apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Congratulations! Your place looks really cute! You've done a lovely job. I always have trouble with TV placement, however, we do sit in our living rooms and watch TV, so there is nothing wrong with it being the focal point.

My vote is to put it over the fireplace. Can that shelf be taken down?

The space is so lovely it seems a shame to add in an obstrusive TV. If you're not a rabid TV watcher, you might consider simply using your Mac monitor as a TV. It's not difficult to convert it to this dual use. CNET has tips.

read a book!

Face it TV is a focal point in all of our lives. Its okay that its the focal point in your living room.

If you hang it over the daybed, that all but eliminates guests sitting on the daybed if they've come over to watch TV (not that that's the point of all parties, but it's certainly nice to have seating options for friend-inclusive TV watching). I definitely say hang over the fireplace - if it's a flat panel, it'll be fairly unobtrusive, and you could possibly get one of those nifty ones that look like mirrors when they're not turned on.

Hey! Nice space!
I read recently that the problem with putting flat screens over the fireplace is that they're a little high up for comfortable viewing. I'm with Peggy--if you want to put it there, I'd take the shelf down and hang it low enough for comfort.
Don't see why you can't hang it over the daybed, tho... Don't forget about your components--you need some place to put them.
Have you thought about pulling in the red couch onto your rug to leave a pass-thru from the door?

Depends on your viewing habits. Putting it in front of the fireplace would be worthwhile if you anticipate that all three viewing vantage points would be used on a regular basis. Otherwise you could consider less obtrusive locations. Another way to de-emphasize the TV would be to put it in a (good-looking) cabinet with doors that shut, or cover the screen with something suitably decorative when it's not in use. Don't sweat the "focal point" issue too much - the AT police are not going to arrive on your doorstep.

Although the picture you have above the fireplace is really cute, I agree that this is the natural location for the TV. I would buy or make a wood frame to fit over the TV (it should be thicker that the TV itself) and stretch a pretty fabric across it. That way, you can cover the TV or have it exposed.

Good luck!

Speak for yourself please, morganberry. TV is not a focal point in my life as I don't own one. Neither do several of my friends. Our apartments are too small and our lives are too busy. I'll admit to liking TV when I had one, but I don't miss it now that I don't.

To the topic at hand, though, I think above the daybed works best, unless you regularly have company over for TV watching. If that's the case, you've got to go above the fireplace. And once again, nice space. You've managed to have everything you need while keeping a great, airy feeling.

Nice space! We mostly watch movies and sports in our small space. We opted for a pull down screen and DVD/projector that is housed in an end table. And we have cable hooked up to a TV tuner, like one you might use to watch TV on the computer monitor. Here is a link to photos of how our system works, the screen is mounted above the window.

Good luck!

http://picasaweb.google.com/mccullaj/CondoAfter

Ooh, I've been lusting after those wicker swivel chairs for a few months now. How do you like them? Are they comfortable? How's the quality?

I'll second the notion that tvs over the fireplace are generally too high for comfortable viewing. In addition, I personally find that the two fight with each other. Flatscreen TVs just don't go with fireplaces in my mind...

Sorry - silly me, I didn't look at the photo of the fireplace before I commented. Now that I see it, I think it would do just fine on that wall. I didn't realize it was just a small faux fireplace.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. The fire place shelf is concrete, and so is the fireplace, and all the walls, so no i can't remove it, and it is kind of lovely anyway, an original feature, even though its faux.
Yeah I was going to get a tv tuner for the mac,but then I discovered that the dvd player in it is the most annoyingly unhackable region coded thing you can get, so I have to have a separate dvd player anyway for rentals. It has been good though when we do watch films on it, we swivel the wicker seats round and put our feet up!!
My wicker seats are mid-range quality, and the kids do like to tear strips off them, so I don't know how long they''ll last, but i just love them, a blend of modern and organic, and they are comfortable.

Please put the TV away. Invite people over or otherwise occupy your time with real/true social interaction.

And as someone above said, the TV-functionality is easily added to your computer.

Cheers and enjoy your beautiful space!

Hi Iag, I could pull the couch in, but then i'd be nose to nose and knee to knee with the people in the swivel chairs!!!

I would definitely go with over the fireplace. In terms of being the "focal point of the room," there are a bunch of ways you can avoid this:

-First, choose a silver TV, it will blend in well with the white surroundings.

-Second, don't go too large on the screen size. A 27" TV should not be too dominating.

-Get a screensaver DVD to play on the TV during parties and you won't have an ugly black screen staring back at you, but won't be distracted. A fireplace DVD would be pretty funny, there are some graphic ones as well under the Colorcalm brand I think.

-If you really cannot abide the look of a TV and do not watch it often, you could cover the whole thing with curtains but then would lose the look of the faux fireplace.

Wow Jmac I love your system, incredibly sleek

i'm going to assume that the tv is a touch too large for mounting underneath the concrete shelf (above it would just be ridiculously high).

so my suggestion is to rearrange this room. i'd put the tv on the wall of the red couch (this'll allow you that hallway into your kitchen area) and then you'll have a good wall to work with and space for components. put the red couch where the daybed is and move the daybed to where the fireplace is. if you have space to offset it from the wall then all the better.

unfortunately, i can't tell from the photos how much space you really have to move around. this might close off access to your dining area and work station.

