What is going on with the forth wall, a floor plan would be helpful. What a beautiful room. Maybe getting a smaller TV so its not so dominating.

You almost have to put a large TV on the couch wall. Your only other option with the room configuration is to angle it in front of the bookcase.

If it's a flat screen, would it fit over the mantel?

Move the couch to facie the fireplace, mount the tv on the wall or place it on a cabinet where the couch is presently. Or mount it over the fireplace inside a mirrored cabinet.

I'm going to get flogged by AT readers for suggesting this, but I would put it over the mantle. It just seems like the only good space with the current furniture layout.

(although I agree with b77... would the unseen 4th wall be an option?)

Beautiful room, by the way! Looooove those windows :)

you can always hang it from the ceiling

depending on how large "huge" really is, could the wall where the mirror is work?
If the telly is larger (and I admit, I have a 19 inch telly, first in 20 years, so most in teh stoes look "huge" to me).

The next thing to think about is, does the telly have to be in the living area?
If it must, could a nice decortative cover mount over it when it isn't in use, allowing a tech-free appearing zone?

I'm not sure about the current "couch wall" - if your TV is directly across from windows, depending on the angle of the sunlight, you might have a lot of glare. I'm not a fan of looking at a TV when it's not in use. What about hanging it above the mantel with one of those artistic flat screen covers?

What a lovely room. I would mount it over the mantle ..... and I would cover it with a large mirror or a piece of art on a hinge so that it can be "opened up" when the TV is in use.

I would put the TV on a console against the current sofa wall and then place the sofa to face it. There is no rule that a sofa needs a wall!

If it's as big as our TV (82"), you'll need to put it on the couch wall. Then get some blackout shades for those awesome windows.

If it's not so huge, it could be put above the mantle. But I like the mirror there. That placement for a TV is a tad high, anyway.

I'm not fond of where the sofa is now, anyway. It blocks the lovely built-in bookcase.

Any chance the TV could go in another room?

I vote for no tv.

Don't put the tv over the mantle, it would take away from the beautiful fire place. If you need to have the tv in the living room then I would suggest investing in a nice tv armoir, really that room is too beautiful to have a giant television popped in the middle of it.

Lovely room. Lucky you. Would the tv fit on the wall to the right of the fireplace? Position the sofa facing the fireplace and the chair pushed back toward the window or on the other side of the room near the built in book case. That way, the fireplace remains the focal point and you can decorate it accordingly, and the tv becomes a secondary FP that doesn't dominate the room.

You could knit a tv cozy to conceal it when you aren't watching. (kidding)

Not sure if this will work without seeing the 4th wall, but my suggestion is to put it on the wall where the couch is, and put the couch facing the fireplace, leaving a walkway behind it.

I would probably agree with the tv armoire - if you want the tv in the living room then at least make the covering something suitable.

A knit tv cozy... haha.

I agree with the no tv over the mantle - if not for style, then for the fact that your tv would be very high up. Ours is currently in a built-in but the tv itself is on a shelf that about 4.5 feet from the floor and you definitely have to look up to watch it.

The more I think about it, the more I vote for an armoire.

Could you create a tv nook in the corner behind the chair? A chair (or two) ottoman and tv tucked into the corner for nights when you'd like to watch tv, and separate the main living area for conversation and reading?

how often do you watch TV? presumably a lot because it's huge (exactly how large?).

if it is a lot, TV needs pride of place. I have my 32 inch flat screen - modest by today's standards -- on a very cool industrial rolling cart so I can wheel it out a foot or so when I want to watch, and push the whole thing back into a book shelf nook when I am entertaining.
works well for me and I watch a lot.

would that work for that nook to the right of the fireplace?
pam h
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com

If you can create a TV room elsewhere, that would be my first choice, since this room has a lot of problems for TV watching. (Lovely as a sitting room, though.)

If it has to be here, I support the advice suggesting putting it where the sofa is (wall mounted or on a console), putting the sofa in front of the fireplace (perpendicular to the TV) or else facing the TV in front of the windows, and adding blackout shades or closing opaque drapes.

He's a guy, so of course his TV is huge. JK.:) Lucky you, love the room, I'm sorry to say the TV has to go. I know you are probably in shock right now, but that room is to nice to be dominated by the boob tube.

This room is a library/reception/cozy conversation room. Please don't try to make it what it's not.

It's too bad such a beautiful room has to have a TV. Don't you have a spare room that could be the TV/Media room?

What PamH said.

Stupid Edwardians, building living rooms that didn't allow space for big screen TVs! What was their deal?

It would help if the photos showed the entire room - we don't know what, if anything, is opposite the fireplace.

The other pertinent issue is the placement of the electrical outlets and antenna/cable/satellite plugs. Where are they?

Really, in the room as shown, the only place big enough for a really big TV is on the long blank wall. Then put the couch under the windows or in the centre of the room facing the fireplace, with armchairs either flanking the TV or the fireplace (ie facing the couch).

If that's unacceptable, you could always sell the huge TV and buy a projection TV, which could be mounted on the ceiling or on the wall between the windows and projecting onto the long wall. Big screen when you need it, elegant Edwardian drawing room when you don't.

Here's another question: do you ever plan to use the fireplace? If not, just put the TV in front of it. Am definitely not a fan of the freaky-colored brick (tile?) and the roughed up looking wood, and the black metal....

It is a very lovely room and I'm assuming the tv is important in your daily life so of course you should incorporate it unapologetically into your space. I don't understand the naysayers who are advising to "chuck it" - really? Good design is about incorporating your needs into your space, not changing your daily life because a wall placement is a little inconvenient, sheesh.

I think the best plan is to place the tv on the long wall where the couch is currently pictured. Float your couch and side chairs along the "4th" wall and open area along the window side of the wall.

