TV Wall & Media Room Ideas

Almost every home has at least one, two or even three TVs in their homes but yet it can be the trickiest for homeowners to design around. What room(s) in the house should a TV be or not be? What wall should the TV be on? How do you style around a TV to make it look like it belongs?

Before we dash off and start designing our media room, there are 3 main points we need to consider.

What is the function of the room?

Photo: Ikea

There’s alot of discussion about whether a TV belongs in a living room or not. Some people say that you should not have a TV in your living room, but fortunately, we have become more creative over the years in incorporating and designing TV walls so you will often find TVs in the living room. It can be handy to have a TV in the living room, especially if the kids & teens are watching a movie that you would rather not watch for the 10th time. lol. The size of the TV in a living room may be smaller than a room fully dedicated to watching TV shows & movies like a family or media room would be for example. Some TV rooms are just all about the media time.  They have chairs or couches all directed towards a gigantic big screen.  

Whereas others TV | media rooms have multiple functions.  Is the room primarily for adults? The kids? Or both? Who will be using primarily using the TV room will determine what other functions the room will have.

What other functions should your space have?

If your TV | media room is an entertainment room to watch week-end football or have kids movie nights, you may also want to include other functions in the room like be able to serve food and drinks to make it an awesome entertainment space where your house could be the party place. Do you have room for a bar if it’s an adult space or a table and chairs for a kids?  What about a small kitchenette area with a small fridge and sink to save you running up the stairs to the kitchen? Do you want to make room for a conventional oven to warm up food perhaps?

Your next consideration is what size of furniture can you fit into the space? An oversized sectional cozy couch that lots of kids can take over? A 3 seater couch with a chaise lounge? Chaise lounges all lined up? Media chairs? There is a wide range of furniture that works for a TV | media room however the KEY factor is to make sure your furniture fits appropriately in your space. Packing your room with too much furniture can make the room uncomfortable and not very functional. On the other hand, have too little furniture in a room can make a room feeling sparse and uninviting. There’s always a solution that’s somewhere in-between.

What wall should your TV go on?

The next big question is, is which wall should your TV go on? That’s the million dollar question. Sometimes its obvious but sometimes its not so obvious.

The first consideration is to keep your TV away from high-traffic areas. There’s nothing more annoying that trying to watch a TV show, only to have people walk in front of you to go from one room to another.

In a perfect world, the TV should be on a wall without windows. Typically the “back” wall of the living room, family room or media room as the TV typically becomes the focal points in the room.

You want to keep your TV away from windows if possible so the glaring sun will not be shining on your TV.

Read: 5 Ways to Create a Focal Point in a Room

Photo: Chique Home Living

In our warm & cozy contemporary room above, this TV is definitely the focal point of the room. But rather than just slapping a big TV on the wall, the homeowners have done a beautiful job of creating a warm environment in their media room with a wood accent wall, and a gas fireplace below. They repeated their wood accent planks on the bookcases on either side of the fireplace.

You need your TV need to be near a power source of course. If there isn’t a power source nearby already, perhaps adding in a power source would be a good option as opposed to running extension cords along the floor. Alot of homeowners are able to hide technology are incorporate them into the decorating so avoid unsightly cables.

After figuring all of this out, then you need to figure out furniture placement. Sometimes this can be challenging taking everything into consideration, so that’s why its important to have the right size and type of furniture for the room.

Read: 6 Design Mistakes Homeowners Make with their Furniture

What size of TV should you have in your room?

Size DOES matter when it comes to TVs. If your TV is too big for the room, you’re going to be stretching your neck like you do if you’re in the first row of a movie theatre. On the other hand, if your TV is too small for the room and/or your chairs are not an appropriate distance from the TV, it will be difficult to see.

Photo: Courtney’s World

In our media room above, there is no question about it that the TV is the focal point and the sole purpose of the room. The large screen and the height of the TV, is perfect for size of the couch. You can just picture yourself curled up on the couch to watch a great movie or binge on Netflix.

Photo: Houzz

This TV room above is a fun kids hangout where the adults are invited!! However, this TV is too big for the size of the room. The couch technically should be moved back further to avoid adults straining their necks to view the TV. The kids will be fine though lol.

What is your design style or theme for the room?

Now that you have determined who is primarily using the space, and what you’re going to do with it, it will be easier to determine the theme that you want.

Do you want a kids theme or a sports theme?  What’s your style? Traditional? Contemporary or transitional? Coastal? Farmhouse? Whatever your design style for your home, you will want to carry that style through to your media | TV room for consistency and flow throughout your home.

 What are Interior Design Styles + How do I pick one for my home?

There are many different styles of interior design for your home, ranging from transitional or traditional, from contemporary & mid-century to boho and eclectic, just to name a few. Design styles can become popular for a few years only to fall out of favor just as quickly as they gained popularity.

