How to Choose the Best Place for Your TV: Full Guide

Are you wondering how to choose the best place for the TV at home? You may have bought your first-ever TV or upgraded your place with a new one. Either way, the mission is not complete until you install it or place it in the right spot. So, where do you place your TV at home? What is the best location for a TV? What should you consider when picking the best place? Read our comprehensive guide to learn the answers to these questions, ensuring you enjoy a comfortable watching experience. 

Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Place for Your TV

You may have not thought about where to place the TV at home before, giving all your attention to the various types of smart TVs and how to pick the one most suitable for you. However, choosing the best place for your TV takes you one step closer to incredible cinematic experiences and immersive gaming. 

Consider the following factors to know how to choose the best place for your TV at home:

• Viewing Angle

The first factor to consider when choosing the best place for your TV at home is the viewing angle. It refers to the furthest off-center position (horizontally or vertically) from which you can watch the TV without a significant loss in image quality. What does this mean? This means that if you sit too far to the right or left, or view the screen from too high or too low an angle, the picture may start to look less sharp and less vibrant. 

You will know that the viewing angle is not right when the colors look faded, the blacks turn to grey, and the overall contrast is less clear. If you strain your neck or need to turn or lean your head way too much in a certain direction, then the viewing angle is not comfortable and your TV position should be changed accordingly. 

• Watching Distance

The watching distance is the gap between you and the TV. If the TV is placed too close to your seating area, then it will cause you eye strain and make viewing feel overwhelming rather than relaxing and comfortable. The opposite is not ideal either; when the TV is positioned too far away from the seating place, you might experience difficulty seeing fine details and keeping up with fast movement as well as reading captions and subtitles. This might force you to squint, ultimately making you feel uncomfortable and fatigued. 

Want to know how to choose the best place for your TV? Simply put, the TV shouldn’t be too far nor too close to the seating area. However, it is worth mentioning that larger screens are better suited for a greater viewing distance, while smaller TVs are fine with shorter distances. 

• Room Lighting and Brightness

When deciding the best place for your TV in the living room, you must consider the room’s lighting. The ambient brightness has a direct effect on how clearly you view the TV and how comfortable it is to watch the screen. Too much light, whether it is sunlight or artificial lighting, causes glare and reflections on the screen, making it difficult to see the image clearly. This, however, does not mean that a very dark room is right either. On the contrary, too little light makes the image appear way too bright and overwhelming, causing eye strain and discomfort. 

That being said, avoid placing the TV directly opposite windows or where sunlight hits the screen during the day. As such, windows should always be to the side of the TV, neither behind or in front of it. Curtains can help you control the amount of daylight getting indoors at any given moment. As for artificial lighting, lamps and ceiling lights shouldn’t shine directly onto the TV to keep the image clear and glare-free. 

• TV Height 

Learning how to choose the best place for your TV at home includes the TV’s height, meaning how far up from the floor it is being placed or mounted. Generally speaking, the TV must be at eye level or slightly below eye-level to make for a comfortable viewing experience. Any other height will cause eye and neck strain, making your overall experience uncomfortable. So, how does this exactly tie into choosing the best place for your TV at home? 

If you are mounting the TV, make sure to choose a position that is neither too high nor too low relative to your seating level. The screen should align comfortably with your natural line of sight when seated. Getting the help of a family member or friend can help you determine what is comfortable for viewing and what is not before the mounting process begins. But if you are placing the TV on a table or stand, adjust it so the screen sits at the recommended viewing height. And take into account the height of the table or stand itself from the floor, as this directly affects the overall screen position.

• Furniture Arrangement

Wondering what is the best location for a TV? The furniture arrangement has a direct and big impact on where it can and cannot be placed, simply because it affects all previously mentioned aspects. The way your room is set up decides the viewing distance, viewing angle, brightness and lighting, and the TV height. In simple terms, it lays out the seating area and the position of lamps and artificial lighting. 

Therefore, the place of the TV should complement the furniture arrangement. If for any reason the TV’s position does not provide a comfortable watching experience, it is best that you re-arrange some pieces in a way that helps you choose the best place for the TV at home in alignment with all the above mentioned factors. The couch is too close to the TV? Time to move it a bit further away. Is the TV table right in front of a window? Move furniture around so it is placed beside the window, instead.  