A television in the living room is so "not living".

i'm dying to see someone mount a TV on their wall and then mount curtains that hide the TV and draw apart like a theater. you could totally do that! i completely agree with the comments about glare, which may be an issue no matter where the TV is in this space since there are several sources of natural light at various angles to contend with. good luck!

A nice thing about a modern interior is that it can easily incorporate a TV. Your room is lovely, but it's traditional, and a TV anywhere in that room will look really bad. However, if that's the only room you can put a TV in, and you really enjoy TV (I am guessing you do), then I think you just have to put it somewhere and deal with the fact that it is an eyesore.

I don't think we have enough information about the layout of the room to find a place for the tv. From what I can see of your space in these pictures, there really is no place for a LARGE tv. The only available space is where the couch is currently, but I can't say without seeing the room in its entirety whether it would work to position the couch to face the fireplace. I think it would be too awkward to have the couch in front of the windows. The tv will have to go elsewhere -- perhaps in your bedroom? -- and most probably will need to be downsized.

From the strange window wall though, it looks to me that a wall has been removed in order to "open the space up" -- perhaps the part with the fireplace was a dining room or small sitting room? In any case, "opening up" traditional spaces means removing walls, which eliminates the possibility of hanging things on said walls. Another reason not to remove walls and "open up the space". (you can tell this is a big beef of mine)

In any case, this is a lovely, charming space and you are very lucky to have found it! It is most probably going to require a lifestyle change though... at the very least, a smaller tv.

I love TV, but could you maybe get a smaller one if the giant one doesn't fit this space? The room doesn't look too large, and I watch a 19" happily from across a room about this big. If my middle-aged eyes can tolerate this, a young man's eyes can take a 32" or so, eh?

It would be a shame to dramatically change the charm of this room for the sake of a television set, which is really a temporary possession in life. Changing the TV seems more realistic.

I used to live in an Edwardian flat a lot like this. After a lot of rearranging, we ended up putting bespoke bookshelves in the nooks to either side of the fireplace and putting our tv on one of the shelves (we purposely left a lot of space for the tv on one shelf). Because it was a long room, we ended up placing the sofa in the middle so it faced the fireplace instead of against a wall. The bookshelf solution worked really well as the tv was surrounded by books, the fireplace was balanced and all wires and equipment were hidden behind cupboard doors underneath the tv shelf.

float the couch and put the chairs on the couch wall with the TV and some art pieces. In a social setting the TV is basically a big black art piece, and you don't get the weird TV over the fire place thing going on. Yes you will end up with chairs facing away from the set, but that is fine. Not all your seating needs to have a view of the TV.

we're moving into a new apartment with a similar living room (original fireplace with original mirror) and are facing the same issue. we don't want to take away from the beauty of the fireplace, which is a natural focal point, but are realistic - we want to be able to see the television also. my current plan is to arrange the sofa on a diagonal so that it can face the fireplace on a slight angle but still face a television across the way. perhaps something like that could work if you're open to having your furniture at a diagonal instead of flush to the wall?

Perhaps not flat against a wall, but angled out on an easel? You're going to have to think outside the box on this one:)

Actually now that I'm looking at this again, my parents have similar shelves to the left of their fireplace, which is where they keep their 32" TV.

Could you maybe take out one of the shelves so you could fit the height of the TV?

Then place the sofa facing the fireplace.

That way the TV would be easy to watch, but not the main focal point. (Assuming it fits length-wise of course)

Ditch the tv. You'll go through withdrawals, but once you get to the other side, you'll wonder how you ever spent a single nanosecond watching that thing. Seriously. Your living room and your life will be insanely better without a television in them.

As soon as I saw this post I thought, "There are going to be so many people saying to ditch the TV" and there were. Clearly this person wants to watch their TV, since they have one and are asking for advice. They are not looking to throw away their TV, and telling them to do so is pretty snobbish if you ask me.

This room does look beautiful without a TV, but I'll agree, float the couch and put the TV against that wall if it's too big to mount above the fireplace, or if you find that mounting it up there is too high for TV viewing.

Guys,

It's me, Simon who's asking the question. Thank you so much for all your comments and ideas, some have been really interesting. I agree with amy good house that we should want to incorporate the TV into the room as we love watching movies and would want to spend as much time as possible in this room.

To clarify a couple points: There is no real back wall as the fourth side is a stair case from the entrance door (2nd floor). The TV is Plasma so it's really heavy and I'm not sure if the walls would support that...Also, the fireplace is working.

We just moved in this weekend, put the sofa in front of the fireplace and for now the TV stands in the space to the right side of the fire place. The TV is so big that it has to be slightly diagonal. Right now we are thinking of maybe getting a really low table and put the TV on there...?

Simon

Buy a small tv and put it on a wooden tv cart with casters against the wall (beneath the artwork, behind the blue chair). Then roll it out when you want to watch tv. It makes it much more comfortable to watch, and it doesn't become a main, fixed component of the decor.

i get not wanting to put the tv above the fire. but to not even have a tv? theyve got this show archer. its a ..well, its a cartoon.

why not bolt it to the ceiling? you can lay on the floor to watch. i mean sweet baby jesus, put the damn thing above the fireplace!

sofa facing the fireplace - TV angled on the left or right of the fireplace, depending on what other furniture you have.

Simon,
If I understand your post correctly, you are saying this is the first room your guests will see. And what you want them to see is not the lovely light from the windows, not the lovely fireplace, not the lovely wood floors, but a very large, doesn't-quite-fit, probably not so lovely, very modern TV?

Surely not...

I would move the couch around so that it's facing the fireplace and then put the tv on a narrow console or sideboard on the wall that the couch is on. I wouldn't destroy the aesthetic of that gorgeous fireplace by putting a tv over it.

the world would be a happier place with out tv.