Good question: Where to install the TV in the kitchen

Answer five questions and get the perfect solution for your layout and habits.

You can criticize the TV in the kitchen as much as you like – we still continue to watch it regularly: we turn it on as a background while we cook, we watch TV shows at dinner, we drink coffee with the morning news. How to place the screen in the kitchen correctly?

From the point of view of a practicing interior designer, it is in the kitchen that the TV is most difficult to place: either there is not enough space, or nothing is visible due to glare, or it just turns out to be a “collective farm version”.

Here are five questions that we ask our clients before we plan the position of a TV in a project. Answer them for yourself to find the perfect TV placement scenario.

1. Is the kitchen isolated or combined with the living room?
It would seem that there is no difference, but several non-obvious nuances follow from the answer to this question. Firstly, the screen size: in a tiny kitchen in Khrushchev, from a distance of half a meter, it will be difficult for you to perceive the picture from a very large panel. For compact rooms, the diagonal needs no more than 20 inches.

Secondly, the number of TVs: in a large kitchen-living room, you can try to attach one large panel, or you can think about two TVs (kitchen and main).

Idea on a photo: in this project there is a large kitchen-living room, and the customers are spouses who often turn on the TV. To make it convenient for the hostess to see the screen while cooking, and for the owner to watch TV on the sofa, the designer zoned the kitchen and living room with a partition with two TVs – they are placed on both sides.

Fact: There is a simpler and more budgetary way of implementation – a swivel bracket on a leg. But for me personally, a TV on a bracket evokes associations either with a bar or with a hospital ward. In addition to the bracket, I suggest immediately dismissing the options for installing the TV on a windowsill (look against the light), a refrigerator (too high), a countertop (there is usually little space here without it).

It is clear that all these decisions are not from a good life. And when it is not possible to start repairs in the kitchen, brackets are better than the surfaces occupied by the TV. At the very least, choose the option with a cable retainer so that it does not hang in loops under the screen.

Important: The place to connect the TV should be determined before the start of repairs in the kitchen. And not after it is made, the furniture is bought – the range of available alternatives is greatly narrowed.

2. In what situation do you usually watch TV?

For food. In this case, it is logical to orient the screen to a table or stand; corner placement is well suited. The photograph shows the correct arrangement of furniture: the screen is clearly visible from any seat. Sometimes you have to see projects where one chair stands with its back to the screen; the conclusion suggests itself that either no one ever sits on this chair, or they don’t watch TV here, but then why is there extra furniture and appliances in the kitchen?

You cook and turn on the TV as a background. This habit simplifies the task, but the screen should still remain in view – in case you are interested in something from what you hear. In addition, the closer the screen is to the cooking area, the less the echo. The best options are to place a built-in headset in a niche or on a separate shelf (this method is especially suitable for classic interiors). A gigantic screen in this case is also useless – you can save on the diagonal.

In the photo: a successful and unbanal idea of ​​a “background” TV – it is located in the living room on an easel. You can fully watch movies at the counter or from an armchair, or turn it on “to talk” while cooking

You “cook under TV” and want to see the screen. Hang the TV on the wall closest to the work surface. A good example is in the photo: the screen is visible both from the side of the rack and from the work surface. At the same time, it is not oriented towards the window (it will not glare) and is located far enough from the sink and stove – splashes do not threaten the screen.

different scenarios. If you want to both cook and dine in front of the TV, there is no universal advice – it all depends on the specific layout. Often helps out, again, angular placement.

Tip: To fix the screen without a visible bracket, you can make the wall a little beveled – as in the photo above.

3. What kind of repair do you have – “cosmetic” or major?
An ideal place for TV can be organized only in the process of overhaul. I don’t say “a place for a new TV” – this is just completely optional: after the repair, the old TV can also be returned to the interior.

If we are talking about a “cosmetic” repair, most likely, you will encounter a number of difficulties.

Wires. If the power outlet and the antenna were not brought out in advance beyond the screen attachment point, the wires will be conspicuous. A compromise solution is to hide them behind furniture (if you buy a new headset and know the screen dimensions). Or purchase a TV with a transparent, almost imperceptible cable (yes, these are also already being made).

Cut in the eyes. This shouldn’t be a problem if the TV is new. About ten years ago, we had to calculate the allowable distance from the eyes to the screen – it should have been from three to five diagonals of the selected model. These medical horror stories have little to do with today’s technologies: modern panels can be viewed from any distance and from any position, as long as it is convenient for you. True, the type of screen still matters: LED TVs give a good picture from any point, but are very expensive; LCD is simpler, but the image is not visible from all angles.

