Mumsnet Talk

We are looking at replacing our very old CRT TV with a new shiny smart tv but unsure where to put it as it is going to take up more space than our old one. We don't want to put it on the wall but do have a lovely TV cabinet that we would like to sit it on top of (rather than inside which is what it's designed for) - however am worried that at 4foot high the TV will be too high up. Those of you who do have wall mounted tvs how high up are they and do you get a pain in the neck watching it??? I hate these glass TV stands and if we do have to buy something would buy a nice wooden unit but this is going to be very difficult to fit into our room!! Help please ......................

I have the same dilemma.

Our old tv has died and we can't find a replacement that will fit into the cabinet that we use to house the tv. We use an old linen cupboard which has been adapted. I love it as when the doors are closed, it hides all the cables, DVD player, V plus box etc and just looks like a lovely piece of furniture.

Like you I hate those chrome and glass tv stands and I refuse to put a tv on the wall. We live in a Victorian house with fairly traditional furniture.

Our existing cupboard is too high to put the tv on. I know people do seem to put tv's fairly high up on the wall, above a mantelpiece, but I think this looks daft and imagine it must make viewing difficult. Maybe you just get used to it though.

If I had the money I would get it built into the wall with a sliding panel to hide it when not in use.

It depends how wide your room is. The wider the room the higher the TV can go without cricking your neck..

Thanks Jacaqueen - pleased it isn't just us who have this dilemma! Your linen cupboard sounds lovely and we too do have this lovely TV cabinet (although we have always used it for hi-fi rather than TV) but I don't think the TV will look right inside there and maybe it's too high on top although as you say maybe you get used to it. Dormy House have some lovely hideaway TV cabinets with doors that fold back at the sides but they are around £500 and even though they are lovely they wouldn't fit in our room with much more traditional furniture and anyway we couldn't afford them - they cost more than the TV will cost! Thankfully our old TV hasn't died on us yet but it is over 15 years old and am really not sure how much more life it has in it plus I'd love to have a smart tv with access to iplayer and streaming films etc. Nightmare. Would still love to hear from others about how high your wall positioned TV is please!!

Mines a foot and a bit off the ground!

I would say ours is around 4.5 feet up on the wall - the wall it's on is around 4 metres from the wall the sofa sits against..

We have a wall mounted smart tv in an old house with old furniture. It's About 5ft off the gound ish. It sits above an antique sideboard. We put an extra shelf under the sideboard for all the electricals. TV itself is a bit imposing I admit so just don't be tempted to get a huge one!

Thanks everyone for comments. We were debating between a 32" and 37" but think we will go for the 32" and try it out standing on our existing TV cabinet - just hoping it won't be too high and give us a pain in the neck!!

the top of it is the height of my eyes when sitting watching it.

Ours is wall mounted above the fireplace, I know originally I was against it but it's great with young DC they are not constantly touching it.

I do think a tv can be too big for a room, I've been in houses with 50 inch ones and small living rooms and the tv is right in your face. A friend also put a huge tv in her garage conversion and the sofa is less than a metre from this huge tv, who actually watches tv like that?

I'd go for wall mounted for safety... how old your kids are is a factor i think. my 3 yr old once toppled the tv on top of herself, grazed only as luck would have it, but pretty shaken. just a thought...

about knee height.
so that we can sit on the sofa comfortably and watch.

ours is on a really long swinging arm so it goes away in the cupboard when not in use (about 18 inches from the floor) and pulls out and round when needed.

That sounds attractive (hiding the tv away) Talkinpeace2.

I can never understand people having their TVs high up. They remind me of TVs in waiting rooms which tend to be positioned up in the corner of the room. The centre of ours is at eye level when sitting on the sofa, and I can't imagine anything else making sense. The TV is a 37" plasma and is securely bolted to a base unit so it can't be knocked over by toddlers.

Its attached to the wall on an Omnimount
I bought mine here
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OmniMount-UCL-Cantilever-LCD-Plasma-TV-Black-Wall-Mount-32-50-/290758915638?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_TV_Wall_Mounts_Brackets&hash=item43b294f636&_uhb=1
and then pushes back into the cupboard so it looks like we have no telly when being sociable

You can get nice tv units that'll position your TV at eye level. It doesn't have to be a glass and chrome monstrosity.

Thanks again everyone.
ArbitraryUsername - yes I know there are some nice tv units and have seen quite a few the problem is it will take up more space than our existing TV and stand and I don't think we will be able to fit it into the room which is why I'm thinking of putting on the high cabinet - not ideal but I think that is going to be our only option!
Talkinpeace2 - that mount looks interesting - but how does that work with your cupboard??

The one in the living room is a 32" and the top of the screen is level with my belly button when standing
Te bedroom is a um, no idea maybe 26" and top of it about 3" above belly button when standing
Maybe I just have really low tv's?!

I like the centre of the tv to be at eye level when I am slobbing lying on the sofa. The base of the tv is about 2 to 2.5 feet above the ground, it's a 50" TV?

I once had one above a fireplace in a rental house it was way to high.

We went to look at televisions yesterday.

What an education that was.

Plasma, LED, LCD, 3D Smart TV!

We almost bought a 46", but the guy in the shop refused to match the on line price so we walked away intending to get it online. When we got home at looked again at the space (we had taken measurements with us) we realised that was going to be far too big. In the shop, the 46 really didn't seem so big, compared to the 50" and bigger that we're on display.

We have a large room with high ceilings but even so I think 40" will be fine.
As a temporary measure we are going to put it on top of a console table which is 80cm high. This is slightly high for my preference but I will look for a better solution after Christmas.

Mins
The mount is screwed to the brick wall at the back of the cupboard.
TV hangs in the middle of the cupboard (DVDs, and player on racks underneath it)
open doors of cupboard, pull TV forward, watch.
Push TV back, close cupboard - no sign of electronics in living room
bliss

ours is a 36 inch LED
LED are much lighter and use much less leccy than plasma or LCD
and are better to watch from a wider angle

We have low ceilings and a large Samsung smart TV, which dominates the room It looks awful but it is amazing to watch. It has a very narrow silver edge and is a very thin TV but it's still a bit imposing.

I couldn't watch a TV mounted on the wall at mantle shelf height. Ours is about 15" off the floor and level with my eyes when sitting on the sofa. If I'm going to have a nice TV I want to enjoy watching it not get a crick in my neck!

I've never had a crick in my neck watching our tv, you don't have to lift your head to watch it, even if sprawled on sofa. Maybe it's because there's enough space between sofa and tv.

You also don't get a crick in th neck or even have to lift your head to watch ours. You're absolutely right sweetkitty it depends how far tv is from where you sit..