Hey everyone! My wife and I are considering buying a house that has this neat alcove built into the wall above the fireplace. The alcove is 40 inches wide and 28 inches deep, but our current living room TV is 55 inches wide, which means it won't fit. I was thinking about getting a mount that's longer than 28 inches to attach to the back of the alcove, but I'd love to hear your advice or any creative solutions you may have. Thanks a lot!
4 Answers
Another option is to simply buy a smaller TV that fits the alcove. It might save you a lot of hassle!
You should consider getting an extendable mount—these usually cost between $30-$40 on Amazon and can really help. Alternatively, if you're up for a small project, you could make the alcove shallower by mounting a piece of plywood to the back and using a flat mount. Just keep in mind that TVs above fireplaces can be positioned too high, so a flip-down mount might let you lower the screen for a better viewing height while still keeping it out of the way when it's not in use.
Honestly, I wouldn't recommend putting a TV over a fireplace. They just tend to be uncomfortable viewing angles.
Building it out is a solid solution too. You could create a 2x4 false wall for extra space. This would let you run any wires you need through to new outlets, or you can leave some space at the bottom for easy access to plugs while still being able to mount the TV you want. I've done this before, and it gives you flexibility compared to trying to force a mount that’s not optimal due to the space constraints.
We won’t be using the gas fireplace since there's no gas hooked up, so that's less of an issue for us.