HELP! Where do I put the TV?

April 2, 2022 Janet Lorusso

One of the most pressing questions to answer when designing a room is, “Where should I put the television?”

With our more casual and entertainment oriented lifestyles, most people want a TV in their main living space where they spend the most time - this might be a living room, family room, great room, or keeping room. And oftentimes, further complicating things (though a nice problem to have!), these rooms also contain a fireplace.

And, not to generalize….but many men seem to want the biggest possible TV regardless of whether the size of the room warrants it. Somehow it is a sign of virility if Big Bird has eyes the size of a small toddler…personally, I think most kids would find that terrifying. The general “rule” is 10” of screen size for every 1’ away the viewer is, but THIS post has a chart for the optimal TV size based on viewing distance.

Please bear in mind when planning you space for the TV that a TV is sized in diagonal measurements, so the actual width of the screen is really less than the “TV size”

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Designers tend to hate big TV’s in a room that has to function as more than just a media room. The solution years ago when TV’s were bulky and deep and REALLY ugly was to hide it in a big piece of furniture like an armoire. And that is still a viable option for many people, especially if the TV is not enormous and the armoire is a stunning piece of furniture like the one in this great room shown below.

#greatroom #TVarmoire Design by JRL Interiors, Acton, MA

Then plasma TV’s and LCD’s were born and they were blessedly no longer bulky. They were still a big black hole - drawing unwarranted attention to the soulless rectangle when not in use, but at least they could hang on a wall or sit on a shallow piece of furniture or tuck into a built-in - and didn’t take up half the room.

Custom built-ins for a TV designed by JRL Interiors

We invented clever ways to conceal them, painting the wall a dark color to limit the contrast, covering them with screens and doors, and burying them in wall recesses over the mantel. This post has more ways to decorate around the TV if you have a black hole to disguise.

Rendering of the great room designed for our Lakeville project. A darker accent wall for the fireplace makes the TV less prominent. Design by JRL Interiors, Acton, MA

In their latest incarnation, televisions have become ultra thin.

LG has a rollable retractable one that I saw at the recent KBIS trade show, which is a very cool solution but quite pricey…to the tune of 100K. And Samsung has the “frame TV” which is a brilliant solution that hides the TV in plain sight disguised as a piece of art when not in use. You can choose the frame for the TV, and you can choose the art displayed or even upload your own. (LG also offers TV’s with gallery mode.) Designers everywhere breath a collective sigh of relief!

Many living rooms, family rooms, and open concept great rooms are fortunate enough to have a fireplace. A fireplace is a great feature in a room and it makes sense to orient the furniture around it. BUT, what if you also need to have a TV in the room?

In rooms with both a TV and a fireplace, there are only 2 options: 1) over the fireplace OR 2) somewhere else!

In order to preserve the fireplace as the focal point feature in the room, it is best to put the TV in a location where the the furniture can be arranged to view both the TV AND the fireplace.

One of the problems we needed to solve in our current Garden Inspired Library project was that the furniture, including a sofa, was all facing away from the fireplace to face a TV on the opposite wall. You can see our inspiration and our plans to solve that HERE.

Times when it makes sense to put the TV over the fireplace:

The fireplace is not tall…i.e. a modern, linear fireplace lends itself nicely to hanging a TV above.
If you have a traditional fireplace with a mantelpiece and the furniture can be placed far enough away so the viewing angle isn’t awkward (another option here is an articulating arm so the screen can be tilted down for comfortable viewing)
If there isn’t another wall available…this is when the ‘make it work’ Tim Gunn mantra kicks in…

Important note: It is critical for the area on which the TV will be located to not get too much heat from the fireplace lest it damage the electronics.

Other locations for TV:

Opposite the fireplace. This works best with a grouping of swivel chairs rather than a sofa, but can work with a pair of facing sofas in a pinch - look to one side to enjoy the fire and to the other side to view the TV.
On an adjacent wall. This works best with an L-shaped seating configuration that effectively faces both walls (like the layout we suggested as an option for THIS client)
In a corner or beside the fireplace. Sometimes this is the only viable option, but it is the trickiest one to pull off as it tends to throw the whole wall out of balance and distract from the fireplace as a feature unless it is very carefully planned and executed.

Here is a graphic of the various options for locating a TV in a room with a fireplace. (This sample room is 14’ x 20’)