I need to see the whole space every wall in pics posted here in a comment. As for the space you show take that silly piece above the mantel off if you trully have no where else for the TV but really TV that high is horrible for viewing.

Are you sure you can't put it somewhere else? How about a floor plan? You might get some better ideas.

I hate TVs over fireplaces. If you must mount it so it can be brought down for viewing.

I agree the piece above the mantle should go even if that means repairs to the wall.

I am not a fan of the over-mantle so I would remove. It makes the fireplace top heavy.

If it truly is the ONLY place for a tv? Remove!!! all the trim work above the mantel. Fix the drywall, paint, and get a 55" tv., with the right mounting bracket, hdmi cable with an Ir repeater.

Otherwise......? Show your room from ALL angles with more pictures. Prove it is the only spot: )

Ok here are some more pictures. A view looking into the kitchen and from it. Also attached is an arial view. I had a designer come in and suggest a layout and that’s what they suggested for minimum additional work. I thought that I could fill up the hole as a long-term project. I’m not sure how much it would cost. Anyhow I needed a solution in short term.

FIrst off, carefully remove all the trim above the mantle, patch holes and touch up paint. Room instantly looks updated. I would remove the chair rail and put tv on the wall behind the chairs, and art above fireplace. Don't skimp on time and effort now if you have to redo in the future.

I thought I recognized this room from another post.

I agree with @maggieq. You may wind up moving the two chairs to face the fire place. And you might add a console table/cabinet under the television.

Two things-

1- Want to be able to watch TV from the kitchen.
2- The room looks bigger in pictures. But there’s not a whole lot of place to walk between kitchen island, bar stools, and carpet. When I move the chairs facing the fireplace, the passage is blocked. The current chair wall is only 10.5ft wide.

I had a similar TV compartment that I sheetrocked over as the viewing angle was excruciating to our necks. In your home, I'd remove all the over the mantle molding and sheetroock the hole (you have to make the electrical socket dead first) and mount the TV on the wall behind the chairs. You can get an articulating arm so that you can angle the TV for those times when you're in the kitchen and want to watch something.

So i moved the chairs facing the fireplace to show how small the room is. The 0.5 zoom in previous photos stretches the floor making it seem longer than what it is.

Much easier than I thought the TV goes on the wall where you have the art and you still need to remove that stuff above the mantel too. The need to watch from the kitchen IMO easily done on laptop

You want the TV over the fireplace. Cheapest fix is find a TV that fits and put it on an arm that helps you face it how you want it to be. I agree all that trim around the hole needs to go. It all needs to go from my view regardless of where you put the TV. The cost of all that all depends on how handy one is. At my house it would be the cost of supplies to fill hole and paint.

No, the rooms does not look big in the pics. You really don't want those 2 chairs hitting the chairs at the countertop.

IMO your only tv option is above the fireplace, however, as stated - get rid of the moldings around it.

Soafa where it is. flank 2 chairs on either side of sofa, tv on wall with art and console underneath. Agree remove all that mantle over mantle repair drywall hang art there and the laptop for TV viewing while in the kitchen is brilliant.

For the camp that’s willing to entertain the idea of TV above the fireplace: here’s one more thought.

In addition to filling the hole above the fireplace, how about removing the mantle, replacing the current gas fireplace with a sleeker unit, and bringing the height down? Then, install the TV at a lower height.

How much more difficult would that be?

Just money and time.

Wow. That's exactly how I had imagined it in my mind!

As I am filling up the hole, I want to move that electrical outlet to the new surface. How to do that?

What do you mean by “ filling up the hole”? Are you using those terms to refer to removing the moldings ?

Hire an electrician as the requirement for a linear fireplace might require some special electrical hookup. Don't want to burn the house down!!

Decide if you want a sound bar mounted below the TV.

I don't know if you will do gas or electric for the fireplace, but there are some restrictions about placing a TV over the FP. Sometimes the TV has to be recessed so it's not at the same level and subject to the heat that comes out of the hearth and travels up the wall. TV and extra heat are a no no.

Remove all the do dah trim. Wall board the hole. You might have to build some furrowing strips to nail it to. Tape/mud /paint. The electrical can be brought forward to the new wall board. It's a pretty straight forward DIY. You don't really need to FILL that hole just cover it up, which makes bringing the electrical forward easyier.

Marmiegard. I believe the spot the tv is in recedes back several inches creating a “hole”.

Or do what my sister did and get rid of the fireplace. The room instantly became much more usable.

I have similar problem. I painted inside my hole black. I have my center speaker and subwoofer in there and because it is black you cannot see them. Just a temporary fix.

Thanks for all great ideas. I think I’m gonna go with wall boarding the TV cabinet hole. I’ll get an electrician to bring the outlet in front.

About wall boarding - I’ll be hanging TV on this new wall, so it needs to be pretty sturdy. Are there suggestions on how to approach this?

Also, I was thinking of removing the top portion of the bottom mantle. That will give me extra 8-9 inches. Your thoughts on that (from ascetic and stability perspective)?