One of our readers, Carrie, wrote to us with a design question that we felt everyone could probably relate to:
“OK, husband is buying a enormous TV. I would love to see some ideas of how to make it blend into a room. Ughh, it seems like it will be an eyesore.”
We all have this problem! What to do with those obnoxiously huge televisions that we all seem to upgrade to? Sure, they are nice and thin. But they can still be a huge black rectangle in the center of our living rooms.
There is always the option of a piece of furniture that the TV can sit inside. That way when you want to watch you simply open the doors, but you also have the ability to close the doors and hide the huge black box. If you can’t find a piece of furniture that is just right…or big enough you can have one custom made to fit your exact TV.
Sometimes a piece of furniture doesn’t fit the space so you have to work with it being exposed. For this option one of my favorites is incorporating the TV into a collage wall. By doing this, you take the focus off the TV its self and make it more about the grouping. Here are some great photo examples…
image via www.bellemaison23.com
image via www.bhg.com
image via www.shaunamailloux.com (she shows a great way to hang a collage!)
image via www.blulabelbungalow.com
image via pinterest
A few tips when working with a collage wall…
1. SCALE: You want to make sure that the collage is proportionate to the size of the wall it is going on. And take into consideration the size of your TV. If it is large you don’t want all the other collage pieces to be small (remember, even an 8 by 10 photo looks small on a large wall). You will need to think big. If you do have small items that you want to incorporate, be sure and group them together so that visually they hold more weight.
If your TV is going to sit on a piece of furniture, the furniture should be wider than the width of the TV. You don’t want a large TV sitting on something that is small. And most of the time it is best if the furniture is enclosed on the bottom so that it is grounded…you don’t want it to be visually top heavy with your big black TV.
2. SPACING: The items should all be close together so that they create one large focal point. Make the spacing in between each individual piece the same.
3. STYLE: As you can see from the photos above, a collage wall can take on many different styles. Some are more abstract (many different frames, a combination of drawings/photos/collectibles/etc.) while others are more architectural (same frames, all black & white/monochromatic/grid arrangement/etc.). Choose an arrangement that fits your decorating style the best.
4. MAKE IT CLEAN: Make sure and hide those electrical cords! If you decide to hang the TV on the wall, go the the extra expense of having the cords ran inside the wall so that they are hidden. There is nothing worse than having a TV on the wall with black cords coming out the bottom. If that is what you are going to do, then you are better off having the T.V. sit on a piece of furniture!
Another option for incorporating a large TV is to place a piece of furniture under it and then flank either side of it with bookcases or display cases. This way it is surrounded by larger pieces and isn’t the only thing on the wall. Here are a couple of examples:
image via www.1decor.com
image via www.1decor.com
Carrie, I hope these ideas are helpful in your large TV dilemma! Hopefully one of these options will be a good solution for you and your hubby.
Are you stumped with a design problem? If so, contact us and we’ll do our best to help you out!
AlaynaB
Alayna is a lifestyle photographer who also practices commercial and residential interior design. She loves utilizing vibrant color in both her designs and her photography. She also has a passion for travel, seeking out new experiences, places and cultures to capture with her camera and to influence her designs. Alayna married her high school sweetheart and loves to cook, finding joy in family favorites as well as her own creations. A bargain hunter by nature, she thinks that good design can come in all mediums, price points and styles and should be available to everyone.
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Thank you for this!! I’m have this issue right now and felt like if I did a collage wall it would draw more attention to the TV so I have left it plain. That is why you are a designer and not me!