Freestanding or wall-mounted TVs?

7 years ago

With the average Briton (allegedly) watching 24 hours of TV a week, TVs clearly form an important part of our day-to-day lives! Your preference between freestanding or wall-mounted might reflect the style of your home - those seeking a minimalistic look might opt for wall-mounted, while those with a traditional living room may prefer freestanding, where the TV and stand are key focal points of the room.

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Houzzers - which do you prefer? Is there any correlation between which you have and the style of your home?

Wall-mounted

Freestanding

Other - tell us!

Featured Answer

Lexi Revellian

7 years ago

When I redecorated, I decided to dump my television. I watch only a couple of programmes a week, which I can do on my laptop. I rather like the look of the room without it.

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Comments (16)

Beth Weir
7 years ago
We used to have a wall-mounted TV in our family home but have recently switched back to a freestanding one as we felt it was too much of a focal point being mounted above our fireplace. Now our living room feels much less like a place to watch TV and more like a place to catch up as a family! I much prefer having it freestanding and out of the way of the centre of the room.
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
I have an ancient television with a very small screen; my friends can't believe it. And it's in a corner behind the door. It's because I don't like the television to dominate. So, I'm hoping that when it conks out I will be able to find a small wall-mounted television that I will also stick in the corner; I want one on an arm that swings out and back again. I hate it taking up surface space; it needs to disappear.
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The picture shown shows us a example of a badly installed TV where no thought has been put into the interior design of that element in the room. I can almost guarantee a Technology Advisor was not involved in the project as they would have found a better solution for the finish. Sometime the area above the fireplace is the only space in the room the TV can go, and when its property thought out it can work.
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Rayna Tullett
7 years ago
Surely it depends on what the viewer/s will find comfortable? Over the fireplace seems very popular, but for a shorty, like me viewing from a low sofa, neck ache beckons.
And what about where the electric sockets are situated? Or where the light from the windows might fall. (It's frustrating when the glare of daylight on a summer's evening stops you seeing the vital clue in a mystery thriller!)
Best see the layout of the room before plumping for where the TV goes.
PRO
Sandra Lawson Interiors
7 years ago
I feel strongly that a TV should be watched but not seen- more so now that sets are so big! I have mine wall mounted on a swing arm and the TV is flat against the wall when I am not watching it. I have a black-framed picture (similar size to TV) at the same height on the other side of the wall to balance out the TV screen. Even if you have your set on a stand or shelf, try to balance it out/mirror it with a picture or item of furniture - this diminishes the impact of the TV on the room.
Jayk
7 years ago
Unfortunately, due to the desire of many people to retain a fireplace - which may not even be suitable for a real fire - the location/viewing of a TV is often compromised by forcing it into a corner or high up on a wall or into some other less than satisfactory position.

Surely this is a lose/lose situation when the less used/useful but better looking fireplace takes priority over the more used/useful but less attractive TV?

Isn’t it about time our industrial and interior designers worked together to give us information/entertainment solutions (TVs?) that scream great design integration from start to finish. Perhaps we would then discard that ancient, outdated, inefficient, potentially polluting, space limiting item - the fireplace?
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
Oh, Jayk. How I disagree with you! I will only tolerate a television in a corner of the sitting room, and preferably a corner behind the door so it's not in view when people come into the room. I like my walls to be for art or furniture. I worry much less about the chimney breast - which adds character and sometimes style - than the shape, size and design of televisions. If someone could invent an attractive television I'd be more relaxed but they are hideous and intrusive. Stick them in a corner!
Jayk
7 years ago
Hello Joanna. You said "How I disagree with you!" Strange, because I don't disagree with you. You also said "If someone could invent an attractive television I'd be more relaxed". That's really my point. You stick your TV in a corner because it doesn't integrate with your room as you like it to be.

I think the level of integration I have in mind is very difficult to achieve at the moment but we should be able to have the rooms we want, containing the technology we want, without seriously compromising one or the other. My feeling is most homes are out of step with modern expectations and the technology that provides for those expectations and our designers need to apply themselves to the mismatch.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I like to integrate the TV into the room in a way that it doesn't dominate the space. In the main parlor where we watch TV the most, it is surrounded by a bookcase. In the bedrooms, we place the TV in an armoire or chest with doors so it can be hidden when not in use.
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
Hello again, Jayk. The disagreement was about the value of fireplaces. I love them; you don't! I only discovered I loved them when I got one - this is the first home in which I've had one and up till now I've thought they were a pain, assuming they should be the focus of a room without my permission. But we agree on the technology side. It is unbelievable, isn't it, that something that we use every day (most of us, anyway) such as a television should be so prescriptively ugly. You'd think they could come up with something better that suits enough of us to be a financial success for the technology company. The way southernpointofview has fitted those two televisions in is impressive but I don't have that sort of furniture. I want a discreet wall-mounted television on an arm so I can swing it out and back. Sounds simple ...
Jayk
7 years ago
You may be surprised to learn that I do like fireplaces. I had two fully function fireplaces in my last home and they were terrific on a winters evening. But I suggest they are also all the things I mentioned in my first post. I don't have a fireplace now and I miss it some of the time but not all of the time.

Glad we have more in common than it may have seemed :-)

I hope our discussion is relevant to this thread as fireplaces often determine whether TVs are on the wall, on stands or wherever else they end up. Now what about that separate, dedicated media room...?
jamiethepony
7 years ago
depends on the situation. we recently wall mounted ours in a corner with a fully flexible mount and a sideboard underneath. it can be angled perfectly for viewing and then it can be pushed right back to the wall when not in use. I'm not a fan of wall hung over a fireplace, I think it makes it too much of a focal point.
Joanna Biddolph
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I agree, jamiethepony. Over the fireplace - no. That's where I'd hang a beautiful picture. And, jayk, yes - a dedicated room is ideal. We do this for laundry. Next step - the television, etc.
gdensieg
7 years ago
If your room was contemporary in style, I would suggest a low fireplace on the chimney breast and a 'Mirror' TV above it. This solves the focal dilemma as when the TV is switched off, your fireplace and 'mirror' remain the main and natural focal point of the room. All the wiring could then be recessed inside the chimney breast.
Jayk
7 years ago
It's unlikely that you will be able to achieve the optimum functional height for a TV if you have any form of fireplace below it. The ideal center of the screen should be at the eye level of the viewer. But function often plays "second fiddle" to style.
minnie101
7 years ago
I'm not keen on a tv being a focal point but having said that we have a large wall mounted one hovering over a cabinet in a basement room so i think it depends on the style and function of the room. The smaller tv in the living room is in a Chinese wardrobe with a hole in the back for the cables. A wardrobe of sorts means it can be completely hidden if you so want providing you don't have a massive tv.

Freestanding or wall-mounted TVs?

Lexi Revellian

Comments (16)

Beth Weir

Joanna Biddolph

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