Knowing what your style is important to help you not only create a home that you love and reflects your style and personality, but it will help create a home that is cohesive and flows from one room to another throughout the house.

There is no right or wrong when choosing your style. Your style needs to reflect your personality, your family needs and of course, the architecture of your home will play an important role in determining your design style.

Read: What are Interior Design Styles + How do I pick one for my home?

Your TV room aka media room should reflect the rest of the style of your house. Especially if your TV room is visible on the main floor like the living room or family room. If you have a separate space for a TV | media room in your basement, you can have some creative freedom and create a media themed room like a sports themed room or a theater styled room for example.

Photo: Remodr

Our media room above is small but mighty! Its sleek contemporary style is very warm and cozy.

Photo: Houzz

In our traditional styled room above, a clever use of space in this media room was adding a custom table and chairs behind the lounge chairs to accommodate those who want to snack AND watch the big screen. This is particularly helpful if you want to keep your couch a food free zone. This way you can accommodate everyone.

Photo: Remodr

In our stunning media room above, it double as a gaming room with all the screens at the side. If you can find your kids, you will know where they are. lol

 How do you style a TV Wall?

 As we have seen, some TVs are extra large and take up the whole wall. Whereas other TVs, are large, but don’t take up the entire wall and leaves one pondering what to do with the rest of the wall. Fortunately, there are some great solutions to “filling” up the rest of the TV wall so the TV doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

Photo: Wayfair

Creating a TV Wall with Storage

One popular way to create a TV Wall that also serves another purpose is to create a wall with storage. Whether it be built in cabinets, an Ikea type cabinet, or shelving, storage is always useful in a room.

Photo: Hubpages

Our sleek contemporary media room above, features a large TV accent wall with bookshelves, storage and a gas fireplace TV for ambience. LOVE the herringbone hardwood flooring.

Photo: HubPages

Creating a TV Wall as an Accent Wall

Photo: Chique Home Living

In our home above, the homeowner created a stunning accent wall for the TV using wood planks. The gas fireplace and home décor accents complete this look for a cozy & inviting media room. Notice the clever slant of the TV to make sure that the large TV is a suitable distance from the couch in this smaller room.

Photo: Posh Pennies

If you don’t have the space or budget to add built-in shelving, another option is to use a credenza for your TV stand. It will still give you enough storage. The challenge with this style is, however, is what do you do with the rest of the wall so that the TV doesn’t look stark and stand out.

Our homeowner on a budget created a cute TV wall by adding wallpaper on the TV wall above the floating shelves. An inexpensive but stylish solution for this Scandinavian inspired media room.

Adding decorative items like pictures and other items

Photo: Sanus

In our TV room above, the homeowner created a photo wall with different types of pictures & home décor decorations. This Boho Interior Design Style works well with the furnishings. The TV is still the focal point but it doesn’t scream out to you as a TV without any artwork surrounding it would.

Photo: Driven By Décor

Our home owner added interest to their white TV wall with their black & white framed artwork. Personally I would have kept the artwork to just above the TV stand for a balanced look.

Photo: Bless This Nest

Carissa from Bless This Nest blog decorates around her TV with cute pictures that suits her design style. The TV is obviously the focal point of the room but its not glaring in your face when there’s lots of décor to keep your eye interested.

Frame TV Design

Samsung TV has developed a TV that looks like a picture. You can put any picture in the TV that you want. You can also put a frame around it to look like an actual picture.

Photo: CaitlinMarieBlog

In our living room above, Caitlin bought a TV to place above the credenza. She thought a black TV would look out of place in her living room and I couldn’t agree with her more. Frame TVs where you can pick the picture you want to display, are becoming more and more popular as the technology advances. She loves her TV but the downside is that its more expensive than a regular TV of similar size would be. You can read her whole review here.

Read: 5 Design Mistakes Homeowners make when styling a room

Did you get some good ideas?  Which one is your favorite?

 

 Hi! I’m Debi Collinson. Designer. Color Consultant & Real Estate Investor. 

I conducted my first color consult at the age of 7, for my father for one of his design | build | engineering projects. I’m an Interior Designer, a Double-Certified Paint Color Expert, with advanced training in kitchens + bathrooms!

Since 2006, I have helped hundreds of clients, just like you, to style their house to make it a stunning retreat, that is functional for the family AND that they love and enjoy their home. I was one of the first stagers in the industry when staging just started out, and I have helped hundreds of clients make money beyond their expectations when they sold their house. Throughout this time, I bought, renovated and flipped 9 “fixer uppers” for a healthy profit.

In 2020, I moved my design business online. Sign up to receive my e-mails on my awesome design + color tips to create a home that you will love and enjoy and increase the value of your home as well! 

Read my full story including my design credentials here.