• Décor Compatibility

While function is incredibly important when it comes to choosing the best place for your TV at home, its placement should also complement the aesthetic and look of the room. Be sure to put it in a spot that harmonizes well with the furniture, wall decor, art pieces, and lighting. The overall look should be harmonized, natural, and visually balanced. Avoid setting up the TV or hanging it in a spot that feels out of place, bulky, or distracting. It should blend in the room instead of stand out. 

So, how to choose the best place for a TV at home based on visual harmony? If the aesthetic is minimalist, mounting the TV is a lot more harmonious than placing it on a stand. If you have lots of art work, you may not want the TV to be the center of attention or have it mounted on the wall. In this case, you may want to put it somewhere where there is not much going on visually. If the room is small, be sure to put the TV in an uncrowded spot to avoid cluttering the area. 

So, now that you know how to choose the best place for the TV at home, what are some of the most common spots? 

What is the Best Location for a TV? Most Common Spots 

Before deciding on the best place for the TV at home, you should know that there are some common spots and some other “not-so-recommended” places that you should stay away from. Here’s a brief overview of both. 

1- Common Places for TVs at Home

Here are some of the most common TV spots that can help you decide on where to place the TV at home: 

• Center of the Wall 

If you want to mount the TV on the wall, placing it right at the center creates a balanced setup while ensuring a good viewing angle for everyone in the room. This position is symmetrical and blends in well with any aesthetic. 

• Opposite of the Couch

Placing the TV opposite of the couch or sofa makes the room feel structured, balanced, and organized. With the couch and the sofa facing the screen right on, it becomes the main focal point, making furniture arrangement easier and more effortless. 

• Room Corner (Some Designs)

In some room designs, the TV is best placed in corners to optimize the place, avoid glare, and align with the furniture arrangement. This mostly applies to small apartment and studio layouts, L-shaped living rooms, open-plan areas, and rooms with sectional sofas. 

Now, what about the places you should steer away from? 

2- Spots to Avoid: Where Not to Place Your TV

When deciding on what is the best location for a TV, you should avoid the following spots:

• Opposite of Windows 

If you place the TV right opposite to the windows, then glare from natural light can reflect on the screen, making the picture harder to see and reducing overall viewing comfort. 

• Too High on the Wall

When choosing the best place for the TV in the living room, you should avoid mounting it way too high on the wall, as that will lead to an uncomfortable viewing angle and cause neck strain. 

• In Front of Frequently Opened Doors

If you’re wondering where to place your TV at home, then you should definitely stay away from frequently opened doors. If each time the door swings open, you get worried that it’ll smash into the TV, that’s definitely a spot that you want to avoid. 

Now that you know how to choose the best place for your TV at home and what is the best location for it, here are some brief styling tips. 

TV Space Styling Tips: TV Wall Decor & More 

After choosing the TV’s location and setting it up on the stand or mounting it on the wall, you can now begin to decorate the TV’s space. When doing so, make sure that the wall or the table do not get overcrowded with decor and wall decor pieces and that they don’t interfere with cables. You can use some storage units to help you organize cables and other items, reducing clutter. Additionally, you can camouflage the screen with some art work behind it (preferrably of darker tones), to make it blend into the room more effortlessly. You can skip this if you want the artwork to stand out. 

Common Mistakes When Choosing the Best Place for the TV

Be sure to avoid the following mistakes when choosing the best place for your TV in the living room or any other area at home:

• Putting the TV in a cluttered wall space, making the room feel visually heavy and unbalanced.
• Overlooking how lighting changes throughout the day and how it affects the screen.
• Fitting the TV into a leftover space instead of designing a proper viewing zone. 

FAQs on the Best Place for Your TV at Home

Here are the most commonly asked questions and their answers: 

• Is it better to lay a TV face down or face up?

It is best to keep the TV face down on a soft, flat surface if you have to lay it during the setup or mounting process. This will ensure it avoids any damage, spills, and accidental bumps.

• Which direction should my TV face?

There is not one definite direction that your TV should face. Instead, it should directly face your main seating area while avoiding direct exposure to sunlight and lamps to prevent glare. 

• How to layout a living room with a TV?

Arranging the living room’s layout with a TV should make the screen the focal point. It is typically placed on a central wall or somewhere visible from all spots in the seating area. Therefore, the sofa and chairs should face it directly but with sufficient viewing distance. Be sure to keep the screen away from direct sunlight and artificial lighting to avoid glare. As such, controlling the room’s brightness with different interior lighting options and with heavy curtains can help. 

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