# Ideas for Entertainment Center Around Fireplace



## litlearnhardt8

Just bought a new house and the living room is not ideal for a traditional entertainment center. One wall is all windows, one wall is the bar to the kitchen, one wall is doors, and the forth wall has a fireplace. The only way I can think of getting some sort of entertainment center in here is building it around the fireplace. The fireplace is centered on the wall and has about 3-4 feet of each side of it. Does anyone have some ideas on how to go about building it? Any pictures or websites would also help?


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## Tweegs

Welcome!

First things first:
Check your local building codes. There are requirements for combustable materials in proximity to a fireplace.
Also if you plan to place a flat panel TV above the fireplace, consideration has to be given to the amount of heat the TV will be exposed to. Plasmas in particular don't like it and it may, probably will, void your warranty.
Consider how you will run the wiring and how you can design the entertainment center to hide most of it.
If you are planning surround sound give thought to how you will keep airflow around the amplifier and other equipment.
What kind of storage do you want? CD's/DVD's etc.

Once you cover the pre-req's, let your imagination run wild.
I'd suggest you download a free program called "Sketch-up", it is a CAD program that is easy to use.
Draw everything out and post your finished drawings here.
There are plenty of very knowledgable folks here that can analyze the drawings for any potential problems.


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## pianoman

What a loaded question, I need to see the whole wall and room...with only 3 to 4 feet, you`re kind of limited. But maybe not...hard to imagin. I would first consider the main focal point as you enter the room. Next, how do you want to use the system. Once you decide on design and function...you have a starting point. Maybe you could take some pictures to get something started here...or share some ideas. I`d be happy to help but, at this point I`m helpless. Rick


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## litlearnhardt8

pianoman said:


> I would first consider the main focal point as you enter the room. Next, how do you want to use the system. Once you decide on design and function...you have a starting point. Rick


Well the fireplace is def. the focal point of the room and that is why I think it may look a little werid if the TV is off to the side of it instead of above it. Really the only function we need for the system is to hold DVD player, VCR, game systems, and the DVDS and games, ect...


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## litlearnhardt8

Tweegs said:


> I'd suggest you download a free program called "Sketch-up", it is a CAD program that is easy to use.
> Draw everything out and post your finished drawings here.
> There are plenty of very knowledgable folks here that can analyze the drawings for any potential problems.


Well so I tried my hand at the sketch-up and it will take a lot of getting used to, but I attempted to make a diagram of the room and what I was thinking for my plans. Now I just need help from you guys to let me know what will and what will not work.

here is the link:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=5a6d05032e42fb8e1dd891f6df67d9f8


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## Daveb

Maybe forget about the entertainment center and go for the clean look? With radio remotes and repeaters, wall control boxes, etc, these days it is easy to locate the equipment in a different room (below the room?) and control it with a fancy remote. You could use in-wall and in-ceiling speakers without cluttering the room.

This defeats the purpose of a woodworking project, and an excuse to buy new tools for the job, but just another thought to consider.

Tweegs, as for the TV, is it the heat rising up along the wall that is the problem or heat from within the wall/chimney? Just curious.

Our plasma TV has heat problems - and we have it nowhere near a fireplace. It shuts itself down occasionally and won't re-start for a few minutes. This can be very annoying.


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## litlearnhardt8

Daveb said:


> Maybe forget about the entertainment center and go for the clean look?


I wouldn't mind if we didn't have to build shelves for any of the DVD players, game systems, ect.. but I still need to build something to put the TV on. We don't have a flat screen TV, but we were thinking about getting one to mount instead of spending the money on building the shelves. But we could just build one thing to put our current TV on, but I am not sure how to go about making it sturdy enough to hold the weight.


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## pianoman

How tall is the ceiling? Is the fire box centered? Is it an insert with a hearth and ceramic tile? Are there two perpendicular walls on each side? If it`s between two walls and close to centered. I would , as you`ve shown, have the mantle and cabs as one unit. I`m still not sure...but think the cabs should die into the walls. Is the ceiling crowned? Normal mantle hight is about 52"s for an 8 foot high ceiling. The cabnets could have a 22" base and 16" deep uppers with a 45 degree nip on the base cabs only. This nip could be 5 and 1/2"s wide. A good area for flutes or reeds. As far as the hight of the cabinets goes...It depends on the size of the room. There are still too many directions to go with this design. You might consider wood on the whole wall...with crown and wainscotting above the mantle. What do you think? Rick


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## pianoman

Flat screen TVs can mount to the wall... sounds like you need behind door storage below. The mantle hight could be lower.


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## pianoman

Clean look is good!!


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## Tweegs

Daveb,
It is my understanding that the heat rising from the fireplace is the issue.

I am in a similar situation as the OP but I have a wood stove to contend with as opposed to a fireplace.

For mine and the OP's problem a mantel and perhaps a couple of really quiet fans will help. 

For you though, it may be an electronics issue. Give a look at any vents on the TV and make sure they aren't clogged with dust, if that doesn't help place a thermometer near the TV and record what temperature the TV shuts off at. If the temperature is close to room ambient I'd give tech support a call.


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## mmwood_1

I did an E.C. side by side of a fireplace last year. I had a lot more room to work with, and it was all recessed. But there are a couple things I want to point out. First off, from a visual stand point, balance is more significant than symmetry, with regards to the placement of the screen. 







The screen is behind the pocket doors to the right side.







Second, we cut a heat slot in the back of each shelf, about 1" wide and starting about 4" in from the ends. This creates a chimney effect, with venting at the top and bottom, so as components generate heat, it moves upward and out, while drawing cooler air in from the bottom. If you look at the tv screen photo, you can see light from above coming down through the slots at the back of the top shelf.

I don't know if these ideas will help you at all.


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## dunnpa

*fireplace and entertainment center*

markmeyerwoodworking - can you share some of the dimensions of your fireplace with the TV cabinet on the right? Thanks.


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## rfanslow

I do not know if you plan to USE the fireplace or not but what I did here since I never use mine, is I just built a false wall from the top of the mantle to the floor. I personally have a lot of dvds/bluerays so on the bottom half I built one huge dvd rack, using polished copper pipes(water pipes).. and then used the area above the mantle to mount the tv and hold the equipment. benefits of this is it's removable if I sell the house. Just another way to think about the space.....


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## rrbrown

litlearnhardt8 said:


> I wouldn't mind if we didn't have to build shelves for any of the DVD players, game systems, ect.. but I still need to build something to put the TV on. We don't have a flat screen TV, but we were thinking about getting one to mount instead of spending the money on building the shelves. But we could just build one thing to put our current TV on, but I am not sure how to go about making it sturdy enough to hold the weight.


 
If it's a flat screen which I suspect it is then there are wall mounts that would work perfect. Get a tilting wall mount they run quite a bit but I got mine for $129 for up to a 60" TV.

Daveb heat is a big problem for Plasma TV's especially. The large LCD TV's are not as bad but all of the electronics put out more heat then people realize. I love when people build computer desk that have the cabinet with a door and no room for the heat to get out. All the big companies do it and then it shortens the life of the computer and electronics. It's almost to the point that you need exhaust fans mounted in desk and entertainment centers as a standard feature.


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