TV stands and media consoles

Width against the screen, not against the room

The console should be wider than the screen it carries. That is partly proportion and mostly stability: a screen whose feet sit near the outer edge of a console is a screen that moves when someone knocks the unit. The consoles here run to 59.1 inches and are described for screens up to 65 inches, which leaves the margin that arrangement needs.

Height is the second measurement and the one people skip. Sitting on a sofa, the middle of the screen wants to land near eye level. Our consoles are low by design for that reason, and a screen on a taller chest of drawers usually ends up a neck-ache higher than it should be.

Cables, doors and the remote problem

Every console in this department has cable routing through the back panel, which is the difference between a tidy wall and a nest. The doors are where the compromise sits. Solid doors hide a set-top box completely and block an infrared remote, so the boxes that need line of sight belong on an open shelf.

Some models carry mains outlets built into the frame, which turns six plugs behind the sofa into one. Those are named for it.

Lighting, and whether you want it

Several consoles here carry colour-changing lighting along the base. It reads as a soft wash on the floor in a dark room and it disappears entirely in daylight. Whether that is a feature or a distraction is a matter of taste, so we name it rather than sell it, and the models without it are equally represented.

This is the smallest department in the range at 6 pieces, so if none of them suits the wall, a low sideboard from the next department often does the same job with more storage.