Where to put TV in Living Room?! HELP!

[cerebrex]

Guys, I am completely clueless on what to do with this room. It's a rather odd living room inside my new house. The room is approximately 18 x 17 and I need to find a place to mount a 58" Panasonic Plasma, associated speakers, and then figure out where to put the components. Can anyone give me any suggestions, as I have been racking my brain lately to no avail. Any help or advice is GREATLY appreciated. Here are the pictures:









The picture of the door is what you can start to see on the right hand side of the first picture (the opening). The last picture is what is directly to the right of that opening (if viewing the first picture, it's the corner nearest and to the right of the camera). If you have any questions on where a certain part of the room is, let me know so I can further clarify.

Oh, and behind the camera is the kitchen, seen here:

 

[Adam]

cerebrex, hey. A couple of thoughts:

1) Would the TV fit right over the fireplace, and would you want to put it there?

2) You could consider "splitting" the room by placing the TV somewhere in between the wall with the fireplace and the kitchen area. So, you'd have a viewing/living area on one side, and something else on the other. Perhaps placing the TV facing the kitchen with it's back to the fireplace with a few feet between it and the fireplace. You could then put furniture between the back of the TV and the fireplace, like maybe a couch and chair and other side pieces. That way, you'd have a sitting area in front of the fireplace, as well as a A/V area on the other side of the room.

Adam

 

[j_garcia]

Tough room. I normally do not recommend the TV over the fireplace, but it looks like one of your few options here. Another choice would be a corner setup in the one empty corner, but it looks like that would mean having the fireplace to your back and possibly leave you with little or no eating area. You could place it on the wall to the left of the fireplace, but then you will be covering up that window/door.

 

[cerebrex]

Sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that this was also an eating area. That's on the other side of the kitchen. However, I think a corner setup would be bad because then the seating would either be offset or diagonal in the middle of the room (terrible looking). I think I'm going to get a nice A/V credenza and put it on the same wall as the sliding glass door. Sounds like the only decent option I can think of. Thanks guys!

 

[mtrycrafts]

Where is this corner? This may be the best place that I see from your pictures.
This room was designed for that fire place, not a Tv/audio setup.

 

[AVRat]

The patio door wall was my choice as well.

 

[cerebrex]

Yeah, you're right AVRat. The measurements on that wall are about 7 ft. until you hit that sliding glass door, and then a few more feet until you actually hit the sliding part of the door, so I think that's the best idea too.

mtrycrafts, this room was definitely designed around that fireplace, as ugly as it may be. Off topic, but does anyone have any ideas to "spruce" that thing up? I was either thinking a multi-layered, multi-colored high-temp latex paint from brick-anew.com, or getting a faux stone veneer/tile, to make it look more modern. I just hate that plain brick look.

Thanks a ton, guys! This board has been extremely helpful in the week I've been here.

Greg

 

[ParadigmDawg]

He can mount pretty low on that fireplace so I dont think that would be a problem and it is likely the best option. I would redo the fireplace with some nice white Austin stone and mount as low as possible.

Tough room. I normally do not recommend the TV over the fireplace, but it looks like one of your few options here. Another choice would be a corner setup in the one empty corner, but it looks like that would mean having the fireplace to your back and possibly leave you with little or no eating area. You could place it on the wall to the left of the fireplace, but then you will be covering up that window/door.

 

[ace55]

If you mount over the fireplace you might want to consider some sort of heat shield.

 

[jimfitz]

Over the fireplace. Lose the mantle so it won't be so high.

 

[cerebrex]

Guys, that fireplace is too high, I'm telling you. I mean look- it has a hearth before the fireplace even starts. It's a long way up there, and there's no way I'm going to strain my neck looking at that. Also, I have a very expensive credenza that I don't plan to just let sit around serving no purpose.

 

[Johnd]

Guys, that fireplace is too high, I'm telling you. I mean look- it has a hearth before the fireplace even starts. It's a long way up there, and there's no way I'm going to strain my neck looking at that. Also, I have a very expensive credenza that I don't plan to just let sit around serving no purpose.

I don't know what you're looking for cerebrex...something that is not there?

It is time to be cerebral about this. I think the suggestions you've received are the best ones available...short of mounting it flat on the ceiling and laying in a prone position whenever you desire to watch.

I mean, you've got the 6' glass door smack in the middle of one wall, the back wall is nonexistent as it is open to the kitchen, with lots more glass and formica...hmmm...love those reflections. Your next wall has an opening to the foyer, and your front wall has yet another door opening and a large brick fireplace. All in a fairly modest sized room. The only other options I see are the front corner, or the back opening (to the kitchen). This is one of those less than ideal situations where you're 58" Panny is going to have to be squeezed in with a shoehorn, I'm afraid. I do wish you the best in optimizing your screen location, but the room that you've selected is a tough one for such a big screen. I think you'll have to settle for less than ideal in this situation. Cheers.

