How To Arrange Your Living Room With A TV
There are no two ways about it; TVs aren’t the most attractive of things to have in a beautifully curated living room, even when they claim to be the most stylish of designs; so much so, that when developers do their show homes, they often leave out the TV in the living room to keep the aesthetics of the space. That being said, we don’t know many family homes that don’t have a TV in their living room. There’s nothing we all love more than snuggling up together, bundled on top of a comfy sofa, watching the latest series, drama or film. So, here are some examples of how to arrange living room furniture with a TV.
According to technology company Sony, the recommended viewing distance for a standard 40 inch HD TV is 4.92ft; this obviously increases proportionally to the screen size. You should use this as a guide for when it comes to organising your living room furniture. Make sure seating is at a suitable distance away from the screen. Then, consider how much time your living room is used for watching TV as this will help you decide where to position the rest of your living room furniture. If watching TV is the primary function of the room, you will want most of your seating angled towards the screen to prevent strain on people’s necks.
If this is going to be a multi-purpose room, then you’ll want to think about the living room furniture layout with the tv. You can use your living room furniture to divide the space into different zones. Position the sofa towards the TV, but have chairs facing towards the sofa to make the area more of a social environment when the TV is not in use. A coffee table or footstool in between will serve as a useful centrepiece.
When choosing the spot for your TV, as well as thinking about the basics like where the plug sockets are and how you’re going to conceal wires, also think about light coming in from the windows and whether or not this will create a glare across the TV.
If you’re not a fan of an unsightly TV then here are some of our top tips for disguising and hiding a TV in your living room:
Above the fireplace
If you have a living room with a fireplace, then the space above it is ideal for mounting your TV. The TV will mirror the shape of the fireplace for symmetry.
On a dark painted wall
The cheapest and arguably one of the most effective ways of concealing a TV is to paint the wall behind it a dark shade such as black or deep navy so that the screen seamlessly blends in.
In an alcove or bookcase
Bookcases (either standalone or built-in) are an ideal place to put a TV, especially if you don’t want to make holes in your wall for the bracket. The TV will be recessed from the space and have less of an imposing presence on the room in comparison to being hung on the wall.
Hidden TV cabinet or behind artwork
If you want to go the whole hog, there are some exceptionally clever ways of completely hiding a TV, which you can discover on Pinterest. Concealing it behind artwork and photographs, or a sliding panel is at the top of our list. You can also purchase special TV cabinets that hide the TV completely out of view, and you can simply open the doors when you want to watch.