and dining is to the left, and your patio is to the right? And infront of the couch is a main walkway to outside? I would put the fireplace toward the dining area, and the tv on one of the new built in shelves toward the patio across ftom the couch. The ledge is nice. I still like the stone in the last photo.

The kitchen is behind, the original photo was taken from inside the kitchen. There are entrances to the room from both sides. we had already decided to do centre with tv on top, I don’t think that will change now. I wanted the ledge but the builder says that it’s too modern for our house based on the exterior. Which I had never heard before.

You have a long wall and lots of space. I would design an asymmetrical fireplace/ TV design to avoid putting a TV over the fireplace. Many TVs are over fireplaces because houses were not designed for the TVs that are much larger now - but you do not have that constraint.

I think you are eating into precious floor space, I would agree long and narrow, tv beside.. use the whole wall to get yourself some more storage.

You know when you go to the movies and sit in the front row and crank your neck...avoid that.

Hmm now that i look again you will have to keep it scaled down length wise as the windows and doors limit the depth on that wall.

Changing the dining table to the other side is only going to impede the traffic flow even more. I am unsure about the whole idea honestly.

If you got some graph paper and mapped out the room, it would be super helpful.....I’m sure there is a solution.

Thanks RL Relocation LLC, yes this is why we went with centre, because of the door and window. The reason why we went with centre also as opposed to the side was mostly so we didn’t over complicate the space. I was dead against a tv over the fireplace to start with, but too many people have disagreed with me and now I agree. We will be decorating the space nicely eventually and can adapt our decor accordingly. If we build in to the side we will not have room. We have a dining room, but it has a pool table in it at the moment, and we have another lounge room, but it is smaller, which we may put the pool table into so we can use the dining room as it was intended. But the living room space cannot be used like this at the moment, so it is what it is. It is all so frustrating and hard.

My main question is, if we don’t go with the design suggested, a flat stone face, and instead for the timber ledge, are we really going to ruin the house by going ”too modern” as my builder has said?

Below are nicer photos from previous sales. Hopefully this helps to give the feel of the space.

have you talked at all about how this will affect the traffic flow, Id love to tell you that you can do whatever you want to your house, and if you like, do it. But in reality, I dont think "style" is the issue as much as shrinking the footprint.

Do you have plan drawings? specs? anything that actually shows the footprint this will take up?

Have you marked it out with blue tape?

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A TV screen is most comfortably watched when at or near eye level. Raising it up over a fireplace isn't ideal from a functional, TV watching perspective.