Entertainment center and fireplace surround design

[Joshua Boelter]

I figured I should stop lurking and make a post I'm working on an entertainment center and fireplace surround in our house. I'll start with a drawing of my current work in progress (drawing is to scale).



Some commentary:

The existing room has the fireplace, tile surround and tile hearth already present and I don't want to change that much at all. The entertainment center will be filling an existing (finished) drywalled hole. The hole is 93" wide, 49" high in the center, 44" high at the edges with a gentle arch (as shown).

As I have it now, it's all full overlay doors w/ glass. The sets of three drawers below will be L shaped to hold CDs/DVDs w/ undermount slides. Standing by the TV you can look into the side of a pulled out drawer. I intend to build the EC out of lyptus.

The fireplace/mantel surround I'm not sure about. I've played with a bunch of different options and haven't gotten something I like yet. The picture above seems a bit bottom heavy. I prefer to paint the surround also (house trim is painted white), but I'm not sure if/how to integrate the two. I'll try and get a picture of the room up to give more ideas.

Other thoughts:

I've been trying to work in a gentle bow in the front of the shelf above/below the TV. It may be too many curves though.

Because it's such a wide area, I've been trying to get at least different depth changes in the fireplace.

Thoughts? Comments? Good and bad welcome. This will probably be a slowly evolving design...

-Josh

[Ted Shrader]

Hi Josh -

First, Welcome to the Creek! A great place to hang out and exchange ideas and information.

Will you have any places for surround speakers (ie center channel and front R & L) or will they be elsewhere?

Don't really think your design is bottom heavy. It will need some "weight" to balance the TV being up high. (Which is a great place for viewing. Easy on the neck and eyes!)

Welcome,
Ted

[Jim Becker]

Joshua, Welcome to the Creek!

I, for one, really like your design so far. You've carried the arch to both pieces which unifies. You may want to play a little with the fireplace surround to see if you can continue the arch into the two side pieces similar to the way that they are on the EC. Also try and refine the two arches so they are similar in "flatness" or "arch". Right now, the FP is a noticably sharper radius than the EC. If that's fixed on the FP, try to duplicate the feel in the EC. These are only tweeking suggestions...try them on paper/computer to see how they feel to you...the ultimate judge. (Other than SWMBO, of course...)

[Bill Arnold]

Joshua,

Welcome to SMC! You'll find a ton of information available from the fine folks here.

I like your utilization of the space and the tie-in with the arches on the fireplace and the EC. One thing that I'd play around with is the top rail of the doors. My eye wants to see the top rail matched to the horizontal member above the TV screen. Then, maybe bring your hatched filler across above the doors. Dunno, I'd have to play with it a bit.

Expanding on something Jim said, have you thought about taking the line of the FP arch plus the horizontal line coming off each side of the arch and matching that on the top of the EC?

Overall, it's a great project!

Regards,

[Wes Bischel]

Joshua,

Good suggestions from others so far - and I like where you're going with it. I would assume from your post the EC arch is following the drywall arch - is that arch open to change as some have suggested? I ask just for clairification.

We had considered something similar, but realized our fireplace (non insert type) gets a wee bit toasty above the mantle at full roar - i.e. not a good place for electronics so we opted for a more standard EC.

Wes

[Joshua Boelter]

Thanks for the warm welcome

Will you have any places for surround speakers (ie center channel and front R & L) or will they be elsewhere?

(New picture below). The center speaker will either sit on the shelf, or hang underneath it. The current left/right speakers are sticking out of the wall. One day I'll try and put some into the wall in the same spot.

I, for one, really like your design so far. You've carried the arch to both pieces which unifies. You may want to play a little with the fireplace surround to see if you can continue the arch into the two side pieces similar to the way that they are on the EC. Also try and refine the two arches so they are similar in "flatness" or "arch". Right now, the FP is a noticably sharper radius than the EC. If that's fixed on the FP, try to duplicate the feel in the EC. These are only tweeking suggestions...try them on paper/computer to see how they feel to you...the ultimate judge. (Other than SWMBO, of course...)

I futzed with the lower arch a bit. Now it's concentric w/ the above arch (218.5" radius and 162" radius). I'm still playing trying to find a way to carry the FP arch further out, or maybe adding little arches above each of the columns.

