At eye level, on a solid wall, sized to the piece under it.
A TV is the loudest object in a living room. Place it first, and the sofa, the chairs and the walkways follow.
Height
Centre the screen at about 42 inches from the floor, the eye level of someone seated on a sofa. Anywhere from 40 to 48 inches works. Ceiling height changes nothing: a TV is for people to look at, so it stays at human scale.
Over a console or credenza, leave 3 to 4 inches between the top of the piece and the bottom of the screen.
Size
Choose a screen no wider than the piece it sits on, with a couple of inches of that piece showing past each end. The screen looks planted, not perched.
Distance
Sit 1 to 1.5 times the screen's diagonal from it. Measure from the sofa's front edge to the wall.
| Screen | Seat distance |
|---|---|
| 43″ | 3.6 to 5.4 ft |
| 55″ | 4.6 to 6.9 ft |
| 65″ | 5.4 to 8.1 ft |
| 75″ | 6.3 to 9.4 ft |
Light
Put the TV on a solid wall. A window behind or across from the screen adds glare, so the window wall stays for the view. When there's a fireplace, the sofa faces it and the TV goes beside it, on the same wall or the next.
Blank Space sets the TV on the piece the main seat faces, sizes it to that piece, and keeps it off the window wall.