Durham Project: TV Placement

You were introduced last week to the Durham project, thats the neo-colonial getting a little update. We want to tackle the determination of where to place the TV and how to improve, repair or remove the existing built-ins on either side of the fireplace in the family room.

Here’s the current space,

Hmmm glad to see those lines in the carpet so that we know it was freshly vacuumed! I think this image definitely draws focus to the fact that the carpet needs to be replaced with hardwood which the homeowners plan to do.

What we know we have to do-

• paint brick fireplace white
• paint built-ins (if they remain) white
• replace cabinet hardware on built-ins (if they remain)
• paint room trim white

TV placement is what we’ve got to figure out and I’ve narrowed the inspirational images down.

My official position on the built-ins is KEEP them. After that, I would recommend that they ask their carpenter or cabinetmaker to create new bottom cabinets for the right side.

As much as I am intrigued by the last inspiration image with the TV to the right of the fireplace, I don’t think we have the width on the side to accommodate a 55″ flat screen. So we’re saving that idea for another day.

The TV is best placed over the fireplace and then the sofa floats in the middle of the room. The homeowners have a 55″ flat screen and we have enough space if the mantel and brick corbels are eliminated.

There was some concern about building code’s spacial requirement between a mantle or in this case a TV and the top of the fireplace. Some quick internet research on the part of a general contractor tells us that we are required to have a minimum of something like 6″ if the TV is more than an inch deep. If for some reason we did not meet the code requirement, I think the clients would consider not using the gas logs. It’s not really that big of a loss in North Carolina unless the power goes out in an ice storm and then gas logs are helpful.

This change really makes me excited for these guys because I think this change and layout rank high on the importance scale. It updates the main living area and changes the way the house feels and lives.