Designers Are Begging You To Stop This Dated Living Room TV Setup

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When your living room revolves around the big screen, it brings a whole new meaning to "must-see TV." If your recliners and couches all center around a big black box hanging above the mantle, you're not alone. For better or worse, watching television is America's favorite pastime. According to Adwave, most people are tuning in for nearly four hours every day. But according to interior designers, we're doing it all wrong. Along with making your living room look extremely dated, interior designers agree that it's hard to get the height just right (which matters more than you might think).

"One seriously dated living room trend for 2026 is a TV mounted as a focal point over a fireplace. Instead, there are so many more interesting things you can do with unexpected art and photography," designer Mary Beth Sullivan said in an interview with Homes & Gardens. There are plenty of traditional mantle decor ideas to make your fireplace feel next-level classy instead of like a shrine to your favorite streaming shows. Hanging original paintings, framed photographs, or even sculptural works instead of a giant screen can make your space feel way more personal.

If you still want to tune in during prime time but wish your fireplace looked more attractive the rest of the time, there are hybrid solutions. Recognizing that ugly TVs were taking over our living rooms, Samsung introduced The Frame 4K QLED Smart TV. Designed to look like a picture frame, it allows you to turn your black box into a work of art thanks to its matte finish and digital technology that allows you to display curated or custom pieces. 

Even with a revolutionary television-in-disguise, interior designers still think it's a bad idea to hang a TV over the fireplace mantle. According to Benjamin Johnston, "When you have a TV above a fireplace, often it's so high, your head is doing this kind of extreme, unnatural thing. And after a while, you're like, 'Gosh, my neck hurts.' So I just don't think it's very ergonomic as a design." Interior designer Julie Jones agrees. "The main reason that I don't like them is because of the height you have to get over the mantle. A mantle has to be 12 inches above the firebox, which means now the TV has to go above that, and it is just too high for viewing when you're sitting down on a couch," she explained in a recent YouTube short.

You can also run into more serious problems whether you mount a TV over a gas fireplace or a wood-burning one. Heat is bad for electronics, and constant exposure to high temps can potentially shorten your TV's lifespan or void its warranty. And, smoky soot creates a film that distorts the picture and is difficult to clean. 

The debate about TVs over fireplaces will rage on. Fortunately, there are lots of other creative ways to incorporate a TV into a chic living room.