Where to put the TV in the Living Room

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Where to put the TV in the Living Room

by Dustin
(Fowler, Indiana)

View from fireplace

View from fireplace Current setup

View from opposite fireplace

View of wall I put up to separate

I have an L- Shaped Living Room/Dining Room combo. The house was built in the 1930's so the space is smaller, and the very even dimensions make it hard to place normal size furniture in either space.

We are trying to find a place to put the TV, but so far we've made no headway. I built an open wall thinking it would separate the dining room and living room space, and it did, but it's just made placing the furniture even more difficult.

The door that enters the house also makes everything a pain.

Assuming we wanted to mount the tv above the fireplace the couch is either neck breakingly too close or eye strainingly too far away!

The current setup is decent but the seating is limited to about three people comfortably.

Help!

Dustin's room - view from fireplace - current set up

View from fireplace Current setup

Dustin's room - view from opposite fireplace

View from opposite fireplace

Dustin's room - view from wall put up to separate

View of wall I put up to separate

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Where to put the TV in the Living Room

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Nov 08, 2010
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Separation...
by: Charlotte

Hi Dustin

You look like you have a lovely home - and I really like the wall you've built to separate living and dining areas - a great idea to separate the 2 but still keep that lovely, spacious feel - well done!

I can see your dilemmas with furniture arrangement, and you've obviously got some careful thinking to do about what you want.

Although it now seems commonplace to want to put a flat screen TV over the fireplace, it can actually be a very awkward spot - as you've found...

...having the TV at that height is not ideal in anyone's book for comfortable TV watching...

...the best height for your TV would be at, or just below, eye level when seated - most comfortable!

With this in mind I think I would be tempted to make use of one of the corners to put the TV - whether this was next to the fireplace, or in the other part of the room.

Another thought is to try and avoid a window right opposite the TV - especially if you like to watch TV in daytime - the light can glare off the screen - of course, if you watch mainly in the evening or have adequate curtains/blinds this need not be a problem at all.

Looking at your room I'm thinking that it lends itself quite well to having an effective divide down the middle where the doorways/thoroughfares are.

Of course this is purely a visual divide not physical and its nice to keep the room nice and light and airy...

...but it does give you the opportunity of using your furniture arrangement to keep the 2 spaces separate...

...continues on comment below...

Nov 08, 2010
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Continues from above comment
by: Charlotte

Continues from above comment...

...I'm thinking that your couch, put in the position of your white and dark wood chair (but at a right angle to the wall) might provide a good view of the TV if that was in one of the corners by the fireplace.

You could probably fit the 2 chairs in the other corners then.

And use the other half of the room for extra seating, a cosy corner for reading, crafts, whatever you wanted...

Or if you kept the TV in its current position, and again arranged the couch at a right angle to separate the space, you could use this space as a TV area - and perhaps arrange the other side of the room as an alternative seating area, all cosy by the fire.

If you had guests and wanted to feel like one big group, you would have plenty of seating, and could easily move around the furniture to incorporate this.

I would really recommend you drawing a layout plan to scale, and trying out a few different options to see which one(s) you like, before committing yourself - its quite easy to do actually - find out how to do it here...

I hope some of these ideas help you to decide.

Best wishes and good luck with re-arranging your room.

Charlotte

Nov 08, 2010
Rating

Living Room
by: Pauline Finch-Lea

There are wall brackets you could use for your TV, depending on it's size., or, maybe, a glass shelf?

That way you can have the TV in the best position for your viewing comfort, and also not add to the furniture on the 'floor'. You have plenty of wall space for this idea too.

Love the divider you built between Dining room and Living Room.

Many TV brackets also include brackets for video's. sky boxes etc.

Where in the room do you have your aerial point? the TV should be near to that too.

Wish you all the best with any ideas you choose to try.

Nov 08, 2010
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Thanks!
by: Charlotte

Thanks Pauline - some great suggestions and ideas - a very practical look at things - always good!

Charlotte x

Nov 12, 2010
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Thanks and a Question?
by: Anonymous

Thanks Charlotte and Pauline!

I'll definitely have to put some of these ideas into action and see what I can come up with. I "do" think I'm a bit confused on what an aerial point is though.?

Thanks again!

Nov 12, 2010
Rating

For the TV
by: Charlotte

Hi Dustin...

...it must be called something different in the US - it's where your TV plugs into the wall - not for electricity but to get a signal/reception.

If where you'd like your TV is not close to this point, don't worry, as you can buy extension cables for this that are meters long - you can just tack the cable down to the edge of the floor, or skirting board (with the special plastic cable tacks) to keep it tidy, and put your TV wherever you'd like!

(We sometimes do this for our TV if we move our room round a different way)

Good luck with the makeover!

Do let us know how you get on!

Best wishes

Charlotte :o)

How to Disguise or Hide your Flat Screen TV

Ideas for TV and hi-fi layout in a living room...

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Return to the main page for Living Room Decorating Ideas

Return to the main page for arranging furniture

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Feb 20, 2012
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Interior Design
by: Irfan

It's always amazing how we look at things with fresh' eyes when we learn more about the skills and techniques behind something. Hope you're having loads of fun and will see you soon.

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Where to put the TV in the Living Room

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Where to put the TV in the Living Room