Choosing a TV Stand To suit a Vintage Scheme

Last week, I published a post on my Facebook page and in the From Start To Vintage Style FB Group, telling members and followers they could ask me anything! Dangerous, I know. I was expecting all sorts of crazy questions I didn’t want to answer. Luckily, the questions I got were decorating and country life related, so over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be answering them on the blog. (Just in case you want to know the answers too!)

If you have a question you’d like to ask~ decorating, renovation or country life, feel free to DM me over on Facebook or send me an email! I’d love to help you.

Question #1 from Pip

“I’ve been cleaning out my mum’s house in the country to set it up as an Airbnb. The carpet will be replaced and I’ve bought this sofa with a matching 2-seater with a tan accent armchair. The coffee table is from an old slab of wood with old black metal bolts and rings in it. My question is… what style of tv unit do I pair with these?”

The first thing to address here, having run two Airbnb places, is the overall vibe of the room/space. The room needs to feel homely, but not cluttered, as cleaning happens often and moving bits and pieces only takes up time. Pip told me she’s open to painting a piece and I know she loves vintage items (because she’s a member of the Facebook group) so my suggestion would be to think completely outside the box and either use a piece she already has or purchase something second hand rather than buying an ‘entertainment unit’. I don’t know about you, but for me, they’re just not conducive to a vintage, country or farmhouse feel.

I’m not a fan of the DVD, Apple TV, Foxtel etc boxes being on display, so anywhere you can hide these makes the room look better. The entire box does not need to show and can be tucked away in a cupboard, as long as the infrared part can communicate with your remote. In fact, the box that sends the wifi signal around your house does not need to be on display at all. At our last house, ours was hidden in the kitchen cupboard and the wifi signal to all devices, including the TV was just fine.

Cleanliness should also come into consideration when you choose the style of cabinet. Because your Airbnb needs to be extremely clean, having anything too rustic might not work well. Don’t forget, if you love the shape of a piece but hate the finish, you can always paint it to fit your scheme. TV stands in a bold colour will take the focus away from the big black box in the room.

That said, my suggestions are

• a chest of drawers with one drawer removed to house any black boxes such as Apple TV
• a large vintage trunk (which can double as storage for things that are not used often)
• a cabinet with mesh or wire inserts in the doors so the black boxes can hide inside but still ‘talk’ to the remotes.
• a deco glass front cabinet
• a 70’s low slung console that will be wider than your gap but low, so may fit under your windows
• a timber kitchen island or sofa console with the legs cut down
• wooden crates joined with a slab for the top

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As a last note, whatever you choose should follow the rule of the piece being wider than your TV by about a third if you can. This way you are breaking up the visual space and making more of a feature of the item you choose, rather than having the two pieces blend into one enormous rectangular blob.

HOPE THIS HELPS!