That awkward feeling when you childhood dream of sticking your TV on the wall of your bedroom finally comes true and then, only then, you realise that your set must resemble a huge rectangle of blackness of some sort, floating in space? I know. Yeah, I know what it is like. You bedroom must be a comfortable retreat and not an electronics showroom. However, the point is that styling a TV wall does not have to be rocket science, and it certainly cannot be called a matter of hiring an interior designer who will cost you more than you can afford to pay your monthly rent out.
Years of assisting friends change their childhood-decor bedroom TV walls (and all the mistakes that came with it), have taught me that the trick is balance, functionality, and a little bit of personality. Believe me, future you will appreciate you carving out a spot that does not feel so arbitrary.
Understanding Your Bedroom TV Wall Layout
Choosing the Perfect Wall Position
Let me start with the point of what for this TV should be the place? Viewing angles are what I always tell people to consider first. No one wants to strain their neck to get the feel of a watching tennis match whenever they are aiming to binge watch in Netflix.
Perfect height The center of your TV is your eye level when you are seated on your bed. To the majority of the population, that would be about 42- 48 inches off the floor. But honestly? Experiment it out. Sit, your bed, close your eyes, then stare straight ahead- YOUR sweet spot.
The following is important to consider: • Exposure to natural light and the possibility of light glare • The availability of electrical access points (no one wants to see cords) • The wall structure available to mount the TV onto • The proximity to the bed to view the television comfortably.
Wall Size and Proportion Matters
This is where folks screw up –-undergo too large or too small. A 75-inch TV on a teeny amount of accent wall is silly and a 32 inch screen on a LARGE wall gets eaten alive quicker than your house keys on Monday morning.
A guideline of mine, Wall width plus or minus 30-40 percent of your TV. This gives room to many elements of styling without causing everything to be too cluttered.
Creating Visual Balance Around Your TV
The Art of Asymmetrical Design
Throw that knowledge about how perfect symmetry is supposed to be in a bedroom TV walls, deliberately asymmetrical movement enhances the look of the wall better than what is expected. This is the thing I learned after months of looking at the radically centered and radically boring setup.
The experiment is to put your TV just slightly out of center and break the balance with a mixture of objects of different sizes on the sides. Perhaps some tall plant on one side of the unit and floating shelf on the other, with books on it. It is the visual weight and not the mirror image.
Incorporating Storage Solutions
Your TV wall can do many things at the same time. There is also floating shelves; your best friend in this regard because they offer you storage without consuming floor space. I like using them when:
Decorative items Decorative objects Books and magazines Cable boxes and streaming devices (concealed behind decoratables) Small plants or candles
Pro tip: Arrange shelves of various levels to serve as visual points of interest. There is no saying that they all must be lining up as soldiers.
Color Schemes and Background Treatments
Accent Wall Magic
Add the accent wall behind your tv and it makes a whole new room. I mean putting up a focal point that makes your tv not just another socket hole, but deliberate.
Popular accent wall ideas • Pick dark paint colors (navy, charcoal, or deep green; use it sparingly) • Wood paneling or shiplap • Textured wallpaper • Stone or brick veneer
Dark colors are perfect since they make the TV blend away when the TV is turned off. How often do you notice the dark walls in the movie theaters? Same principle.
Working with Existing Decor
Your bedroom walls should not give a struggle with the style of your TV wall. As long as you have a minimalist feel then keep it constrained and bare with regards to styling. Like bohemian style? Add some textile and flora.
The secret is redundancy: mirror colors, textures or shape elsewhere in your room. This engenders consistency that makes it all seem deliberate as opposed to scrambled.
Lighting Design for TV Walls
Ambient Lighting Solutions
No one likes to gaze through pitch black of an entire television (alert, eye fatigue), but outside of that you do n’t require glare to wash out your screen. Bias lighting is a winner here – essentially soft light behind your TV, that helps reduce contrast and makes viewing nice and friendly.
LED strip lights are excellent in this. All you need do is simply attach the screens on the back of the TV mount or even on the wall opposite the screen. Your eyes will reward you in the late night splurges.
Decorative Lighting Elements
Consider more than the ordinary overhead lights. You can place wall sconces, one on each side of your TV to get both functionality as well as a stylish tool. Floating shelves provide table lamps that produce warm ambient light. It can still create comfort and not sound quite so college-dorm-y with string lights (yes, even in the adult bedroom).
