I will admit I'm not one to keep up with all the trends and updates these days to technology.

After trying to avoid putting a TV over the fireplace we have determined that the only place to put a TV in our family room is in fact over the fireplace. The room is long and rectangular and putting it on one of the side walls would minimize seating and create a lot of wasted space.

We don't want to have a cable box however be front and center on our fire place mantle. What are some options for mounting this without the cable box showing? Also, we haven't gotten the TV yet so are there any good TVs out there that don't require a cable box when using local cable (Suddenlink in CSTAT).

My tv is over a fireplace and I use HDMI extenders that run over cat6 Ethernet cable through the ceiling and walls. Both the extender boxes and cat6 cable is pretty cheap and you will only need two 4-foot HDMI cables to connect to the dvr box and the tv. It can run up to 150 feet so it won't be an issue running it to another part of the room. The only annoying thing is having to point the remote to another part of the room instead of at the tv which is where the box usually is. This can easily be fixed by purchasing an IR repeater so you don't have to point it directly at the box.

Depending on what type of box and the size of it, can you attach it to the brick behind the tv? I know some boxes have extensions for the remote so that can just sit on top or on the side of the tv to be able to get the remote to it.

Do you have smaller boxes (like the hoppers and joeys) for other rooms? Maybe put the big box in a different room, and attach a smaller box to the back of the tv with velcro

not sure what kind of provider you have but there are boxes that use an RF signal, which means you can put the box wherever and you don't need to point the remote at it.
Also, there are wireless boxes that are usually pretty small. You could mount it behind the tv if it's RF as well.

depending on the fireplace, or more specifically, the area above it where the tv will go, you can run the wires through the wall to put the cablebox elsewhere but that's more involved.

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attach a smaller box to the back of the tv with velcro

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We do this

The joey solution is a good one. If your tv provider does not have this option then the IR repeater is a great way to do it. There are lots of places to hide one and the box in a room. If you don't have that option then running the cables in the wall is your best bet. If you're going to do it, I recommend running the smurf tube to future proof it. It sucks but bite the bullet and get it done.

Get a TV with a CableCard slot... then no box required.

http://help.suddenlink.com/television/Pages/CableCard.aspx?product=S-Card

Does that card require the coaxial cable to be hooked up or does it stream your TV across home wifi?

Requires coax to be hooked up to the TV.

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Get a TV with a CableCard slot... then no box required.

http://help.suddenlink.com/television/Pages/CableCard.aspx?product=S-Card

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Yup, I have suddenlink.

So this basically is inserted into one of the inputs behind the TV and once that's done it serves as a cable box with no other wires or box showing?

Yes, but it's not just a regular input on the back. The TV has to have a special slot for the card, and not all TVs have them (they look like the old school PCMCIA slots on laptops). The disadvantages of using a cablecard directly in a TV is that you don't get DVR capability or a fancy guide (unless there are smart TVs out there that now offer this built in... I have no idea).

I have uverse and mine is stuck behind the tv with mounting tape. The remote still picks it up.

+1 mookie
We have the same but with zip ties to the tv mount arm. Cant see the uverse box but still works. Much cheaper solution

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+1 mookie
We have the same but with zip ties to the tv mount arm. Cant see the uverse box but still works. Much cheaper solution

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Me too. Mine is just laying propped up between the fireplace and the tv. It's rock so there are some little ledges. I did have to get an IR blaster for the remote to work.