Yes, televisions are lighter than they look and a properly fixed solid shelf handles one easily. The failure cases are almost never the weight. They are depth, height and cables.
Weight is the easy part
Modern screens are light. Rough figures without a stand:
- 43 inch: 18 to 22 lb
- 55 inch: 28 to 38 lb
- 65 inch: 40 to 55 lb
- 75 inch: 60 to 80 lb
Add 5 to 10 lb for the stand. Then add what goes beside it: a soundbar is 5 to 12 lb, a console 7 to 10, a streaming box almost nothing.
A shelf reaching two studs handles a 65-inch screen and its accessories without difficulty. The same shelf on drywall anchors does not, see the load guide for why the wall matters more than the shelf.
Depth is where it actually goes wrong
Television stands are deeper than people expect, and a screen on a shelf that is too shallow sits with its stand feet at the front edge, which is both precarious and looks it.
Typical stand depths: 9 to 11 inches for a 55-inch screen, 11 to 14 inches for a 65-inch. Some pedestal stands are 14 inches or more.
So a shelf carrying a television wants at least 12 inches deep, and 14 is safer. Measure your specific stand before ordering, the figure is in the manual and it varies a lot between models.
Two-foot stands that sit at the far left and right of the screen bring a second problem: they need a shelf at least as long as the stand spacing, which on a 65-inch screen can be 48 inches or more.
Height: lower than you think
The center of the screen should be at roughly eye level when seated, about 42 inches from the floor for most people on a standard sofa.
For a 55-inch screen (about 27 inches tall), that puts the bottom of the screen at roughly 28 inches from the floor, so the shelf goes around 26 to 28 inches up.
Almost every wall-mounted television in a home is too high, usually because it was hung above a fireplace. Watching a screen angled upward for two hours is a measurable strain on your neck, and it is the reason people report being uncomfortable without knowing why.
If the fireplace position is unavoidable, use a tilting mount rather than a shelf, and accept the compromise knowingly.
Cables
This is the part that decides whether the finished thing looks good.
Plan the route before drilling. The options, best to worst:
- Through the wall. An in-wall rated cable kit with a bracket behind the screen and another behind the shelf. Cleanest result. Power must be done correctly, in most places, running a standard power cable inside a wall is not permitted; use a proper recessed outlet kit or an electrician.
- A channel routed into the back of the shelf. Hides the run along the shelf itself and lets cables drop down the wall behind furniture.
- A paintable surface trunking strip down the wall. Visible but disappears once painted the wall color.
- A fabric cable sleeve. Cheapest, and still better than loose cables.
Leave a service loop of extra cable. Screens get replaced, and a run cut to exactly the current length becomes useless when the next one has its ports on the other side.
Heat and ventilation
A television needs air behind and above it. Leave at least 4 inches above a screen if a second shelf sits over it, and do not enclose a game console or an amplifier in a tight box, those produce far more heat than the screen does.
If a console sits on the same shelf, give it a few inches of clear air at the sides. Heat is the main cause of shortened life in that equipment, and a beautifully tight installation that cooks the hardware is a false economy.
Shelf or cabinet?
A shelf is right when you want the wall to stay open, when the room is small, and when there is little to store.
A cabinet or media unit is right when there are consoles, controllers, cables and discs to hide, when there are small children who will reach the equipment, or when the wall cannot take a cantilevered load.
A common and good compromise: a floating shelf for the screen and equipment, with a low unit beneath it for everything else. The floor stays visible, which keeps the room feeling larger, and the clutter still has somewhere to go.
See the shelves, or the media units if the storage matters more than the open wall.
From the Rootelier range
Organic Decorative Wall Shelf and Curved Wall Shelf, or see all floating shelves. Every piece is made to order, so sizes can be adjusted to the room.