Where to Position Your Living Room TV
Whether wall-mounted or freestanding, a TV is an essential in most living spaces. But where’s the best place to put it?
Just a decade or two ago, TVs were monstrous beasts, wide as a castle wall and often encased in a nasty wood-effect frame. But not any more. Typically made in discreet black, TVs are also as slim as a paperback, which opens up all sorts of possibilities for positioning them creatively. From hanging your TV above a fireplace to concealing it behind built-in cupboards, this essential technology can slot into your living room scheme beautifully. Channel-surf your way through these 10 top tips and find a slice of TV heaven.
Go for a gallery effect
Give your TV a home alongside art, shelves of favourite finds and oversized prints. Choose dark frames for neighbouring artworks for a coordinated look, or mix it up, as here, for a more eclectic wall.
See more tips on how to create an artistic wall display
Give your TV a home alongside art, shelves of favourite finds and oversized prints. Choose dark frames for neighbouring artworks for a coordinated look, or mix it up, as here, for a more eclectic wall.
See more tips on how to create an artistic wall display
Mount against matching tones
Hanging a flatscreen against a dark backdrop helps it to blend in, even when it’s a whopper like this one. The wall behind this TV has tons of texture, too, and it’s flanked by logs stacked high for a nice rustic contrast.
Hanging a flatscreen against a dark backdrop helps it to blend in, even when it’s a whopper like this one. The wall behind this TV has tons of texture, too, and it’s flanked by logs stacked high for a nice rustic contrast.
Stand away from sunlight
Do not position your TV where it will be bathed in sunlight. We might like to feel the sun on our skin, but sun on a screen makes it difficult to watch. Instead, stick it to the side of a window, especially one as big as this, to avoid direct sunlight hitting it.
Do not position your TV where it will be bathed in sunlight. We might like to feel the sun on our skin, but sun on a screen makes it difficult to watch. Instead, stick it to the side of a window, especially one as big as this, to avoid direct sunlight hitting it.
Tuck it in a corner
Choose a small screen and hang it on a strip of wall or off in a corner, so it contributes to, rather than dominates, a room. This works well in an open-plan home, where free-flowing space has multiple functions.
Choose a small screen and hang it on a strip of wall or off in a corner, so it contributes to, rather than dominates, a room. This works well in an open-plan home, where free-flowing space has multiple functions.
Hang it high
Wall-mounting works well in this narrow living area – no trailing wires to trip over and no boxy furniture eating into floor space. A black and white photograph blown up to wall size makes a striking backdrop, and means that, when the TV’s off, it’s the artwork you look at, rather than the blank screen.
Wall-mounting works well in this narrow living area – no trailing wires to trip over and no boxy furniture eating into floor space. A black and white photograph blown up to wall size makes a striking backdrop, and means that, when the TV’s off, it’s the artwork you look at, rather than the blank screen.
Use an alcove
The alcove to the side of a chimney breast is the natural home of many a TV. There’s no need to build in shelving, though. Here, a small set sits on a simple metal unit with space underneath for other technology. Thanks to castors, the unit can also be pulled out to give anyone sitting on the sofa a better view of the screen.
The alcove to the side of a chimney breast is the natural home of many a TV. There’s no need to build in shelving, though. Here, a small set sits on a simple metal unit with space underneath for other technology. Thanks to castors, the unit can also be pulled out to give anyone sitting on the sofa a better view of the screen.
Hide it away
We don’t necessarily want a TV to be the sole focus of our living space. So help to make the room somewhere to socialise, chat and relax by mounting the TV inside a concealed cupboard, with pocket doors that can be pulled out and across to hide the screen.
We don’t necessarily want a TV to be the sole focus of our living space. So help to make the room somewhere to socialise, chat and relax by mounting the TV inside a concealed cupboard, with pocket doors that can be pulled out and across to hide the screen.
Stick it off-centre
Sometimes a narrow space with walls punctuated by big windows means it’s necessary to position your TV off-centre, in whatever space is available. But no matter – this can help the telly seem like an added ingredient to a well-designed room, rather than the item around which the scheme was built.
Sometimes a narrow space with walls punctuated by big windows means it’s necessary to position your TV off-centre, in whatever space is available. But no matter – this can help the telly seem like an added ingredient to a well-designed room, rather than the item around which the scheme was built.
Pop it on the side
Seating arranged around a coffee table is wonderfully grown-up and says this living space is about hanging out and socialising as much as watching the box. There’s no attempt to hide the TV, but its position at 90 degrees to the sofa and chairs means it plays a less central role in this room.
Read more:
How to Hide the Fridge?
Tricks to Hiding Drying Laundry
Tell us:
How have you positioned the TV in your home? Let us know in the Comments.
Seating arranged around a coffee table is wonderfully grown-up and says this living space is about hanging out and socialising as much as watching the box. There’s no attempt to hide the TV, but its position at 90 degrees to the sofa and chairs means it plays a less central role in this room.
Read more:
How to Hide the Fridge?
Tricks to Hiding Drying Laundry
Tell us:
How have you positioned the TV in your home? Let us know in the Comments.
These handsome shelves have been built slightly proud of the alcoves, providing extra-deep storage and making the perfect discreet home for a TV. Painting the storage black helps the technology blend in, so the eye is drawn to the books and treasures lining the other shelves.