Mounting your TV may seem to be the perfect solution for your space and aesthetic needs, but you may be underprepared for the equipment, time and labor needed to mount your TV safely.
Lucky for you, there may be solutions to your conflicting ideas over whether or not to mount your TV that you didn’t even consider. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before deciding which bracket/mount to buy.
How To Mount a TV
First things first, you need to determine what kind of walls your home has. Do you have studs and drywall, or brick walls? Answering this question will allow you to mount your TV safely. The last thing you want is to invest hundreds, if not thousands of dollars into a brand new TV only for it to fall and break due to poor mounting (not to mention ruin your wall in the process).
To mount a TV, first you must determine what sort of surface you are mounting the TV to. Are you aiming to put the TV onto a brick wall? If so, be sure to put all of the screws into brick for the sturdiest results. Do you want to put your TV into a wall with drywall? If so, you must use a stud detector to locate studs within your walls and affix the mount to the studs rather than the drywall alone.
If you have drywall in your home and find you have a metal frame instead of a wooden one, you may need to affix your TV to the plasterboard. Doing this requires specialized equipment you can obtain from your local hardware store, though rarely comes in the box your mount comes with. This, of course, means more materials you need to buy before you can get back to binging Netflix.
What Materials Do I Need?
Before you consider mounting your TV, consider the materials you will need in order to put your TV onto your wall. You will need, at minimum, your mounting bracket, a tape measure, screwdriver, pencil, spirit level, rawl plugs, a stud detector (if you live in a house with drywall) and a drill.
As you can tell, not all of these materials come in the box with your mounting bracket. It may require extra time, money, and effort in order to mount your TV onto the wall if you do not already have some of the required tools.
You also want to consider which type of mounting bracket you are purchasing. Some brackets assume your TV is “VESA Standard”. This VESA standard ensures that the holes on the back of your TV for mounting purposes are all the same distance apart across multiple brands. This means, if your TV and bracket are both VESA standard, they will match up with no issues. In today’s marketplace, the majority of televisions and brackets support standard VESA 75mm or 100mm spacing.
But what if your TV has random hole patterns? You may need to purchase a TV bracket that has adjustable arms in order to mount your TV properly. Adjustable brackets are great if you see yourself upgrading your TV in the near future, as they often can accommodate different size TVs. Just make sure when you do upgrade that your mount can support the size and weight of your new TV.
Where Do I Want My TV?
This is an important question to ask yourself when considering mounting your TV. Mounting a TV gives you a multitude of options on how to position your living space.
For example, some TV mounts affix permanently to the wall and stay in one position, usually flat against the wall. These mounts are convenient as they are sleek and allow the focus of your space to be on your TV. However, you can purchase mounts that allow you to tilt the TV in different angles for better viewing angles and to better access some of the ports on your TV.
Some TV mounts actually allow you to affix your TV from the ceiling or have a swivel arm that allows you to pivot your TV around your room. These sorts of mounts may be ideal for rooms where you may find yourself rearranging furniture often or in locations in your home that might cause glare against your TV.
Placing your TV into a corner or onto the ceiling may be a bit trickier, but may provide you with that perfect viewing angle for that room layout of your dreams. If you choose not to use a wall bracket, you can consider a corner TV stand as another option.
What About the Cords?
Another important question to ask yourself is where you plan on stashing away everything connected to your TV. Now more than ever it’s unlikely you will be simply watching cable. Your video game consoles, your streaming plug-ins and your external speakers and accessories all need to connect to your TV.
One downfall is that some flat mounted TVs make it virtually impossible to access important ports on the side or rear of your TV. In addition, you may have quite a few unsightly cords hanging from the back of your TV.
What If I Hate the Hassle?
One solution is to consider a combined TV stand and mount bracket. If your main worry is having the aesthetic of a mounted TV and hiding all the cable mess, then this may be the solution for you.
The cabinet beneath the TV allows you ample space to store your electronics while the mount itself does not need to be actually affixed to your wall, saving you both money and hassle.
TV cabinets come in a wide range of colors, sizes and styles to fit any room’s decor. These media cabinets offer a great solution for someone wanting that middle ground between a mounted TV and a TV stand
Find the Right Furniture for Your Needs
Deciding how you want to display your TV is a hassle, but you have a multitude of options to make your space your own. Whether mounting your TV or going with a classic cabinet the perfect solution is right at your fingertips from MTT Furniture Designs.
Whether you’re looking for a simple black TV stand, a corner TV stand, or the perfect bracket for your new 65 inch TV, MMT Furniture Designs has everything you need to make your space your own and get you and your family in the game or into your new favorite series.