Ah, the TV wall. I find that this is usually the most problematic wall in the house purely because of how awkward it is. As our TV’s grow in size year on year, it’s hard for our poor TV stands/units to keep up! In fact, in the excitement of purchasing a new TV, we often forget about our poor little TV stand in the process. So what happens when you have a TV bigger than stand?
The good news is a TV bigger than stand is not the end of the world. Firstly, and most obviously, you can of course purchase a bigger TV stand. However if you’re not in the mood to invest upwards of £300, there are a number of tricks you can use to make the space feel less clumsy.
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How big should my TV stand be?
Ideally, you’ll want a TV Unit that is at least 4 inches wider than your TV. A TV the exact same width as the TV unit/stand can look quite harsh, huge block of ‘stuff’ against a wall. On the other hand, a tv unit bigger than its stand can often look pretty awkward. Having larger items on top of shorter items often has the perception of looking quite mismatched and ‘top-heavy’.
When it comes to height of the tv, you’ll want it to be in the middle third of the wall. For some reason, our eyes perceive things in thirds, and find more beauty and symmetry when items are visually split into thirds. The rule of thirds is when you divide a space, whether it is a room or a photograph, into a three-by-three grid, to create a frame. Your key visuals should be split out amongst the grid evenly.
Photographers have long been aware of this phenomenon, which is why your camera settings often offer a grid made of three lines horizontally and vertically. We even have a rule of thirds when it comes to physical attraction, with the most attractive faces having the forehead, nose and lips/chin area proportionally taking up a third of a face.
In interior design, we also use this rule to create balance in our spaces, making things more visually appealing. This rule guides us to divide a space, whether it is a wall, a table or a shelf, into thirds, with our focal elements within those thirds. You should also create those thirds roughly with items on your TV unit. Ensuring you have equal spacing on either side of your television enables you to do this.
Can your TV be bigger than your console?
If your TV overhangs the stand it’s not the end of the world. We all go through this awkward transitional period where we have an old tv unit with a new massive tv, or if we’ve bought a TV unit online without measuring things up. So can you put a bigger TV on a smaller stand? Yes. Physically, you’re fine to put a bigger TV on a smaller stand, providing the base of the TV (that it stands on) is the same width as the unit or less. However, visually it can feel quite awkward, leading to the top-heavy appearance discussed before.
How to make a small TV console look good
If you’re looking to make this space look less awkward, and want the wall on the TV to look less bare, there are a couple of things you can do. You can visually elongate the width of the TV unit using plants, in order to reduce the top-heavy appearance and leave less blank space on the bottom third of the wall. You can also bring balance to the space by adding a block colour behind the TV and TV unit, harmonising the two. Lastly you can block the space in using shelves or bookcase.
Add width with plants
When your TV’s bigger than it’s stand it can create an inverted triangle visually, which is less than pleasing to the eye. We can equal this out by adding potted plants on the floor, at the same height as the TV stand, in order to visually elongate it.
Depending on the height of the TV unit, you may be able to get away with Pampass grass if that’s more your thing! However I think small, wide pots of fern or a small cheese plant will go a long way in making a TV bigger than stand look less awkward.
Make a feature wall to connect the space
Using block paints to create zoning has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. Typically called ‘colour zoning’ this is a technique to bring a ‘zone’ together, and add interest to an otherwise bland space, using paint. This trend really took off during COVID, when we were all desperately locating empty corners in our home to WFH.
The technique helps to bring a space together, and also injects some colour to bare walls and awkward spaces. Using a darker colour on your TV wall, clearly outlining the tv and tv unit, will help to balance the space, whilst also just looking really cool!
You can also ‘block’ the area behind your TV using wooden panels. Having your TV on a background of natural woods provides a great contrast against the very black and plastic (read – man-made) face of a television. Panelling requires a little more work however and can be more expensive, so this will depend on your budget and style.
Create depth with bookshelves
If you’ve been in many Victorian homes, you’ll know that in-built shelves on either side of the previous focal point (the fireplace!) are a very common occurrence. Again, by using the rule of thirds, we get a really nice harmony when the TV is flanked by a shelf on either side, which helps us to focus the eyes inward, somehow without looking busy.
Similar to the colour blocking, it helps to remove the unbalanced appearance by creating a squared off TV ‘zone’, now consisting of the shelves as well. You’ll need to ensure your shelves are starting at the floor upwards though – if you just put some wall shelves at the same height as the TV you’ll be exacerbating the lopsided appearance, with the top looking even wider.