Is It OK to Mount Your TV Above the Fireplace?

Ever since flat screen televisions were developed, there has been extensive discussion about whether they should be mounted above a fireplace.  Many interior design experts have poo-pooed the idea, citing it as “lazy” designing or decrying the fact that the television should never be the visual focal point of a room.

Of course, regardless of your aesthetic sensibilities, opponents of this design trend could always resort to a more practical argument: mounting a flat screen television over a fireplace creates a poor viewing angle: at that height, the television is generally going to be well above eye level, which means that viewers will have to crane their necks to watch.  This has been proven to lead to neck and back problems, some of which can linger for years.

In addition, watching a television that is mounted too high will decrease the viewing experience.  When you’re watching an LCD television that is too far up or down (and too far left or right, for that matter), you start seeing just a fraction of the produced light, i.e., the picture.  The result?  A washed-out, lifeless picture that makes you wonder why you spent all that money in the first place. 

Enter MantelMount.  Introduced to the public in 2014, this solidly-built pull-down mount allows the user to pull the television down a full two feet (a little more with the newer models), putting it at the optimal viewing angle.  Neck and back pain are eliminated, and the television viewing experience is enhanced.  In fact, if you read the articles against fireplace mounting, the vast majority of them cite the unhealthy viewing angle as one of the primary reasons not to do it; MantelMount ends those arguments with a resounding mic drop.

OK, so now that MantelMount has eliminated the physical problem, the question of whether to mount your television above the fireplace comes back into play – at least from a design perspective. 

To be honest, opinions vary.  According to a 2015 article on Curbed.com, the above-the-fireplace mounting trend has its detractors and its supporters.  A casual search on Google Trends by the site’s editors suggests “it was most definitely a Thing by 2007 and has steadily been growing in demand ever since.”

So, with no physical reason to avoid putting your flat screen above the fireplace, it all comes down to personal preference.  From a design perspective, the only reason not to do it is aesthetic – and that’s perfectly fine.  But if you don’t mind - or actually want – your very sexy and very expensive television to be the focal point of the room, what’s wrong with that?   And let’s not forget that there is usually a large spot above the fireplace which will perfectly accommodate a large flat screen; in some houses, it is the only spot available.  What’s more, an above-the-fireplace mount keeps your TV off the floor, away from traffic and out of the reach of children.

The point is, with a solid pull-down mount like MantelMount, you can eliminate many of the traditional arguments against fireplace mounting.  It now becomes a question of design preference – as it should be.  

Check out the MantelMount options on our website.  Whichever one you choose, your fireplace and your MantelMount are going to get along beautifully. 

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