You are on the right track with the credenza. Consolidating the clutter in a long low unit will help unify the space. If you find something you like and it is out of your budget, save up or try craigslist. A Credenza never comes cheap though.

Ikea Lack floating shelves. They are very inexpensive and come in a variety of colours. My advice is paint the walls a ligher shade -- similar to the trim on the fireplace, then paint out the "tv wall" in a flat slate colour. Mount the TV on the left side of the wall and use 1 long shelf just below it for the a/v and then 3 more above the tv equally spaced -- use two shorter ones to the right of the tv.

What about mounting it over the fireplace in the niche? You could tile or paint the area for contrast and mount your t.v. there.

Keep it minimal and clean:

1. Get rid of the bookcase and TV stand.
2. Move the guitars somewhere else.
3. Keep the paintings.
4. Get a 72" media console with decent cable management.

That's all. You should have enough space on the console to put a pair of decent speakers as well. Resist the urge to put extra stuff on the wall. The paintings and TV will anchor the space quite well by themselves.

I wish you had indicated what your budget is for this piece of furniture. It would help with any recommendations or suggestions.

Your style sounds transitional and for that I'd recommend Crate and Barrel or Potter Barn. If those are too pricey I'd suggest you take a look at the Hemnes stand from Ikea, which has some of that transitional feel.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80176298

Get a high credenza or buffet to raise the TV's height. Browse Craigslist - since the TV is so light, you can get away with an accent piece that was not originally designed for a TV. It's what we did.

I just had a similar dilemma in my new place - what worked the best was a tall sideboard flanked by two tall bookcases with doors. The height of the bookcases draws the eye up to appreciate the high ceilings.

The Ikea Liatorp line might look nice in your place with the fireplace detail though it is not dark in color.

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80116596

Hemnes are available in dark brown and could be paired with the sofa table (a bit taller than the tv stand) for a set - http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/40176342 and http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80176279

I'd get an actual dresser from craigslist or a good used furniture store, or even an IKEA MALM. The drawers can store all your electronics and movies.
Stand a short bookcase on each side.

I would not hang the tv over the fireplace. IMO, that's an absurd place to hang a tv...it's too high up.

One option would be to hang the guitars as art, maybe above the TV?

What we've done is put two taller bookshelves on either side of an antique walnut dresser that doubles as a TV stand/DVD storage.

What about no TV in the living room? I know, crazy! And maybe a can of worms. I realize there are people who: 1) have limited space and/or 2) watch TV with friends, but I'm still throwing the no-TV-in-the-living-room out there, then I'll duck.

The place doesn't look like a college apartment due to the TV or the lack of artwork...
...it looks like a college apartment due to the crap all over the floor, the table and stuffing the bookcase and media cabinet - the guitars leaning against the wall, that thing hanging from the ceiling (what is that?) and the tchotchkies on the mantle.

Clean up your toys, get a credenza from Craigslist to put things away in and help you get organized - and your place will immediately look much better as a result.

a credenza with at least 2 doors is a must...4 would be ideal.

and i don't necessarily think the guitars need to go.

if you could buy or build a wall mount, but one on either side of the television so the wall isn't so plain.

it draws the eye to the area without cluttering it too much. plus, then you don't have to deal with the guitars falling over and getting damaged if they're placed on the floor elsewhere.

a way to display your collection and free up some floor space =)

1) Have you considered a salon-style wall? The TV could be just one rectangle in a sea of rectangles (framed paintings, mirrors.. if you paint all the frames black the tv will almost disappear). I’m preparing to do a salon-style gallery in my dining room – floor-to- ceiling, side-to-side framed paintings with minimal space between them – so it’s on my mind. Go to thrift stores and garage sales and buy anything hand painted that is framed.
2) I heartily endorse a credenza – you can find something on Craigslist or at a flea market for cheap if you are patient (and especially if you are willing to paint is some fantastic color and change the hardware). Tell me where you are and I’ll make some suggestions on my blog. Here’s an UNBELIEVABLE piece that I want you to get but you’d have to live in DC for it to make sense. Just $85! http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1940603039.html
3) You can flank the fireplace with the guitars, or hang them as part of the installation on the salon wall – I can see them being hung horizontally on a single line with their necks pointing at each other just above the tv on the fabulous credenza above. Surround, of course, by art.
4) There is no 4.
Pam
Howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com

Since this is a place you own, I think I'd invest in a custom-built low storage unit that fills the length of the wall. Custom is not always more expensive, especially if you're willing to finish it yourself (easy job). Make it just deep enough to hold whatever you need to store, or bump out the center to be a bit deeper if needed. Then try placing the TV in the middle of your four art pieces. Their height is almost identical to the TV height, so this will help it blend in. The whole thing will read as a single unit.

… and I meant, lower the art to the current TV height, not raise the TV.

mount the tv in the middle, then place hooks for the guitars on either side. symmetrical, artistic, personal and functional. add whatever low/wide unit makes sense with the rest of the room.

You could create a niche with shelves. Sub in a low credenza for the sofa in this photo:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/living-room/create-a-niche-with-shelves-125535

Or you could do a built custom system that covers the whole wall. My husband and I recently built one for our living room. It looks like a built in but it's not. We used high quality plywood. The materials were under $200 for the whole thing. I'd say the wall is roughly 8/5' x 9.5'. The best part of building it yourself is you can look at all the stuff you want to hide or display and built specifically around them. If you're handy and have some space to built and paint I think it would look good.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! I was thinking we needed a big wall unit just to fill it up, but after looking around some more and seeing your suggestions, I think a wide credenza could be really nice. Unfortunately I don't have the skills or the tools to build something myself, so I'd need to hire someone if we went with a custom piece.