Lighting placement tips:
| Lighting Type | Best Position | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Bias lighting | Behind TV | Reduce eye strain |
| Wall sconces | TV sides | Ambient + style |
Furniture and Decor Integration
Media Console Styling
You may still want a place to store your cable box, game console or that plague of remotes that seems to reproduce on its own. Another design makes an appearance through a floating media console that manages to maintain the sleekness and offer storage needed.
When styling up your console do so on the same way you would do on any other surface mix the heights, texture, and functions. A tiny plant, a remote container of some sort that looks pretty, perhaps a candle thatroses like it should (not a 2003 Ocean Breeze candle).
Adding Personality with Accessories
Here you have the fun. Your wall TV can reflect your personality without making the wall to be messy. Gallery walls do well around televisions except that you have to ensure that your frames suit and not the ones that fight.
My personal favorites amongst TV wall accessories include: • Plants in floating corner shelves • Hidden storage in decorative baskets • Artwork to match your TV size • Mirrors to add a sense of detail into the room with reflective light
But deepdown your mind tell you there is no need to fill out every inch of space. There are occasions where the mundane space is equally a coveted one as the one that is ornamented.
Cable Management and Tech Integration
Hiding the Mess
Let’s face it cables are the bane of good design. No one wants to see a knot of cables ruining their thoughtfully formulated wall. In-wall cabling is the holy grail but it’s often a no go for renters.
Renter-friendly ideas: • Cable race ways, which correspond with your paint color • Cable coverings, or decorative zip ties • Furniture to conceal your power strips • Cord gems, in the back of your television
Smart Home Integration
Assuming you are doing a full smart home (why would you not?), consider the future up-front. There are smart-switches to control your bias lighting, voice control integration and wireless streaming that will minimize visible tech.
Accent lighting is my jam with smart plugs you can program timers so when you enter a room your TV wall would be warm. It kind of seems like a lighting designer moved in with me, but I get to pay $15 instead of $1,500 🙂
Seasonal Updates and Flexibility
Easy Refresh Ideas
The advantage of a well designed TV wall is that one can change it seasonally without much re-modelling. Replace throw pillows on adjacent pieces of furniture, switch and rearrange items on floating shelves, or bring in some seasonal greenery.
FYI this is much simpler when you build flexibility into your design in the first place. Select tasteful natural foundation elements and lay personality on top by using simple elements you can quickly update.
Long-term Adaptability
Your watching style may vary and your wall TV should vary as well. Perhaps the next step is movie screen size up, or you want a projector, instead. The elements of modular design such as adjustable shelving and changeable lighting can facilitate changes in the future.
Budget-Friendly Styling Tips
DIY Solutions That Actually Work
You should not burn all your paycheck on this project. These are some of my favorite economy tips:
DIY floating shelves made of brackets and reclaimed wood • Throw on the accent walls with easy to install peel-and-stick wallpaper • Use LED strip lights instead of costly sconces • Shopping at the thrift store and styling purposefully
Where to Splurge vs. Save
Indulge in: A quality TV mount, adequate cable management and quality lighting Save up: on decorative accessories, seasonal elements, filing baskets
Invest in the functional stuff since it impacts your day to day life. The cute details could be cost effective as you can do a facelift down the road.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Sizing and Proportion Errors
What I think is the greatest? Too small TVs in the place. It is as though you are wearing a little hat on your head-it is not right. You should not worry about making things bigger than what you originally consider as it may all fit in your room.
The other mistake that should be avoided is the too high mounting. Your television is not art that should be gazed upon over the room, it is a TV that ought to be comfortable enough to be viewed by your bed.
Overcrowding the Space
Not everything is better with more. Placed TV walls are already messy and in actual sense make your room look smaller. Instead of loading all those surfaces that one had available, buy fewer and better pieces.
Keep in mind that, an effort to fortify your bedroom with your TV wall must not immobilize it.
Wrapping It All Up
The bottom line when it comes to having a cool TV wall in your bedroom is on purposeful planning, which compliments your environment, your way of life and your budget. You need an attractive unit that can look great with the TV switched off, that operates well when the TV is switched on, and that gets you excited to even spend time in your bedroom.
What ends up being the best TV walls are those that are without much thought put to it; those that even make others think they were created that way. But someone (meaning both of us) realizes that that requires planning and patience and likely some do-overs. IMO, it is so well worth it when you finally have a space that you are truly comfortable in.
Basics first, correctly mount, manage your cable and add some lights and layer on the fun stuff. Future you will certainly be grateful that you bothered to do it properly. Well, you won?t at least be eying that floating black rectangle!