television placement

There was a great post on Things That Inspire a couple of weeks ago that dealt with the often-discussed problem of where to attractively place a television within a room.  We face this question frequently when designing interiors.  We try to be realistic about the issue–almost every one has a television and we think at this point there’s little use in trying to hide them.  We’ve relocated more than one bulky armoire that suddenly became outdated when a flat screen television came into the house.  Today, we think it’s perfectly okay to hang a flat screen on the wall without elaborate camouflage.

In this Rosemary Beach living room we’ve showed you before, Paige and Anna Kay hung the television directly over the fireplace.  In a vacation home where casual living is the goal, we think this solution is just fine.  The clean-lined stone cladding which was added to the fireplace is a fitting complement to the sleek black tv.  Components and other accessories are housed in the small cabinet to the left of the fireplace.  [photo by Michael Granberry]

Some people can’t sleep without a television in the bedroom.  In this Mountain Brook, Alabama bedroom the only place for a tv to go in view of the bed was the wall opposite the headboard.  With a double window and pair of doors at either end, there wasn’t enough room in between to place a piece of furniture so we again opted to hang the tv directly on the wall.  An all black tv would have been way too heavy visually in this nearly all-white room so we had the frame and mount of the television painted to match the wall color.  As a result the tv blends in as much as possible with the wall rather than standing out.  [photo by Colleen Duffley]

Space was again an issue in this Birmingham, Alabama keeping room–there was not wall bigh enough to place a piece of furniture to sit a tv upon.  Because of this, Paige opted to hang the television up high in one corner of the room.  An articulating bracket allows the tv to be swiveled toward the adjacent kitchen.  The higher placement of the tv also allows a comfortable arrangement of furniture for fireside conversation when the tv is turned off.  [photo by Ryan Davis]

In this Mountain Brook, Alabama breakfast room, when a black television looked too heavy we first tried swapping it out for a silver-colored model.  When we still didn’t love the very modern looking tv in conjunction with the beautiful suite of French and English furnishings, we solved the problem by having the tv framed in antique oak stained to match the woodwork in the space.  [photo by Colleen Duffley]

Sometimes, we find a wall-hung television needs a piece of furniture beneath it to anchor it into the space.  In this Lake Martin, Alabama media room, an antique French farm table is the perfect complement to the tv.  Three antique metal boxes fill the space between and create an attractive focal point for the lower half of the wall.

Doug used a similar trick in his own Mountain Brook, Alabama living room, placing a painted sideboard beneath the television.

Doug’s collection of design books and a few pieces of white pottery create a tablescape that keeps the scene from being all about the tv.

So where’s the tv in your house?  Have you embraced flat screen on the wall look yet?