Double Duty Space

Not a lot of action here during these warm spells, aye? My Surdiac is waiting for some action, but these 75* New England days don't seem to warrant it. So I was curious. What to do with a 4x7' area consisting of a 6" raised hearth covered in slate, a veneered brick wall behind it, and my surdiac stove in the middle of it. My stove will only see duty approx. 4 months out of the year. Anyone have any ingenious ideas of how to utilize this space the rest of the time? I was thinking of making some type of decorative wooden box around it, (over it), and maybe using it as an eating table(?) It's just off the living room in a foyer. Kinda stretching it a bit I guess, but this is my 1st yr with it, and I'm wondering about maybe double dutying the spot. Any innovators out there?

A beer cooler...
Bar...
TV stand...

Dartboard room, real small movie theater, Hells Angels meeting room--I'm sure they'd love to get out of Bridgeport on ocassion. How do you figure 4 months heating???

Hells Angels? ( Good one.) I thought the TV one to be interesting, but then again, my living room TV isn't too far away. But thanx for trying. I'm thinking that the coldest months here in Ct, ranges from sometime in Nov, to the end of March. My house has forced hot air, so it's not like the Surdiac has to do everything. Just trying to "reduce" my winter fuel costs.