Design Dilemma: Where to Put the Flat-Screen TV?

obbs Thanks for these ideas in reply to my post. Some really great food for thought there - ideas I had dismissed but now am looking at in a new light. Hmmmm. Lots to ponder.

Lee Auchincloss I like the sliding door panels ideas if you can committ to wall mounting. I'd like to see some solutions for less contemporary space with a flat screen. A Bungalow for instance.

Michele Nowak My home staging company came up with this solution to hide the TV above the fireplace. We purchased stock plantation shutters and installed over the niche above the fireplace. This would be great for a more traditional space.

Michele Nowak Photo didn't upload....let me try again :)

global_librarian We resolved this by purchasing a video lift cabinet. The flat screen tv (up to 55 inches, depending upon cabinet dimensions) sits in the cabinet and lifts from the top at the touch of a button. When we want to watch it, the tv is easily accessible. But when we do not want it, it discreetly hides away and most guests do not even know it is in there. Very popular in Europe, they are now becoming available in the US. The one pictured here is from Ethan Allen (Townhouse Video Lift Cabinet), but they can be found elsewhere by googling "Video Lift Cabinet."

Nat We built in a recessed space with two sets of recessed floating shelves on either side. It looks really good with the only design dilemma being finding a nice piece of artwork or sculpture to go above the tv recess to fill in the space above it to line up with the top of the two side recesses

jeg700 700 I love a great big flat panel TV and I have not wanted to "hide" it in any way, ever! It is a beautiful mirrored surface giving light a reflective surface (like a mirror) to bounce off of. TV's today are beautifully designed, come in a multitude of fantastic colours and are just plain a fact of modern day life. Embrace your TV, as it is an icon of our times!

flyerinsf New ultra-thin flatscreens (I'm installing a house full of LED models that are about 1" thick) can look like "art" - provided you can recess the mounting bracket or arm. There are products available to help you do this -- without terribly expensive wall reconfiguration. This one from Sanus is designed to fit between 16" on center studs and accomodates fully articulating arms that support TVs up to 55" or bigger. They are pretty reasonable at about $150-200 +whichever arm you choose + installation. http://www.sanus.com/us/en/products/visionmount/other/LR1A

Veronica We just installed our new flatscreen to a wall mount and didn't recess it yet. Perhaps when the new fireplace is purchased we can recess both into the living room wall. What I can't figure out is how to hide the cable box. I put in a new electrical box and pulled the cords thru, but where do I put the cable box so it is also hidden.

Mona I love this post. There are several of my clients that are perplexed over where to put that giant T.V. Love these ideas. I have added all of them to my idea book.

paulaj I agree with obsessive-it's time to stop pretending that TV's are somehow not appropriate. They are a part (often huge) of life. They are no more undecorative than a grand piano (which I have, right along with the TV).

Mission Millworks This post is so timely, we just completed the installation of a wall unit where the TV is recessed above the fireplace. The unit was prefinished before installation and installed in a couple days. The very traditional design helps to minimize the impact of the 60" flat panel.

joannstidman This is beautiful!!!!! We are in the process of designing our 52". Back & forth between above the fireplace(high FP)or beside the fireplace. We left the design undone until we could decide what would work for us. I don't want the TV to be the focal point, plus I dislike losing the mantle for deco. We are in disagreement, spouse want above TV and I prefer to the side with hidden doors. Any help out there?

Alan Brookman One solution, if you have the space, is to put the TV in a room other than a public space like the living room. We use our living room traditionally, for fires and reading, and have the TV in a small informal den where we don't care that it looks like a television.

mamela I love the lift cabinet idea. We find the height over the fireplace to be uncomfortable for viewing when sitting on the couch (room is 14' wide).

mattie Putting the TV over the fireplace is too high for us to watch comfortably, so we have our TV on a long antique european blanket chest that sits between the family room and the kitchen. The chest has some faded painted designs and lots of character and is a nice contrast to the TV and the DVR, which sits beside it. The TV is on a swivel so that it can be viewed from either room.