It's kind of a delicious irony that people who feel comfortable scolding strangers for watching TV instead of being social are exactly the people who make you want to stop socializing with other human beings altogether.

Jenny in DC, right on. Sparklehorse asked a question about TV placement, so who do people think they are admonishing her to "get some air" and "read"? Why don't you guys get off the Internet? Because obviously spending time on websites is indicative of the wasteland that is the rest of your lives.

Woah, calm down peoples!!

I thought SeanG put it very well and nicely and respectfully. And I have to admit it was rather close to the bone. It makes me wonder what our interiors really reveal about us and our psychology?

Replace your computer monitor with a monitor/tv receiver. Making that change has been the biggest improvement I've made to my little 305 sq ft apartment. Now if I could only find one in bamboo!

Sparklehorse, you're right that my comment was snarky--I apologize, I like the respectful tone on AT and should not screw with that. That said, I really do think that telling someone to "occupy your time with real/true social interaction" (as SeanG did) is a rude response.

As you can probably guess, I am a TV watcher who gets insulted when people diss others for watching TV, so maybe I am being personally defensive, but to me it would be like answering a question about someone's kitchen by saying "If you didn't eat such fatty foods you wouldn't have to worry about grease splashing all over the counter."

Sparklehorse--- where did you get that vibrant rug?

You can also watch films on a tv... its not all mindless television programs. In fact, we regularly invite a bunch of friends over to watch foreign/old movies on our TV. TV can be a social thing too :)

Donate it to Goodwill- you know that there's nothing good on anyway ;O)

Two suggestions:

1. You probably have too much seating for such a small space. Replace the daybed with a large-ish ottoman, and put the TV next to it.

2. If your budget is fairly generous, get a data projector and use the wall above either the couch or the daybed as the screen. Unfortunately ceiling mounting is the only real option here, which is expensive and fiddly for the wiring.

peripatetic19- great name, i got that stained old acrylic rug at our equivalent of wal-mart :)

I agree that your space needs a little re-arranging. You could probably do without the daybed, but it is a nice piece. I'm curious why you placed it there instead of where the red couch is. It looks like the couch/side table are blocking a doorway, which seems awkward.

I would suggest switching those two pieces, and hanging the tv over the daybed against the new wall. That's my best advice, given what I can see of the room from the photos. But I'm wondering how comfortable those pieces are. If people tend to avoid one of them, perhaps that would be a sign to get rid of it and replace with a comfy chair or an ottoman. One other thing - I personally like the front legs of the seating to be on the rug. To me, the seating doesn't feel connected. Would you consider pulling everything a little closer together, or getting a larger rug?

Love the furniture choices overall, you have a good eye. The room is sweet, too - great light, beautiful fireplace/mantel.

You probably won't see this comment because it's so close to the bottom, but - I was contemplating your adorable place again. I really love your eye, your furniture choices and your artwork. Thanks for answering the question about the shelf, I was curious about that.

My friends and I often have furniture rearranging parties - it's great fun! Wish I could come over and we could rearrange.

What if you rearranged your room? I love that red sofa. What if you put it where the two chairs are, with its back to the dining table? That would sort of define the space. Then I would pull the daybed a little bit away from the wall to make a seating arrangement. Maybe you can put a end table in the corner between the two pieces. The chairs can go on either side of the fireplace. The TV can go where the red sofa is now, perhaps with a credenza for your components.

You definitely have a great eye. I am intrigued by the piece of art above the red sofa. If you see this comment, can you tell me about it?

Whatever you decide I am sure it will look great. Hope to see an after post.

Hindulovegod.

The fact that you even had to reply to my post letting us all know you don't watch tv or own one makes TV an even bigger focal point in your life. You know you miss it!

Where did you get the wicker swivel chairs? They're fab.

Jenny in DC: I don't understand why you're so sensitive. Are you ashamed of your TV watching? I'm not suggesting that TV watching is bad. Instead, I'm suggesting that introducing a TV into that space which seems well-suited to social engagement is not a good use of the space.

Let me rephrase my answer/suggestion to the original question: Put the TV in the basement or in the computer.

Sarah -The wicker chairs are from a middling crate and barrel-ish type store here in NZ, but i imagine they are of chinese manufacture so someone should be doing them over there.

Thanks greer and peggy for the comments and suggestions, we rearranged and rearranged in every conceivable combination! and this was the best fit. The photo makes the red couch look more isolated than it is. I can't make space for a walk-through because it is a square room with lots packed in...
I think what i'll do is put a simple desk / console table where yellow cartell is now, put my computer there and get a tv card for it, maybe it can be on wheels so i can roll it in front of the fireplace when in viewing use.
Art above couch is a poster of work call "Blitz" by a local NZ artist Yuk King Tan, it looks like complex snowflakes until you look really, really close and you see it is made up of tiny media images.

Get rid of the TV? In case you haven't noticed, movie theaters that used to show intelligent films are being shuttered or turned into multiplexes charging $13 for popcorn movies. Anyone with a serious interest in film needs to have a home system.

Also, some of the most interesting work in film is on TV today (though mostly on pay cable). If you haven't watched TV since Who's The Boss was on, maybe give it another chance.