Hey friends!  How are you?!  I’ve missed you all….but I’m sure you probably didn’t even notice that I took some time away from the blog last week.  I had to attend a business conference in Napa with the hubs.  It’s a rough life, but someone has to live it.  😉  A better blogger would have planned ahead, but the end of summer chaos and getting the kids ready to go back to school coupled with wine tasting…….. and well, something had to give.  And obviously it wasn’t going to be the wine.
I’m back in the blog saddle today with a hot design debate topic! Â Nothing like coming back to stir the pot after a week away!
Let’s Talk TV’s
Many designers give the side eye to putting a television over the fireplace.  And truth be told, I get it.  It’s definitely not the most aesthetically pleasing place for one.  I mean, wouldn’t we all love to have some gorgeous collected piece of art or a beautiful antique mirror instead?  I know I would.  But while something, really anything, other than a TV would look better, it doesn’t always function better.
Living rooms……well, I believe they’re made for LIVING.  And I don’t know about you all but Netflix may as well be a member of my family.  So while I’d love to have something prettier than a TV over my fireplace, the reality is Monday nights up in my house are made for reality tv.  #bachelornation #notashamed #imstillinmourningoverpeter  Did I just hit my hashtag quota for the day?
Making It Work
Every living room situation is different.  In our Kentucky home having a television over the fireplace wouldn’t have worked well at all.  But here in our Charleston home, if we want to have a TV in the living room (which we do!), there’s no other place but over the fireplace for it to live and make any kind of sense.  I’m just personally not a fan of having a television placed off to the side of a seating arrangement.  I think anytime a television in a room is in a place that makes it hard to view comfortably from all seats in the space it actually makes the television look more out of place, as if it was an afterthought, and not an element of the space that was carefully considered.  But hey, that’s just my two sense.
If you, like me, have placed a tv over your fireplace and are looking for ways to make it look a little more pleasing from a design standpoint here are a couple of tips I think work pretty well.
Consider SizeÂ
Scale always counts in design. Â I personally think one way to make an over-the-fireplace television not stick out like a soar thumb is to consider the size of the fireplace box when deciding on the size of the TV. Â Either going with something that is about the same size or even just a little smaller will keep the scales from tipping in the TV’s direction, so that the eye will still be able to appreciate the actual fireplace and mantel. Â Rather than the TV overshadowing and stealing the show.
Decorate With It In MindÂ
Think of the TV as a design element in the space you need to work with not against. Â One reason I chose to paint our bookcases and mantle a dark charcoal grey was to take the focal point off the TV. Â The charcoal grey surrounding the TV almost acts a sort of camouflage. Â Very similar to the way my friend Cassie made her television blend in to her brick fireplace. Â Paint isn’t the only solution though. Â You could also put this idea to work simply by bringing in other decorative elements to the space that coordinate either in style (think sleek/modern) or color (more black elements or colors as bold as black).
Leave Some Space For Pretties
You don’t want to block the TV, but there’s no harm in decorating around it. Â A few decorative pieces go a long way in softening the look.
Reflections Matter Too
When the TV is off whatever is reflected will impact the space in some small way.  So the image being reflected should be considered in the design of the room.  When what is reflected is something attractive it takes the focus off the TV and draws the eye to what is being reflected. *This also applies when considering hanging a mirror over a fireplace.
Your Opinion Is The Only One That Matters
All in all when it comes to the design of your home I think the only opinion that matters is your own.  While design experts may disagree, they’re not paying your mortgage.  😉  But what do I know, I’m not a real designer.  I just pretend to be one on the internet.  At the end of the day, I’m just a girl standing in front of a TV asking it to play reruns of Gilmore Girls.
What say you, is hanging a TV over a fireplace a design yes or a major no-no?  You already know how I voted!  🙂
Nope. It doesn’t work for me. My living space is small, so having the TV over the fireplace would give you that “sitting in the front row of the movie theater” neck cramp. I wouldn’t want it in my home, but I’m not shuddering over someone’s design decision when I go to their house and see a TV front and center on display.