The Welcome Home: Interior Design Solutions You can hang it on the wall and add a frame kit. It is availablbe at Michael's Arts and Crafts. It adds the character of framed art. Then you could hang framed art around it "gallery style" so that the television becomes part of a larger composition.

vtaloni I was so thrilled to see this ideabook as I've been working with an architect on the design of our future home and the whole "TV over the fireplace" thing has been driving me crazy. The first floor of the home will have fabulous views and will be very open - which means very little wall space. My husband wants a TV in the main seating area and the only place to put it is over the fireplace. I had come up with an idea of doing plywood doors to cover the TV - the doors would fold back in half against the wall on either side of the TV. (I had done a search, but didn't see the sliding doors shown in one of the photos above - does anyone know where they are from?) I was thinking of having a mural artist do a fabulous mural of bamboo starting above the fireplace, including painting on the doors that will cover the TV. (The mural would have to be carefully planned out so it works when the doors are both open and closed.)

All of these comments are great food for thought, though I think I'm still in the camp that doesn't want a TV to be a focal point.

twilcox Recently purchased at TV that was mounted over my fireplace. It was 1.2 inches thick and the mounting system was .6 inches thick. I was pleased with it and I had no other options for TV placement in the room. Visitors are amazed at how slim the unit is.

cbertram Just read about this subject last night The Room Remix blog. Here's a link.

www:roomremixblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/tv-gallery-walls.html

Brennan + Company Architects vtaloni, sliding bamboo doors/tv cabinet were a custom design and fabricated here in Baltimore.

fjamal Hi! Great post! In rspknse to the question of where to hide components, get an IR repeater which allows you to control the dvr, cable, tv dvd etc without clear line of sight meaning they can be in a closed door cabinent. All the remote need to "see" is the tiny box that all of the components are connected to...so easy to install -- we have them on all our tvs and you wont see a cable box at all!

lyrice marverous

osbornk In hotels and bathrooms there are tvs in mirrors. Has anyone seen a mirror tv in a family room which looks like a mirror when off but is a tv when on? I've only found them online, but wondered about the picture quality.

ddzinr What hardware was used for the sliding panels in the Brennan & Co. Arch's room? I've been looking at several sources and not finding what I need.

canucknadeau Thanks for this. I recently purchased a home, and the last thing on my wife's mind was allowing me to create my own man cave. But we comprimised, and I am now starting to just redesign the space. We purchased a couple mounts from www.kantoav.com and their stuff has worked great for our living room. I have a couple LED TVs, and its amazing how mounting them on the wall changes the entire layout. Also frees up some space. Thanks again

TVCoverups I invented a product that puts the emphasis on your artwork when the television is not in use. Check out my Houzz page or TVCoverups.com to get a better idea of my design. It's an elegant solution that is less than half the cost of competing products.

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Melody Leads I wanted my tv wall mounted but I'm scared it might fall off when earthquake might strike. haha.. So I just bought a small wide cabinet and placed my tv on top. it still looks good, and watching shows are made even better with DIRECTV connection. :) more about satellite tv connections on http://www.sattvdirect.net

TVCoverups Here's an idea, just like the title of this thread states: "Get the focus off technology and back on design!"

IDS Audio Video & Technologies These are awesome ideas. We come across this all the time, more and more nowadays. Often times we are asked to hide the TV all together, but make it easily accessible for viewing when needed. Whether it be two-way mirrors, motor mounts in furniture or like you are looking for, the most tasteful way to display... this is the number one thing folks ask for when dealing with small and big TV's. Attached is a job we did recently, where we hid a 60" flat panel behind a special two-way mirror. When the TV is off, it's just a mirror. If you are looking for more cool ideas, check out http://www.futureautomation.net/ - They have some things that may spark your interest. Good luck! ^MM