Where to Place Your TV if Your Living Room has a Fireplace
A fireplace and TV are important focal points in any room. And often dictate the setup of your other furniture. But where do you place your TV when there’s a fireplace in your living room?
Overall, placement of your TV will depend on the height of your fireplace, the size of the living room, the amount of natural light, and your preferred viewing angle.
But we have 3 placement ideas you can consider for your TV. Let’s first talk about where you shouldn’t place your TV.
Where not to put your TV
Don’t put our TV in a spot that is difficult to view. You want to be able to comfortably see the TV from your main seating area. If it’s too high, too low, or at an awkward angle, your viewing experience will not be ideal.
Never place your TV directly above a wood-burning fireplace. They produce a lot of heat and smoke. And whatever’s not vented up the chimney will go around your TV, damaging your electronics.
Never place your TV too close to the fireplace. Even if you have an electric or gas-burning fireplace, you’ll still need to leave space between your TV and the heat. Otherwise, your TV will become damaged.
Don’t place your TV where there is glare or reflections from a window or other light source. This will make it difficult to see the screen. So check to see if your TV sits across from a window or light.
TV placement should be about your viewing comfort. But when dealing with a fireplace, you’ll also need to keep safety in mind as well.
3 spots to place your TV in a room with a fireplace
Above the fireplace
Putting the TV above the fireplace seems to be people's go-to place since it allows you to enjoy both the warmth of the fireplace and your entertainment.
But it’s not the ideal spot. Often, the TV is too high and causes neck strain. Or the heat from the fireplace damages your TV. Or the TV competes with the fireplace in the living room. So keep these points in mind if you decide to place your TV above the fireplace.
When hanging the TV, the height placement will depend on the size of the TV, the height of your fireplace, the viewing distance, and the height of your fireplace mantel (if you have one).
It’s recommended to hang your TV at eye level when you’re seated, which is usually 42-45 inches from the floor to the center of the screen. For most fireplaces, when you add in the mantel height, the hanging height goes a lot higher than 45 inches.
Next to the fireplace
Placing your TV next to the fireplace can work depending on the space of your living room. You can use a media console (which you can angle depending on your preferences) or a wall-mounted bracket. This can allow you to create separate seating areas within your living room for TV viewing or using the fireplace.
When setting up your TV next to the fireplace, consider the viewing distance from your seating area to the TV. Typically the distance should be 1.5 to 2.5 times the diagonal length of the screen. So if you have a 60-inch TV, this means the viewing distance should be around 90-150 inches.
If you’re going to place your TV next to your fireplace, make sure there are at least 6 inches between the two. A wood-burning fireplace will need more space since it puts off more heat and smoke than gas or electric fireplaces.
On the opposite wall
If you have a narrow or small living room, placing your TV on the opposite wall from the fireplace can be ideal. This can allow you to maximize seating and create a balanced layout, allowing you to either hang it directly on the wall or use a console.
Plus, it’s like having 2 rooms in one – one for entertainment and one for cozy nights by the fire.
When setting up your TV on the opposite wall, don’t forget to consider the viewing angle and the height. You’ll want it to hang around 42-45 inches from the floor to the center of the screen.
If you hang your TV on the wall, make sure it’s mounted correctly to a stud.
You don’t want your expensive TV to come crashing down!
Don’t want to do it yourself? Hire Building Standard and let your handyman take care of it for you.
Contact us today! You’ll be glad you did.
We serve homes in the Tri-County area (Miami-Dade, Broward, & Palm Beach). But we can travel where our clients need us!