Duchess or anyone else who has a good eye...

[Maggot]

If you never use it lose it, If you do use it don't put your TV over it, forget the travertine, double the size of the fire box lower it down and get rid of the raised hearth, use a nice marble or even a stamped concrete at floor level, Brass and glass screen, have a solid oak cover made that takes up the rest of it including the wall where the TV sits now, fashion that space to my left looking at the picture for your entertainment center, large ornate oak mantle at least three corbels, forget about the stain and use an alcohol dye on the wood just to pop the grain and leave the natural color of the closed grain then a sprayed or hand rubbed Matte urethane finish.

I'm going to have to process what you're saying (appreciate the input). We don't use the fireplace as it is (too lazy and do you know how many spiders and creepy things hide in woodpiles? Uh-uh, not for me). But if I had a gas fireplace that I could just turn on? I'd use it. I *think* if we don't get a major heat producing insert, we could mount a t.v. over it without damaging the t.v.

Like I said, I need to process the rest of your suggestions because....I don't know shit about this stuff and I'll have to read up on some of it. Thank you.

Nobody here is as good as Dick for hand polishing wood, hell...... I bet he polishes his twice a day.