To answer a couple questions that came up in the comments --

We don't have a specific budget. We found a couple things we liked in the $3500 range, and while we could spend that if we had to...I was hoping to find something at least somewhat more affordable, say $2000ish. Obviously less is better, but we can spend some decent money if that's where we end up.

I know the room looks like a wreck with crap everywhere. A lot of it got put there when we moved in and hasn't gotten cleaned up yet. We were in the midst of cleaning/decluttering/organizing when I took this photo, hence the mess. :)

The guitars are my husband's and have already found a home in a different room.

The things hanging from the ceiling are the ceiling fan and light pulls, so they're not really movable unless I never want to adjust the fan. We live in Houston and it's crazy hot here, so the ceiling fan stays!

here's one in Houston for $325 http://houston.craigslist.org/fuo/1932517690.html

You can save the rest of your $1,675 to put toward air conditioning, instead of the fan! ;)

If you're into scoping out CL, you can definitely find a better deal than something new. Plus, older furniture that is still in good shape today is likely to continue to be in good shape.

PS I like brandonfoxx's idea to paint the TV wall slate - I think it would complement the fireplace likely and also be a nice touch to separate the TV wall from the other walls in that room and beyond. But you may already have designs to paint in other colors, too.

Congrats on the move and good luck with the rest of your design!

Check it! all kinds of Houston Craigslist options. Don't forget to hang long, full wonderful curtains in something fantastic from near the ceiling to play up your 11-foot ceilings.

http://howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-saroy-should-decorate-her-living.html

pam

I recently had the same situation with a client, and as a low profile tv person I think first: how can the room have a tv when needed, and not have one, when the room invites people to mingle and talk. A tv should never be the center of a living room, in my opinion. The way I solved the problem was running a track across the ceiling and putting in light weight doors with etched acrylic panels, w light behind, that hid the entire storage wall. It's surprisingly easy and allows for any kind of shelving system behind.

One suggestion though: consider every wall, and not just one. You might have another wall or corner where one hung panel could cover the flat screen and your 'large tv wall' could be a gallery of photos and art more appealing than the front of a large media cabinet.

My fiancé and I had a similar issue when we moved into our house. We mounted our tv in the wall, but the open wall space looked awkward. We ended up painting a wide horizontal stripe in our accent color to break up the space. It looks great and we get loads of compliments!

What might be a good idea would be to paint the tv wall black (as an accent) and do a beautiful grid with themed pictures (hanging the flat screen will allow it to blend in with the art and the black wall) creating a sort of art focal point.

then wall mount the tv and break up the art so two panels flank the tv, one on top of the other. that'll add symmetry and emphasize the height of the room.

On the hanging your art: Hang it on twothirds of your wall height. (The same rule applies when taking a photo - the horizon should always be on twothirds or one third of a picture)
Groups of things always look more interesting when it's in an odd number. So rather three artworks on your wall than four. This is because our brains cannot handle an even number.

I'm sorry but the TV not centered under the wall hangings is driving me nuts.

It would be one thing if you had the TV flush right, and the small bookcase flush left with the art. Putting it this way makes me want to fix it.

Unless you get art that's much longer than your furniture, then you can fudge the centering a bit and get away with this.

@Hinke

I was always under the impression when you were hanging wall art, the art should be at average eye level when standing.

The Rule of Thirds in photography is one thing, but when you have a picture hanging on the wall, I think it needs to be so it's easily visible.

Now, if you're looking to collage your wall with multiple pictures, that changes everything. Additionally, if you have 15 foot ceilings, well then you'd be hanging art ten feet off the ground.

I know one person has mentioned hanging it above the fireplace, however, from previous posts in AT and my own sisters experience, don't. The TV can really take over the room then and it's nice to have the fireplace and not the TV as a focal point sometimes. I know it's a matter of taste but the TV really dominates a room if you do that.

On the other hand, some people love a big TV as the centre of the room...

Smellofsawdust, I'm with you. I gave my TV away when I moved because I didn't want to lug it around, and never replaced it. That was over 4 years ago! My living room looks great without it and I can waste all sorts of time on the internet just the same.

Not sure if you got your answer yet, but I had a similar issue. I ended up building some cabinetry from IKEA and hanging it to accommodate my Blu Rays etc. I also built some units for the TV to sit on and hold the entertainment equipment. I used 3 mirrors above it all to fill out the upper area a bit more..

see here: http://imgur.com/dQOFT.jpg and here: http://imgur.com/hDSeu.jpg .

While not everyones style, perhaps it might help inspire something of similar placement.

another thought: how about the slatted ikea system shown here. you can probably find some on ebay:

http://www.hgtv.com/bedrooms/midcentury-modern-bedroom/page-2.html

you can add shelves or just install them for texture

in case you are still looking for ideas...

i use a small wall mount for one of my guitar's (found on amazon) & stacked it over the other vertically... it adds to the media theme, is great wall art & practical storage solution

i am soon to move in a couple of weeks and am considering mounting both of my guitars...the amp for my electric is cleverly concealed in the cabinet section of the book case/wall unit