Picking Out the Perfect Entertainment Furniture

By Pinewood Furniture

What’s the focal point in your living room?

Is it your entertainment center?

For many people, this is where they gather on family movie nights, to watch their favorite sports teams, or to catch up on their TV shows.

Choosing the right piece of entertainment furniture can be difficult, but here is some information to make it a little bit easier.

Also called wall units, entertainment centers are large pieces of furniture that usually surround and hold the TV. They often contain drawers, cabinets, and shelves for storage of DVDs, media components, games, and more. Entertainment centers can be as tall as 72 inches and the width varies per unit.

You could also purchase a TV stand. TV stands, or TV consoles, are one of the simplest pieces of entertainment furniture. They are long cabinets that you place your TV on. Generally, TV stands feature additional storage for DVDs, games, media components, and more. TV stands can hold most sizes of TVs, or you can mount your flat screen to the wall behind your stand. Triangular corner TV stands are also available if your room layout determines you need to place the TV in a corner.

Media chests and armoires take up less floor space and instead use vertical space to store the TV and other accessories. TV armoires and media chests are ideal for small spaces where vertical storage is necessary. In TV armoires, the TV is often contained in a cabinet with doors, which conceal the TV when it is not in use. TV armoires are one of the tallest options. Media chests resemble tall dressers, but have shelves for easy storage and access to media components, such as DVD players or cable boxes.

Before making a purchase, make sure to measure your TV.

The size of your TV (the size written on the TV box) is based on the diagonal measurement from corner to corner. This number (in inches) will be helpful as you shop because most TV stands or entertainment centers will denote which size TV they can hold.

You should also measure the height (from stand to top of the frame) and width (from the end of the TV frame) of your TV. If you are purchasing a unit, you should know these measurements and compare them to the TV opening in the unit.

Finally, if your TV isn’t a flat screen or plasma, measure the depth of your TV to ensure if will fit comfortably on or in your entertainment center without any overhang.

You should also measure your room.

Know the floor space (width and depth) you have available for the stand or unit. For the most enjoyable watching experience, you should leave plenty of space between the viewer and the TV. For a 29-inch TV, allow for between 3 and 4 feet of open space. A 39-inch TV requires 4 or 5 feet of space, a 46-inch TV needs 5 or 6 feet of space, and anything larger requires between 7 and 8 feet of space.

For comfortable viewing, the lower half of the TV screen should be level with your line of sight when seated. Sit on your furniture and measure where your sight line is. The shelf where the TV rests should be no lower than 12 inches below that measurement.

Pinewood Furniture store’s flexible entertainment center configurations are perfect for any size room and any size TV. Choose a TV stand, corner TV cabinet, larger console, or a complete wall system. Choose to add storage for your CDs and DVDs.

Remember, all of our furniture is real wood, with no particle board. And you can choose the wood and the finish.

Bring us your room dimensions and TV measurements and let us find the perfect piece for you!