 

[jimfitz]

Here's a thought. It won't be easy or cheap, but it would work. Replace the sliding glass door with a single door and put the screen there.

 

[cerebrex]

I'm really not sure what you're talking about. I have 8 feet of room between the glass door and fireplace. That is where it will go, and it will have PLENTY of room. Basically, I figured it out with some suggestions, and realized that it would be perfect. So, basically, I'm really not sure what this post is about?

Anyway, Thanks a ton guys!

I don't know what you're looking for cerebrex...something that is not there?

It is time to be cerebral about this. I think the suggestions you've received are the best ones available...short of mounting it flat on the ceiling and laying in a prone position whenever you desire to watch.

I mean, you've got the 6' glass door smack in the middle of one wall, the back wall is nonexistent as it is open to the kitchen, with lots more glass and formica...hmmm...love those reflections. Your next wall has an opening to the foyer, and your front wall has yet another door opening and a large brick fireplace. All in a fairly modest sized room. The only other options I see are the front corner, or the back opening (to the kitchen). This is one of those less than ideal situations where you're 58" Panny is going to have to be squeezed in with a shoehorn, I'm afraid. I do wish you the best in optimizing your screen location, but the room that you've selected is a tough one for such a big screen. I think you'll have to settle for less than ideal in this situation. Cheers.

 

[Johnd]

Guys, that fireplace is too high, I'm telling you. I mean look- it has a hearth before the fireplace even starts. It's a long way up there, and there's no way I'm going to strain my neck looking at that. Also, I have a very expensive credenza that I don't plan to just let sit around serving no purpose.

This is the quote I was talking about cerebrex (the last one before my post). Although you made one mention of putting the screen between the door and the fireplace, you never wrote that you decided on it. That is the intuitive choice. It seemed like the suggestions were still going around the fireplace, which you understandably decided against, and that you had not yet made a decision. I was underlining the fact that there was only a couple of places that a 58" could be placed. That's all.

 

[cerebrex]

This is the quote I was talking about cerebrex (the last one before my post). Although you made one mention of putting the screen between the door and the fireplace, you never wrote that you decided on it. That is the intuitive choice. It seemed like the suggestions were still going around the fireplace, which you understandably decided against, and that you had not yet made a decision. I was underlining the fact that there was only a couple of places that a 58" could be placed. That's all.

Oh ****, he used bold.

Anyway, I again don't see your point here. You point out that I never wrote that I decided on putting the TV on that wall. Well, I could have sworn that's exactly what I said in my last post, and I never said that I wrote it anywhere before that. What exactly are you doing in this thread? I really do genuinely appreciate everyone's opinions and suggestions in this thread.... except yours.

 

[Johnd]

Oh ****, he used bold.

Anyway, I again don't see your point here. You point out that I never wrote that I decided on putting the TV on that wall. Well, I could have sworn that's exactly what I said in my last post, and I never said that I wrote it anywhere before that. What exactly are you doing in this thread? I really do genuinely appreciate everyone's opinions and suggestions in this thread.... except yours.

Wow.

Yes, you said it in your last post. Up to that point it was certainly not clear that you had decided...leading others to post. If you've made a decision, and others helped you in forming that decision, it is useful (to others) to post such information. That's all.

 

[cerebrex]

Wow.

Yes, you said it in your last post. Up to that point it was certainly not clear that you had decided...leading others to post. If you've made a decision, and others helped you in forming that decision, it is useful (to others) to post such information. That's all.

That's because that is the time I decided it. What do you want me to do? Go back in time saying I'll be deciding on the placement in my next post? It was certainly not clear that I had decided that... correct. UNTIL I SAID IT. What's your goal here, man?

 

[MDS]

Cerebrex,
I may have missed it, but you've decided to put the TV on the solid wall to the right of the sliding glass door? That's about the only place I could see other than on the fireplace and I perfectly understand not wanting to do that because it will be too high.

You could probably do a small seating area in the area closer to the kitchen as a sort of 'conversation' area when people are over but not necessarily watching TV. That may help to break up the room so you don't have everything jammed to one side for the TV area and then a large open area before the kitchen.

This stuff can be tough. I know when I was looking for a house my number one criteria was a suitable location for the TV. It seems that designers and architects want to make the fireplace the focal point of the room and that causes problems for TV placement. I always say the living room is where you live and I don't know anybody that doesn't have a TV in the living room. Still, my room isn't perfect either...but a tad more forgiving than yours.

 

[jimfitz]

You can also use a corner couch where one section of the couch acts somewhat like a room divider.