I like your utilization of the space and the tie-in with the arches on the fireplace and the EC. One thing that I'd play around with is the top rail of the doors. My eye wants to see the top rail matched to the horizontal member above the TV screen. Then, maybe bring your hatched filler across above the doors. Dunno, I'd have to play with it a bit.

I agree with your assesment. For now I'm leaning toward function by making that shelf moveable. I could move it all the way up until it aligns w/ the top of the doors -- and then hang the center speaker underneath. The space above will just be dark, probably nic nacks

Expanding on something Jim said, have you thought about taking the line of the FP arch plus the horizontal line coming off each side of the arch and matching that on the top of the EC?

I played with that a bit. I'm trying to resist the urge to demolition the existing hole . If I make the doors square and arch between them I need relatively wide molding to hide the gaps. The full width arch also matches another (about 12' wide) leading to the kitchen immediately attached to this space.

Good suggestions from others so far - and I like where you're going with it. I would assume from your post the EC arch is following the drywall arch - is that arch open to change as some have suggested? I ask just for clairification.

Kinda sorta -- SWMBO frowns on drywall destruction. I've watched Monster House one too many times. I can probably hide any changes w/ molding though. It's a 5" vertical rise to center.

We had considered something similar, but realized our fireplace (non insert type) gets a wee bit toasty above the mantle at full roar - i.e. not a good place for electronics so we opted for a more standard EC.

This one is a gas fireplace and doesn't seem to get very hot. I'm going to leave lots of space for airflow in the EC design (like the open cabinet backs, and open space above/behind the shelf to escape air).


Thanks for all the suggestions.

Here's the existing room (and all it's junk strewn about).



An update to the design. I might try the sketchup trial and make a 3d/shaded drawing. LOML frowned on a full size cardboard mock-up



I changed the columns to just be vertical. The vertical lines will be less pronounced (basically 3/4" verticals w/ inset panels to give a shadow line).

[Jim Becker]

Those subtle changes already have made a difference. Good job.

[Joshua Boelter]

I think this is pretty close. The two pieces (EC/FP) seem to work better together in this drawing than I expected. The act of drawing it also provide quite a bit of insight into the construction. The arched tops will be quite challenging to construct.

The wire chases are done by overlapping the backs, with the center piece offset forward an inch, w/ an inch overlap each way. It should also provide plenty of airflow.

The trim aound the outside of the EC is just flat right now. Not really sure what, if any, edge treament it should get. I also think I need to move the ledge of the top in the center up behind the trim.

Critques & pointers are truly welcomed -- don't hold back either When I build this thing (sometime this summer) I'd like it to look good.

Thanks,
-Josh

[Hunter Wallace]

Hey, nice job Joshua...it's cool watching your design evolve.

When I first saw your design a couple things hit me right away...

First, the top piece seems a bit "heavy". I guess what I can see
in my minds eye is the top being narrower than it is in your rendering.
Maybe in 6 inches on each side. This would then make the radius of
your EC top member tighter, which I think may look good with the
larger radius over the FP. Your first post stated that you thought it
was a bit "bottom heavy", but I can see the top being "delicatized"...
and ADDING drywall isn't quite the same as demo-ing it!!!!
(gotta keep the missus happy!)

Second, you had wondered about a gentle bow in the shelves to add
depth. I think that if you made the mantle piece with a bow it may
give you the depth out from the wall you're looking for. I did a similar
thing in a more minimalistic sort of way, but I think it may also work
well for your application...Good luck, and I think you're on the right
track...

[Joshua Boelter]

Hunter, I like that bow. That's what I was thinking of, just need to figure out how to add it to the design. I was initially thinking of a bow the entire width of the mantel, and another the width of the shelf. I'm not sure how the different radii (heh, had to look that up) will look.

The width of the EC is relatively fixed to accomodate the cabinets and a sizeable TV (wish list). I can make the FP wider though, except the tile is already there. There was another previous comment about making the cabinets flat topped and moving the arch to just be between the cabinets. I might give that a try too and see how it looks. It would make it easier to build.

Thanks for the comments.
-Josh

[Joshua Boelter]

Another take on it: