If you're gonna mount a TV over the fireplace
(and I don't recommend it)
at least clear the clutter off the mantle and build your speakers into the wall.

The tchotchkies shoved to the edges: It's just not visually appealing.

Do you have RF remotes or did I miss an IR receiver outside the ply box? Curious as to how you would remotely control things is all. I really like the concept and a project house I did years back had A/V storage built into the mantle itself.

Clever! Hiding wires to any tv is key!

To quote the great Canadian designer Brian Gluckstein (who is not a fan of this look) "the Beverly Hillbilles is not art"

This looks great, but I have two concerns.
It appears that you secured your tv to the panel well but are you just using a piano hinge to mount it to the wall? I'd be nervous and check it often for stability.
Does enough air circulate in the box box?Seems like things would overheat.

I understand the temptation to place the TV above the mantle, especially in a small home, but it is still something to be avoided.

That being said, my main concern about the enclosure is the lack of IR remote access and poor ventilation.

I hate to be the voice of dissent, but this is actually a terrible idea.

1 - In addition to the inconvenience of having to move your TV whenever you want to change out a DVD, I can't imagine the receiver and the DVD player easily picking up the signal through the TV/wall. My cable box and audio receiver have a hard enough time behind glass cabinet doors.

2 - If I look at the box correctly, there is ZERO ventilation in there. That is just terrible for the equipment. As mentioned above, I have a media unit from Pottery Barn (wasn't cheap), but my cable box, Xbox 360 and my audio receiver get REALLY hot behind the closed doors (already fried one cable box). So I have to keep the doors open to allow for proper ventilation, AND I even drilled more holes in the back of this non-inexpensive piece of furniture to allow for more air to flow.

3 - Although it appears to be a gas fireplace, it is a fireplace nonetheless. And as we all learned from science, heat rises. I'm not worried about the TV when it comes to this, but the electrical components sitting in an insulated and non-ventilated box.

If you're even remotely interested in keeping your electronics safe, I'd move them to an out-of-the-way corner in the room and run your wires through the walls.

this is a great way to burn down a nice home.

LOL @ "Beverly Hillbilles"

Man, everyone is so negative...

Perhaps he only watches a bit of tv a week and the components aren't used all that often... Those components look to be quite new and I believe at least one of them has an energy star label indicating that it's a low power device... my guess is that they don't heat up all that much...

That appears to be a gas fireplace that doesn't require a flu... as such there's no peripheral heat behind the wall... The fireplace will be insulated and won't bleed out heat from behind... it will from the front and that may be an issue... who knows, maybe they use the fireplace twice a year...?

The issue with built up heat can easily be solved by installing a large computer fan in the box and exhausting the air out to the space behind.

Many people stuff their electronics into cabinets with no more space or ventilation than in this instance and nobody ever seems to cry foul.

It's a novel if not perfect solution to what would otherwise be a mess...

i think that everyone need to take a step or two back and really look at the space. this house was posted this past tuesday and if you look in that room the only place to put the tv is over the fire place (gas fire place). as someone that has been in the lovely home i can say for a fact that there is no other place to put dvd, blueray and other entertainment system, so putting them in a box behind the tv is great. i think that we all need to keep in mind here that this owner has put alot of thaught and solved a problem that he or she was having in there home. i think the point of this being shown on this web site is to show people other ways to set up your entertainment system. i don't think it is suggesting that this is the way that everyone should do it unless you are in a small space.

if anything i hope that interesting ideas like this one can start conversation between designers and push each other to design more and create more interesting thing in our own homes.

I don't get this trend. I don't want to be looking up to watch TV.

This is a cool idea I never considered, but I'm a little confused by it, considering there's another connected component cabinet in back. Why not just put everything in there?

@Julian

Components, whether Energy Star or not, still generate heat. And everyone I've known that doesn't watch a lot of TV doesn't bother with a surround sound system. So based on the fact that they have these components, I only assume that they take their TV viewing at least moderately serious.

