What Is The Right Height For A TV Stand?
For as long as there have been stand-alone TVs, there have been TV stands to support them. Even if you have a wall-mounted television, TV stands help make it a more central focal point in the room, provide decorative appeal, and can add storage and decoration space.
You should choose a TV stand that accentuates the furniture and décor style of the room, but more than that, you need to make sure it's proportional to the size of your TV. It's generally recommended that your stand is at least the same size, if not a few inches wider, than your television (via Living Spaces). You should also position it so that it sits at an optimal height for ease of viewing, lessening eye and neck strain, and to keep the room balanced. Meaning, you need to make sure your TV, and subsequently TV stand, sit at the right height.
Eye level
Ensuring your TV stand is at the correct height not only helps make your living room look more cohesive and put together, but it can also help prevent unnecessary neck strain. Prairie Spine & Pain Institute says that many people with televisions mounted too close or too high up will experience neck strain, as well as stiff shoulders and headaches, from having to crane their neck up to see the screen.
If you keep your TV on a stand, you can avoid this, but only if you choose the right height of furniture. According to Suburban Furniture, you should measure for your stand based on the average eye level when seated, which is usually 44 inches. Then, take the height of the television itself and divide it in half to get to the middle of the screen. Next, subtract that number from 44.
So, for example, if your television is 36 inches tall, subtract 18 from 44:
- 36 / 2 = 18
- 44 – 18 = 26
The resulting number — 26, in this case — is how the height your television stand should be from the legs to the top.
Other TV stand size recommendations
The height of your TV stand isn't the only important dimension — the width of the stand, as well as how far away it is from your couch, are other important factors for a well-balanced living room. As noted earlier, the stand should at least be as wide, but preferably wider, than your TV. In fact, WG&R Furniture recommends making sure there are 2 to 3 inches of space on either side of the television, meaning your stand should be 4 to 6 inches wider than your TV.
While the box will give you a measurement for your TV, this number refers to the diagonal dimensions, so make sure you measure the actual width, and add the excess space to that number. However, you'll want that diagonal measurement for calculating distance. Whatever the screen measurement is, double it, and that's how far away your television and TV stand should be from your couch.