Taking a Stand for your LCD TV

Purchasing a TV stand for your LCD TV may be a little confusing. With so many styles and designs to choose from, you don't want to select the wrong one. Several factors will directly influence the kind of stand you will select, including available floor space, presentation and accompanying components. Whatever kind of stand you do purchase, you will want to make sure that it will perfectly fit your television and will be adaptable to your future home entertainment requirements.

Decide where the television is going and then take measurements. Take into account the size of your LCD screen and purchase a stand that will give you at least three inches of space on either side of the television. The average depth of an LCD screen is 8 inches, but you will want to select an LCD stand with a wide counter top in the interest of safety and added stability. You should also consider the height of the stand and whether or not it will be the optimal viewing height for the room you are purchasing the stand for.

Since your LCD television was a hefty investment, you will want to display it to its best advantage. Purchasing a cheap stand or one that does not complement either your television or your decor can greatly detract from your viewing enjoyment. Presentation plays an important role in the kind of LCD stand you select. You will want it to match your current furnishings and color scheme as seamlessly as possible.

When selecting a TV stand, also consider the weight of your television and any other accompanying components you would the stand to hold. The stand itself will need to be well-constructed, strong and durable. It should also provide easy access to all the components, and especially if you have chosen an open shelving concept stand, include a wire management system of some kind.

What kind of effect would you like to achieve? For a more traditional decor, choose an LCD stand made of wood with a medium to dark finish. If you are buying a TV stand for a contemporary or modern styled room, select one designed of metal and glass or one made of wood but with clean lines and a lighter finish.

All metal or metal and glass LCD TV stands are durable, strong and sleek in appearance. Typically, metal LCD stands are open concept in design. When selecting a metal stand that includes glass, make sure that it is tempered, since it will be stronger and safer than regular glass should it break. If you want the option of hiding unsightly wires, choose a stand with cable management.

An LCD TV cabinet can be made of a variety of materials including wood, metal and wood and metal. They generally offer enclosed storage options for tapes, DVDs and other accessories that you might want to store out-of-sight. This kind of TV stand is generally a larger furniture piece and therefore will be more of a focal point. You will want to ensure that an LCD TV stand fits in with your décor and will add to the room's comfort and functionality in addition to being a safe place to display your television.

If you want a stand just for displaying your LCD and don't need a place to store other components, consider purchasing a pedestal TV stand. Depending on the manufacturer, a pedestal TV may also include bolts so that it can be secured to a wall. Some pedestal stands are adjustable, which will allow you to adjust the viewing height of your television as needed.

Designed to fit into a corner, corner LCD TV stands still offer the wide counter dimensions needed to properly display your screen, while utilizing an area that might otherwise be considered as unusable space. Since they are available in a wide variety of styles and materials, you're sure to find a corner television stand that will perfectly match your decor.

A swivel TV stand is the ideal way to obtaining optimum viewing from your LCD screen. They come in a variety of different styles and designs. When selecting the right swivel stand for your plasma TV, make sure that it will not only fit your television, but that it will also accommodate its weight.

The type of TV stand you choose for you LCD television will mostly depend on your viewing and display requirements. With these basic guidelines, choosing an LCD television stand might be a little easier.

Outta Sight

Last week, I drove by a business here in town that advertised custom wall beds as one of the products it offered. Wall beds, I thought, wow... I had assumed the futon phenomenon had forced those down with the ship that was the 1980s. I remember being fascinated with the only wall bed I ever had the opportunity to interact with; Hotel Efat, Luxor, Egypt, 1984. That dry, old-spring creaking sound as it moved up and down and dad quashing my intention to fold my sister up in the bed.

Let's make clear here that no "wall" bed had ever been banished to its drywall confines because it had been deemed unsightly or inappropriate. Rather, it was simply a matter of space confines in that particular room and there was nothing of "get that eyesore out of my sight" involved in the decision.

>>Fast forward

Most hotel rooms nowadays "conceal" the television in an armoire-type cabinet, rather than it resting fully-exposed on top of the double dresser. More often than not, you open a pair of doors to reveal the TV. Conversely, in regards to the wall bed, it is clear this has nothing to do with effective floor space management. The TV is not expansive, likely 25 inches in depth at the most, and very likely not going to be located in an area of the room that could be used for other purposes.

It lead me to thinking - there is, for evidently a large enough proportion of the population, something about a TV that is unsightly, inappropriate or perhaps simply a bad influence upon a living space when not hidden from view. I feel quite certain these hotel chains wouldn't volunteer to absorb the cost of adding new TV cabinet furniture to thousands of hotel rooms if this wasn't the case. So what is it exactly? Could it be they hope shutting in the TV is removing the temptation of turning it on just for the sake of doing so, thus saving electricity?

That many households use TV armoire / cabinet furniture is not as much of a mystery to me. I understand individuals who believe in maintaining a certain air in their living areas that is conducive to conversation, intellectual stimuli and a more familial environment. That both this mentality is so widespread and pervasive that it has spread to the hospitality industry, and / or that a sufficiently widespread section of the populous is seeking the same stimuli in their hotel rooms, is hard for me to believe. Yet, the reality is that most hotel rooms hide the television from immediate view. However, as stated, I can fully relate to those who see the benefit it in doing it for the home, and particularly in the living area.

While the wall bed has very nearly gone the way of the dodo, should you wish to locate any appliance behind closed doors in your home there's now likely a furniture piece designed for just that purpose.

With the welcome rise in home based businesses recently, like-minded individuals may feel the same way about their personal computing tools in a work space that may be designated to take on a different feel on occasion. Poker night with the guys while your wife and kids have the living room to themselves, for example, or a quiet and charismatic spot for your daughter and her clarinet tutor's weekly visit.

Cymax Stores very much has its finger on the pulse of decor aesthetic-sensitive furniture design. For those for whom the preceding passage has piqued an interest, I recommend a visit to www.armoirescentral.com , featuring a number of competitively priced computer armoire cabinets available for delivery right to your door with the wonder of online shopping. Both Sauder and Ameriwood computer armoires are a welcome combination of quality craftsmanship, innovative design and reasonable pricing. Standard Furniture's Kathy Ireland Series computer armoires are, quite simply, an elegant addition to even the most stately and well-appointed homes with their exceptional quality and beautiful woodworking.

I imagine few would argue the sensibility in hiding appliances from view in certain areas of the home. Seeing the TV as putting a damper on the atmosphere of your hotel room? Not so clear on that one.