I can't tell what that third component is inside the box, but is that the subwoofer? Again, a terrible idea. Subwoofers are meant to be placed away in a corner. Imagine playing an action film on your DVD player less than 6 inches away while the subwoofer is vibrating and rattling the entire box. That DVD will skip like (insert lame metaphor here).

And yes, installing a large computer fan is a great idea to vent out the back. It just doesn't appear to be done that way.

Yeah, like I said in my first post, I fried a cable box because of poor ventilation from the Rhys Media Console from Pottery Barn. Had to drill baseball-sized holes in the back as well as keep the doors open in order for the components to ventilate properly. I wish I could go back in time and not purchase it.

@babcockjrj

Based on the House tour, there is room to hide these components near the couch or even behind the chair. Or, they could have put the components in that secret door. There seems to be plenty of space in there. Putting electronic components in an unvented box is just dumb. There's no defending that decision. Hopefully, the homeowners come here and see that they may have future problems and initiate steps to protect their investments.

Wow, really funny comments. Who would thought so many people would care about our TV watching. Let me summarize what I have learned about myself through these comments.

-I should lose my Architectural License
-My house is going to burn down
-My LCD TV is going to melt or combust from heat cause by my zero clearance sealed fireplace
-All of my components are going to overheat and fry
-My DVD's always skip
-My house is new construction (Last time I checked it was built around 1900..whoops!)
-I am a complete idiot and/or moron!!

Good times had by all!!

Where to start. I think the 2 most valid comments are my speakers should also have a home and I love the quote about the Beverly Hillbillies.

What no one seems to understand, is the wall panel shown in the last photograph is how I now access to change out DVD's and such. The reason why the TV hinges up is for easier access to the wires in the back of my reciever and other units. I hate having to reach back over them and blindly plug things in. The box that holds all of the components, is very much open. The box sits in an open chaseway, that goes from my basement to the attic, so the natural stack effect ventilation does a great job taking all of the heat away.

-I have never had any DVD's skip,
-All of the electronics work great, ventilation is adequate
-Sound is good enough for the small amount of TV we do watch,
-The self contained zero clearance fireplace does generate heat, but it is also blown out away from the wall, so it does't really get that hot above the mantle. Some of the large gas fireplaces and of course wood burning fireplaces are the cause for concern with Flat screen TVs.
-The house has not burned down as of yet

Thanks for all of the input as these have been some truly classic comments!!

Very Bond but not too practical for more of us Inspector Clouseau types. I can just see that TV falling on my head & then my toe.

@ ERIKTHERED
do you hide your electronics behind your chairs at your house? why do people feel that electronics are a classy piece to put out for everyone to see?

i think alot of these comments are really funny considering that they only judging based on what they see, or choose to see. as the owner has said there is plenty of ventilation so no should be commenting on that at this point. as for comments to putting the stuff in the other opening..... why should he waste valuable storage or a future book case by putting a dvd player in there. i think that Dan and Sara have taken there earlly 1900's home and used every bit of space they could.

p.s. if you home was built in the 1980s you have nothing to brag about because no good residential architecture came out of the 80's.

cheers to Dan and Sara on there functional and well designed home.

I'm glad you were able to maintain a sense of humor Herkules. I appreciate your clarification on ventilation, fireplace heat generation, and access to your components although I still am not clear on if/how your remotes work. There's another benefit to your setup that no one has mentioned - little kids can't mess around with the tv and equipment. Creative and attractive solution for a small space.

I actually like this solution, although I think some of the problems have been noted from other commenters (no ventilation, hard to reach components). One easy fix would be to keep the hatch from closing completely -- which might already be happening, it's hard to tell from just the pictures -- and adding an additional fan inside the box to keep air moving when the equipment is in operation. Otherwise, this is a pretty elegant solution to a tricky problem.

wonder what type of gas springs was used and brackets to install them