Fireplace/TV Placement Input

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi all! My husband and I are building a custom home and have struggled with the fireplace/TV wall since design inception. It's the eternal battle...I wanted the fireplace to be the focal point of our great room, he wanted a comfortable TV viewing from the furniture. Don't get me wrong, I love my fair share of TV shows, but I don't feel like a TV should come before a permanent fixture of a fireplace (nor do I want it to be a focal point of the room!). I also appreciate the ambiance of a fire. We went back and forth about a corner fireplace (I've read all the naysayer reviews), but eventually landed on a shared wall with neither one being centered on the wall. The other consideration is that I did not want any built-ins in our great room; we both did not want to place the TV above the fireplace (don't want to crane our necks to watch TV). We recently purchased a TV stand (which I love!) to go alongside the fireplace. The TV stand cannot be placed on any other wall in the great room due to the open concept floor plan and window wall. Unfortunately, I have had a real difficult time trying to find design ideas with this combo of fireplace and TV stand next to each other. So can anyone offer up any design solutions for both fireplace style and room design with this layout? I would consider us to be industrial/modern/transitional. I have attached our main floor plan (which shows the fireplace centered but we plan on building it off-center), a similar picture of our TV stand and some additional decor that we own which represent our style (and will be placed in this open-concept area), to get an idea of the look I am after.

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PRO

BeverlyFLADeziner

8 years ago

It would be easier for the FP to be the focal point if you saw it when you walked into the room. So move it to the outside wall and place the TV where the FP was.

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Comments (8)

Kristin Trivelas
Original Author
8 years ago
We considered that idea and it really does look stunning; however, we have a view of the sound and really wanted the entire wall to be a window wall to take advantage of the view.
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PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
8 years ago

If you keep it low you can place the TV in front of the windows.

Or you can design the wall to accommodate a linear FP and a flat screen above it.
Kristin Trivelas thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
Steven
8 years ago
Why not move the fireplace to be adjacent to the staircase and place the TV next to and above it?
Kristin Trivelas thanked Steven
jpp221
8 years ago
I’d put the tv, on that stand, along the stairway wall (I’m assuming it’s not an open bannister). Then, a sectional, with one section facing the fireplace and one facing the tv.

I would not put the tv along the window wall, as some have suggested. Tv with a window behind/alongside really tires the eyes. And why interrupt the view?

Another option: if the fireplace is off-centre, wall-mount the tv to the right of it. Build a wood frame around it (just a few inches deep), so people walking into the room aren’t looking at the edge and back of a tv with its hardware and wiring. Paint the wall and the frame around the tv dark, so when the tv is off it visually recedes into the wall (as opposed to a black tv on a pale wall, just drawing attention to itself).

The tv stand can be put to some other use (the stairway wall). I would not put the tv on that stand and on the same wall as the fireplace. That stand (which is great, by the way) will make for a busy wall (3 focal points—tv, fireplace, and the stand itself.
Kristin Trivelas
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you all for the feedback. I agree with not blocking the window with the TV, as jpp221 noted about blocking views and tiring eyes.

Regarding placing the TV on the bannister wall, we were concerned that the window wall would constantly cast a glare on the Tv unless we had the curtains drawn. And I appreciate natural light so I would prefer the curtains to be open much of the time.

I like the idea of possibly mounting the TV on the wall without the stand, although it really saddens me not to use this stand for its intended purpose. However, I also do not want competing focal points.
PRO
Flo Mangan
8 years ago
You will have competing focal points doing what you are doing. Why don't you consider moving the fireplace to the patio? Keep the family room for the TV. That way you could enjoy the fireplace from inside but the mess stays outside and problem solved. I think it could go on the end of the patio and stay out of your view. You could even put it on the window wall and have it be one that serves both inside and outside. But you can't escape the problem of multiple focal points. We have an offset fireplace and it sets to the right side of the wall toward the window wall and then we have an "inset" section for the TV and console. Tidy arrangement. The whole "wall" is the focal point.
Kristin Trivelas thanked Flo Mangan
PRO
Flo Mangan
8 years ago
Furniture arranging is going to be your major issue. And you probably will have to have the sofa back facing the kitchen for maximum seating and the TV on the wall where the fireplace is currently shown on the drawing. I think the idea of a low long contemporary fireplace has merit and put the TV above it. Can you return the TV console?
Kristin Trivelas thanked Flo Mangan