apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would get a corner tv stand and put it in the corner by the window, and then put a fairly large painting in that blank space.

Some ideas from PotteryBarn.

Corner Media Cabinet:
http://tinyurl.com/yltshw
This would give you more wall-space to vertically decorate and balance out the bottom bulk....

Console Table Setup
http://tinyurl.com/yboae4
Something like this might help alleviate the bottom-heavy feel.

Replace the stand with a tall, dark armoire.

Do you own this place, or if you rent, can you paint? I know you didn't ask about paint, but I think painting the wall with the fireplace would help balance things out. What feels off-balance to me is all of the light/white space on either side of the fireplace.
In Color Contest entry #32 on the New York site, Bryan (Bryan's Demarcation Zones) pulled a color from the darkest mortar in his brickwork to paint adjacent areas. I think something like a soft warm grey would create a nice transition from brick to regular wall while still allowing it to stand out.
As for the TV/stand issue, I agree with Jen and Stephanie on a corner unit. That placement would let you still have the TV in a prime location without competing so much with that magnificent fireplace. Have fun - it's a gorgeous room!

My thought is that your TV and your fireplace are fighting for space. I'd say have one or the other in that area. Is there a couch or more chairs where the photo was taken from? If so I'd say move it to where the windows (?) are. Maybe think about using a room divider to break the space some and find a way to incorporate the TV into that space.

Here are a few thoughts (hopefully not too much!):

I would paint all of the brick on the wall (but not necessarily the floor) a solid color, either high-gloss white, or maybe even a nice soft grey. The shape of the fireplace is so fantastic, but it's getting "lost" on the brick.

I think you'll find that you then have much less visual competition with the TV area.

Next, I'd go with a media stand that has some legs to minimize the "weight." The Room and Board "Zen" or "Copenhagen" cabinets are good examples:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product.do?method=get&id=608166&coll=378079&cat=55

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product.do?method=get&id=561234&coll=377648&cat=55

A flat panel TV would be great, but I think I'd spend money first on more attractive, smaller-scale speakers, which I think are adding more clutter/bulk on the floor.

Finally, do hang something above the TV! Two options:

1. Something sculptural (likely a flea market find) - a great old ceiling medallion, a Chinese screen, a vintage sign, a now-somewhat-cliched Eames plywood splint, an ironwork remnant, etc.

2. A bright, big (40" x 40"), abstract canvas painted yourself - with a solid field on most of the bottom of it so that the TV can "overlap" it without blocking any of the design. Maybe something Rothko-esque, or something with a subtle pattern. You can also wrap a canvas in a great textile or even wallpaper. The key here, I think, is the right scale.

I might even paint the fireplace itself black, too, but that's just a $0.02.

Best of luck with the project!

i love this fireplace! and ok, so you've gotta work with a tv. assuming that the tv must stay in that same area (because that is the picture i am working with) - a flat panel tv mounted (about the same demensions as your tv) on the wall, hung at the height of a painting.

a friend of mine has one on his wall and it actually looks like it just is a plain painting when the tv is off. a chrome dull trim around the tv would work with the fireplace.

i get a 50's. clean, modern feel ...that almost "floats" from the fireplace. anything with a heavy bottom appears in my mind as "heavy" - ...perhaps a floating shelf (or two) hung lower to the tv with a few pieces that would pop out against the wall.

a couch could be places at an angle (where the curtain is) so that it faces the TV as well as that fabulous fireplace (a modern, clean -lined sofa perhaps one that has skinny legs in chrome to lift it off the ground)

change the curtian too, to go with your color scheme. orange color?

i just got this book out of the library - "living the modren way" from the mid 1960's. it has a fireplace that looks similar. the furniture is all pretty clean lined. not sure if this is the look your going for, but the book could be a good resource if your into that semi space age, 50's decor.

let us know what you do. i would love to know how it turns out!

How do you like using that fireplace? I bought one like that at a yard sale and don't know if it would be better to put it in the house or out on a screened porch. Does it make much smoke? Does is give off much heat? That brickwork is very nice and I like the idea of making it blend with the white wall. That color entry someone referred to is a beauty, #32 I think it was.

I think you would regret painting the brick and if you changed your mind a few yars down the road... stripping brick is a pain. (trust me on this). Also, don't feel the "need" for a flat panel TV. Yes they are what everybody is using in their design magazines now, and they are very "in"... but they are costly. For now work with what you have and adapt when the time is right. I agree with smaller speakers and think that the Fireplace and TV should not compete for space.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions! This fireplace is a real stumper.

I do enjoy using it and it provides about as much heat as you would need in temperate San Francisco. Removing it is not an option financially (nor is getting a flat panel) so I have to work with what I have for the most part. I would love to move the couch and reconfigure my living room setup, but the LR is only 12' wide and it would be hard to do a kind of diagonal thing without feeling cramped. So, I could play with the corner unit idea, but I'm leaning towards a different stand, speakers type thing.

Ultimately I may custom build a tall unit for the "entertainment" area and another thinner one to go on the right side. I will try to put a link to more pics later...

How about just playing with some balance? I have a long wall in my apartment where I have a bookshelf (in your case this would be the fireplace) and a similar size TV and stand. Here's how I balanced it out...

http://www.robcurran.net/apartmenttherapy/1.jpg

Have you thought about leaving the wall white, it's so elegant with the fireplace and buying a projector unit(much less expensive than a plasma screen, they've come way down in price and way up in quality).

Then, when you're not watching movies or tv, you can enjoy the serenity.

I think that white built-in shelving units on either side, coming up to where the brick start to step over, would make the piece look balanced without bottom-heavy. I think it's the extra color from the wood that looks bad, more than the TV itself.

the first step is easy...
wall to wall floating shelves on both sides of the fire place matching the 'brick work steps/elevations' of your current fire brick wall.
one of the shelves needs to be structurally capable of supporting your current A/V hardware.
the rest of the shelve space/platform needs more of you... plants, water bottles, wine bottles, rocks, books, dvds...ect.

For a low-budget makeover I would repaint the tv stand white and replace the curtains with offwhite roman blinds... that way the fireplace, plant and funky chair in the photo would look really good against the pale colour.