In the photo: a good example – the TV will be clearly visible to everyone who is sitting at the table, although from the nearest chair to the screen it is clearly less than three diagonals

Bright light. The kitchen usually needs more light than the living room. But TV is more pleasant to watch in the twilight. The situation will be saved by subdued background lighting: a ceiling lamp set to minimum brightness. If the overhead light is dimmable, then for cooking it is enough to use a bright illumination of the work surface. And in the living room – set to a minimum.

Tip: A dimmable switch is a fairly budget solution. But the real salvation in a kitchen-living room situation is a dimmer connected to a remote control or controlled from a smartphone. After all, a rare hostess will wipe her hands and go into the living room to turn the switch – rather, she will watch TV in bright light. And so – everything is at hand.

If you watch TV during the day, I would not recommend placing it opposite the window and in general in the area of ​​direct rays. And be sure to plan blackout curtains.

4. What kind of TV do you have – old or new?
Another important nuance from the point of view of illumination is the type of matrix and TV. They can be divided into three categories: matte, glossy and semi-matte. The former almost do not reflect glare, but in direct sunlight the picture looks faded. Glossy, on the contrary, glare strongly on a sunny day, but there are no questions about the picture. Semi-matte – a compromise between two radical solutions.

It is clear that you are unlikely to do anything with the matrix of the old TV, but if you choose a new one, think about it.

5. Are you ready to spend money on wow-tech?
We are not even talking about refrigerators and other appliances with a built-in TV. And directly about the (something remarkable) screen itself.

If the budget is not too limited, great opportunities open up before you. Take, for example, TVs built into a column with appliances – it’s as simple as everything ingenious. A TV is a household appliance, and logically, it should be on a par with an oven and a microwave. In such a company, he is almost invisible.

By the way: If you watch cable TV, most likely, in addition to the TV, you need to think about the location of the “box” for channel control: you can’t just put it in a closet – the remote control will not “break through” through a regular furniture facade. But it can be made, for example, glass. And this glass does not have to be transparent – dozens of furniture hybrids have long been invented, when a TV and all the filling for controlling it are integrated behind a lacquered glass facade in a wardrobe, for example. The same can be done for the kitchen, but this wow solution does not come cheap.

And one more thing: In the case of cable TV remotes, you have two instead of one. Consider where they will be stored in the kitchen.

A few years ago, in the premium segment, countertops with a retractable screen were very popular, but this decision is not for everyone. Firstly, it will be possible to fully watch TV only if there is a dining table nearby (as in the photo). Secondly, it is sky-highly expensive – and finding a factory that will take on such a project is not so easy. Thirdly, if you often cook, the screen will be dirty all the time. In my opinion, there are too many “buts” for a far from budget solution.

Another high-tech offer is a TV built into the hood: both inexpensive and the most famous manufacturers of household appliances have such models today. Among the shortcomings – after all, the high cost with a small diagonal of the screen: you can turn on such a TV only in the background.

True, the combined scenario can be repeated on its own: for example, embed the screen in the hood box, as in the interior in the photo.

Design tricks to hide the TV in the kitchen

Flat screen – in a niche
I like niches painted in the main shade of the headset: this way you can both mask and accent the TV screen at the same time.

Important: A niche for a TV should be designed immediately when ordering a kitchen. And for this you already need to decide on the dimensions of the TV. In addition, you will need to make holes for the wires and leads in the right places. This solution has only one minus: the large diagonal cannot be arranged in this way, you will have to dance from the width of the kitchen module.

Install TV behind glass or mirror

Another trendy option is a screen in a mirror. In the off state, the TV is not noticeable at all; in the on state, the system gives quite a decent picture. Modern moisture protection technologies allow you to place it in the kitchen (the mirror will not fog up). You choose the screen size yourself: it can be the same as the mirror itself, or occupy only part of the canvas, as in our example. The only negative is that the mirror will glare: not a single manufacturer has yet managed to get away from this side effect.

Please note: there are several ways to mount such TV mirrors. With a hinged canvas, it is simply hung on the wall like a picture – this scenario is suitable for a finished repair. Other installation methods – flush and overlap – need to be planned at the repair stage, as a niche will be required. But this method of installation allows you to deal with the wires at the same time.

Use special TV as kitchen cabinet door
Don’t want your TV to “irritate your eyes”? Istall special TV instead of kitchen cabinet. The most modern and neat option for new or existing kitchens.

In the photo: the cabinet door kitchen TV – it opens up. And this is how the headset looks when all the doors are closed – a real paradise for a lover of order

YOUR TURN…
And what option for placing a TV in the kitchen did you choose? What are you not completely satisfied with and why – share in the comments!