Wider things over narrower things
Interior design and decoration doesn’t have many rules. Lots of guidelines, but few rules. Most of the rules I remember actually make sense and aren’t really that difficult to understand.
My favourite one: ‘Your eyes go to the area of greatest contrast first’. That’s why ‘pops of colour’ can be so overwhelming. Sometimes it’s what you want, sometimes it’s not.
Another one: ‘If you have an architectural detail in a room that you don’t like, you have three choices: 1. Change it, 2. Camouflage it, or 3. Ignore it.’ That’s it.
And this one, which is one of the most abused guidelines there are: ‘In a situation where you have an element placed above a piece of furniture, it must never be wider than that furniture.’ That’s why things look out of balance when the big TV is hung over the fireplace and why the mirror over the hall console table looks ‘top heavy’.
These elements should be about 2/3 to 7/8 the width of the fireplace or table.
Sometimes, though, this just isn’t possible. Case in point: a young homeowner was on one of the decorating pages I follow, bemoaning the size of the TV her husband bought and hung over the fireplace. It was about 6 inches larger on each side, and she was asking what she could do because, ‘It just doesn’t look right’. The solution for her was to visually increase the width of the fireplace. ( She needs to ‘camouflage’ it.)
Add some tiles, add some plants, some tall vases, some sconces — things that make the fireplace appear wider. Add some bookcases that make the fireplace and TV look like they are one unit inside a larger wall unit.
She could also add a hearth to increase the visual width of the fireplace. Adding the hearth in a contrasting colour is a good trick, too — see ‘pops of colour’ above.
If the fireplace and TV appear as two separate elements, which they will until you make them appear as one, the imbalance will be more evident. Moving the TV as close to the top of the fireplace as possible will increase the idea that they are one element. Adding a bit of millwork around the TV that extends down to the fireplace is also an option — keep this low contrast, though. The textural addition will create all the attention it needs.
Here you go, step by step.. If you MUST put the TV up there, at least make it look like it belongs.
And this one, a bit more modern:
In light of how prevalent this challenge is, I’d also like to address the big issue of big TVs. If left to their own devices, the person picking the TV very often seems to choose with the thought that bigger is better. Period. Hoo boy, not necessarily so.
A TV too large for the space prevents good viewing. The images may be blurred when viewing from the side or below the TV; looking ‘up’ at the TV is not relaxing, and the TV can take over the whole room visually.
A good rule of thumb is to divide the distance from the sofa to the TV by 1.7 for the size of the TV (the diagonal screen measurement).
Don’t forget the other very important placement guide: the centre of the TV screen needs to be at eye level when seated. That means you are looking straight at the TV when sitting on the sofa. Any higher (as above a fireplace, for example) creates strain and can easily alter the screen image.
You pay a fair bit for a big TV — why not make sure you are viewing it at its best?
