The best place for a TV in a small flat starts with where you normally sit, not which wall has the most empty space. The best wall is not necessarily the largest empty wall, because the viewing angle, furniture, doors, storage, sockets, glare and wall construction can all make a smaller wall more practical.
How Do You Choose the Best Wall for a TV in a Small Flat?
Start from the main sofa, chair or bed. If you would need to keep your head turned while watching, that wall is unlikely to be comfortable, however much space it offers.
Open doors and cupboards fully. Check whether the television would cover storage or project into a walking route, and if you’re considering a moving bracket, include its extended position too. Check windows and skylights at the times you’d normally watch, since glare changes through the day. Radiators, fireplaces and sockets all matter as well, because heat, viewing height, electrical work and cable routing can all be affected by the position you choose.
The wall, bracket and available fixing points need to work safely together. Wall mounting can free up floor space, but a poorly positioned television can still make the room less practical than a well-placed one on a stand.
What Should You Measure Before Buying a TV Bracket?
Measure the available wall width and height, the television’s actual width and height (not just its diagonal size, which doesn’t tell you the complete width), distance from the main viewing seat, seated eye height, door and cupboard clearance, space above furniture or a fireplace, the movement a full-motion bracket needs, the VESA pattern and position of the mounting holes, and clearance for sockets, plugs and connectors.
The most commonly forgotten measurement is the distance from the main seat. People check whether the television fits the wall but not how large it will feel from the sofa or bed, and there’s no single viewing-distance formula that works for every room and every person’s eyesight.
Is a Fixed, Tilting or Full-Motion Bracket Best for a Small Room?
Fixed Brackets
A fixed bracket keeps the television closest to the wall and suits seating directly opposite it. Access to sockets and connectors may be limited afterwards, so cable clearance needs planning first.
Tilting Brackets
A tilting bracket stays close to the wall and angles the screen down slightly. It may help when the television must sit higher than ideal, but it cannot correct a position that’s far too high to begin with.
Full-Motion Brackets
A full-motion bracket helps with off-centre viewing. When extended, it may enter a walking route or bring the screen close to furniture or a door, and it also creates more leverage against the wall than a fixed bracket does.
Check the manufacturer’s extension and swivel measurements against the television’s actual width, and map where both screen corners will travel through the full range of movement, not just where it sits folded flat.
A small single-arm bracket isn’t automatically right for a small room. Its narrow wall plate may provide fewer suitable fixing positions while the arm still creates the same leverage once extended. A space-saving bracket is not simply the bracket with the smallest wall plate, because the television’s folded depth, complete movement, fixing arrangement and cable clearance are what actually determine how much usable space the installation needs.
See our bracket comparison guide for more detail.
How High Should the Television Be?
Start from the main viewing seat and seated eye level, then adjust for screen size, viewing distance, and whether the television will also be watched from another position, such as a bed, dining area or kitchen.
There’s no universal number that works for every room, so try this instead:
- Mark the television’s actual outline using low-tack tape or a cardboard template.
- Sit in your normal viewing position.
- Look at the centre and all four corners of the outline.
- Check it again in daylight, since glare can change how it looks.
- Open nearby doors and cupboards fully.
- Walk through the room as you normally would.
- Check it from any secondary seat you’d sometimes watch from.
If you need to raise your head to look at the centre of the marked outline, the proposed position is probably too high. A media unit or fireplace shouldn’t determine the height if the result is genuinely uncomfortable to watch.
See our TV mounting height guide for more detail.
Where Can You Put Devices If There Is No Media Unit?
Without a media unit, a floating shelf, a compact ventilated cabinet or a suitable device mount are the realistic options, and a soundbar can be mounted below the screen. Sky boxes, games consoles and One Connect Boxes all need ventilation and accessible connections, and shouldn’t be sealed permanently inside a wall.
Visible cables are simplest but can add clutter. Paintable trunking keeps them contained and accessible without opening a long route through the wall. Internal concealment depends on the wall, the route and the cable type, and this option isn’t restricted to homeowners either, a tenant may be able to choose it if the tenancy agreement allows the alteration and any required written permission has been obtained.
See our cable concealment guide for the full comparison.
Whatever route you choose, don’t trap bulky plugs, power adaptors, HDMI connector heads, sharply bent cables, tightly bundled excess cable, or any equipment that needs ventilation or regular access behind a close-fitting television.
What Can You Check About the Wall Before Drilling?
A solid feel when tapping may suggest brick, block or concrete. A hollow feel may suggest plasterboard. Repeated solid lines may indicate studs, while isolated solid patches may suggest dot-and-dab. These are clues, not proof, since skimming, tiling, insulation and old repairs can all make the visible surface misleading.
Read more about mounting a TV on plasterboard.
Sockets and switches can indicate possible cable routes, and radiators can indicate possible pipes, so a kitchen or bathroom on the other side of the wall is worth extra caution. A detector can help, but it isn’t infallible, and an unexplained reading shouldn’t be ignored. Old holes, cracks or damaged plasterboard can weaken the area you’re planning to use, and supplied bracket fixings shouldn’t automatically be assumed suitable for every wall.
If you cannot confidently identify the wall or possible cable and pipe routes, stop before drilling and have the area assessed properly. Electrical Safety First recommends locating concealed cables before you start, and notes that a quality cable detector can help track them down.
What If the Flat Is Rented or Drilling Is Not Allowed?
Check the tenancy agreement and get any required permission before booking, and keep written confirmation where you can. It’s also worth thinking about the filling and decorating needed when the bracket is eventually removed.
See our rented-flat guide for the full picture.
If drilling is refused altogether, use the television’s own tabletop stand, a suitable floor-standing mount, a stable freestanding media unit, a compatible easel-style stand, or a suitable tension-pole system. TV Mount Mate does not use adhesive strips, picture hooks or tiny-nail products to support a television, whatever the packaging claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with the wall your main seat naturally faces. It also needs clear doors, manageable glare, accessible sockets and a wall construction you can identify with confidence.
A fixed bracket stays closest to the wall and suits a single fixed seating position. Full-motion helps with off-centre viewing, but only once you've checked it has room to extend without hitting anything.
Measure the television's actual external width, not its diagonal screen size, and check that against the usable wall width once doors and cupboards are fully open, not just closed.
Start from your seated eye level at the main viewing spot, then adjust for the room. Marking the outline with tape and sitting in your normal spot to check it beats applying one fixed number to every room.
A floating shelf, a ventilated cabinet or a suitable device mount are the realistic options. Keep the box accessible and don't restrict its ventilation.
The television's supplied tabletop stand, a suitable floor-standing mount, a freestanding media unit, a compatible easel-style stand or a tension-pole system. TV Mount Mate does not use adhesive strips, picture hooks or tiny-nail products to support a television.
Get a Fixed Quote for TV Mounting
Send your postcode, TV size and model, a wide photograph showing the room and your main seating position, a photograph of the proposed wall, bracket details if you’ve already bought one, and nearby socket, door or cupboard positions. A close-up wall photograph alone can be misleading, since it won’t show the seating, furniture or walking route around it.
You’ll get a fixed quote before booking, with no deposit and payment on completion. See our professional TV wall mounting service for more.
About the Author
Written by: TV Mount Mate
This guide is based on more than 10 years of hands-on TV wall mounting and over 6,000 completed installations.
