Any ideas on how to fix this?

[Mordirig]

So, I started decorating last week and decided to rip out the ugly electric fire on the chimney breast and, well,, now I don't know how to fix up the even uglier hole left in the wall.

We want to have the T.V mounted low on the wall, so probably just above the hole, but I would like to make the hole clean and have a smooth finish inside with perhaps a shelf for the sky box etc.

I have googled high and low and can not find any advice on how to do this although I am guessing I could board it up so long as I leave a small section for air to get in, the flue is still there, although squashed flat and then bare brick work,, insulation at the left side and a square concrete type slab at the back.

Any ideas will be very gratefully received. iamdesperate

It can be done, my friends did it and now have a flower display in theirs. I suggest contacting a plasterer or small local building firm. They'll be able to tidy up the brickwork and get a smooth finish by plastering over.

Just dust the bricks down, sand and cement render it. You can then tile it if you like, the floor and sides. I did mine with Chinesey willow - pattern tiles, looks nice I think!

What about something like this?

I really like that fireplace, very good idea to use it as shelving.
I am a bit worried that because the chimney breast sticks out it will look odd adding more bulk around it, but do you think if I boarded it up and then put a expedit storage in front, attach it to the wall and then used those boxes you can put in the storage holes it would look ok?

If not how else am I supposed to fill this hole in? I got some cement render but I can not fathom how I am supposed to use it, do I need bricks? would I need to use air bricks or put a vent in?

I feel a bit out of my depth tbh, but I would really like to get it done myself.

Here is a closer picture.

We had a similar hole and had a builder cover it in, whilst he was doing some other work. Originally we were going to keep it as an open (tidied up) space, but now I'm pleased we covered it over. It would be easy enough to open up in the future if someone wanted to put a fire in.
The builders work involved some plasterboard to cover the hole, which was then plastered over for a smooth finish. There's a hole in the plasterwork for an air ventilation grip which can be opened or closed, but is apparently vital. If you want to go down this route then you'd probably want a plasterer to tidy it up for you, and advise on what s/he needs in place under the plaster (unless you are good at plastering).
We have wallpapered the chimney breast and have our TV on a stand in front of it. V pleased with how it turned out.

Grip = Grid (vent)

do you have any pictures mabel? just so I could get a idea of what it looks like.

I've messaged you.

We had something similar in a rented house, although in our case there was a nice fireplace around a very ugly hole. As a cheap and easy solution, I measured the hole and got a bit of plywood cut at B&Q (they have a wood-cutting service) to fit it very exactly. I bought some vintage fabric and glued it to the plywood, folding the corners behind, then wedged the plywood into the hole. It was so exact it fitted perfectly without needing to be fixed. It looked great, if I say so myself!