Mounting a TV Above Your Fireplace: Tips for Making It Work!

Our home is a great example. Our living room is open to the entryway on one side, the dining room on another, and has a wall of glass sliders on the third. The only wall for a TV is our fireplace wall where we could mount it above the fireplace or sit it on one of the bookcases flanking it. This is what that wall looked like when we moved in:

We initially tried out putting the TV on the bookcase on the right but the viewing angle was absolutely terrible. That’s when project mount-the-tv-above-the-fireplace (including giving it a makeover with a lower mantel height) was born! Today I’m sharing the details of our fireplace renovation plus everything you need to know if you decide to mount a TV above your fireplace too! (post includes affiliate links; full disclosure statement available {here})

How High to Mount a TV Above a Fireplace

The lower that you’re able to mount a TV above the fireplace, the better. A good target height is to keep the center of your TV under 70″ high. If it’s much higher than that, you may be straining your neck a bit to watch TV.

What if your mantel is so high that your TV will be centered at well over 70″? You may want to find a different spot for your TV or, if possible, remodel your fireplace surround to lower the mantel height. Our mantel was originally a whopping 68″ high, meaning that the center of our TV would have been close to 90″ high. After getting a new fireplace insert and remodeling the fireplace surround, our new mantel height is 47″ with the center of our TV at around 69″. We lounge while watching TV, with our feet either propped up on the sectional or coffee table, and have found this height to be very comfortable for TV viewing with no neck strain issues whatsoever!

You can see the huge change in mantel height from our previous mantel to our new one here:

If you’re happy with your fireplace insert and stone/tile surround, the only thing you’d need to do is replace the mantel itself which is a pretty simple project for a carpenter. We did a full remodel since we wanted a new gas insert that had a more clean-lined face and didn’t require a hearth (we extended the hardwoods to the fireplace as part of our hardwood floor refinishing project). And I was dying to get rid of the brown marble surround too. We went with {this gas insert} and replaced the brown marble with a white Thassos marble (which was a remnant at a local stone fabricator):

What Size TV is Best Above a Fireplace?

Having a TV above your fireplace is going to look best when your TV is appropriately sized for your mantel. A TV that’s between ⅔ to ⅞ of your mantel width is best. If it will be a Frame TV like {this one} we bought, take the frame size into account too if you’re going to choose a chunky frame (with the TV + frame being less than ⅞ your mantel width). Remember that TV sizes are based on their diagonal measurement, so a 55″ TV is several inches less than 55″ when measuring its width.

Our mantel width is 69″, which (using the ⅔ – ⅞ rule) meant that a good TV width would be between 46-60″. We were debating between the 55″ (which measures 48.7″ wide x 27.9″ high) and the 65″ (which measures 57.4″ wide x 32.8″ high) sizes which both fell into this sweet spot zone. Can you guess which one I was leaning towards and which one Jeff was leaning towards? Yep, he felt strongly about the 65″ TV and since he’s pretty go-with-the-flow about everything else in our house, I nervously agreed to it. But only after I did a mock-up of both sizes to get an idea of what they’d look like (doing this always helps me so much!):

After seeing my mock-up, I actually thought that the 65″ was better proportioned for the space than the 55″, especially since it fills up more of the vertical space with our tall ceilings. The guys who installed our TV said that the 65″ is the most commonly installed size over a fireplace, followed by the 55″.

Another thing to consider when choosing your TV size is how far away from the fireplace you’ll be sitting. If your seating is super close, you might want to err toward the smaller size and if your seating is far away, err toward the larger size.

How High Above Your Fireplace Should Your TV Be?

When hanging your TV above the fireplace, use the same basic guidelines as when determining how high to hang pictures over furniture. The professionals who hung our TV said that they typically hang them 6-8″ above the fireplace mantel. My personal preference is 5-6″ above the mantel (ours is hung at a little under 6″). So overall, I’d say that between 5-8″ above the mantel is a good height to hang your TV (if compatible with recommended clearances in both your TV and fireplace owner’s manuals).

How Do I Protect My TV From Fireplace Heat?

One of the best ways to protect your TV from fireplace heat is with a fireplace mantel since it will redirect the heat from going straight up to the TV. Electronics and heat don’t mix so it’s not a good idea to go mantel-less if you’re hanging your TV above a fireplace. Also, don’t skimp on the depth of your mantel. I wouldn’t go less than the standard 6-12″ depth of fireplace mantels (ours is 8″ deep):

If you’re getting a new gas fireplace insert like we were, choosing one with a blower will also help direct the heat out rather than up. While it will work to hang a TV above most gas and electric fireplaces (if you have a mantel), check the recommended clearances in both your TV owner’s manual and fireplace manual. Also be aware that in some cases, hanging a TV above a fireplace can void the TV warranty. Wood burning fireplaces typically generate high heat and there’s the additional issue of smoke so some don’t recommend hanging a TV above a wood burning fireplace while others say it’s ok if you have a mantel to deflect the heat.

If you’re not sure whether it’s too hot above your fireplace for hanging a TV, tape a thermometer above the mantel where your TV would hang. Then start a fire and wait at least an hour to see what temperature your thermometer has reached. Compare that to the max temperature that your TV owner’s manual states is safe for it to be exposed to (for most, it’s around 104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Which TV is Best for Above a Fireplace?

I personally think {this Samsung Frame TV} is hands-down the best TV for above a fireplace. It’s extremely thin and hangs flush to the wall, just like a piece of framed art. You can buy simple, thin “frames” (called bezels by Samsung) that come as four magnetic pieces that snap onto the edges of the TV. There are several different color options – ours is {this teak bezel} (don’t let the word “teak” fool you – it’s plastic, not wood) which is darker in person than it appears on their website:

You can also get thicker, more ornate frames from shops like {this one}.

The way that the Samsung Frame TV works is that the “guts” of the TV are in a box that’s connected to the TV via a long, thin cord. It’s this box that has the electrical cord to plug in. In my case, the installers snaked the cord from behind the TV to inside of the cabinet to the right of our fireplace. Our cabinet didn’t originally have an electrical outlet inside of it, so I had an electrician install one in preparation for our TV installation. This is what it now looks like inside our cabinet with the cord from the TV coming in from the left and the black TV box being plugged into the outlet in the back:

Our fireplace wall looked like this right before hanging the TV (the black pieces are the TV mounts and in the middle is the white recessed box that they ran the cord through):

If you don’t have bookcases flanking your fireplace like we do and your fireplace isn’t on an outside wall, you may be able to house the box behind the fireplace depending upon what room that is in your house. My sister also has a Frame TV and since her bedroom closet backs on her fireplace, they ran the cord to her closet, where the box is plugged in. If you have a power source, you can also build a large recessed box behind your frame TV to house the black box.

While a lot of Frame TV owners do the installation themselves, Jeff and I decided it was worth every penny to pay for installation since it’s pretty involved. They added the recessed white box to our fireplace wall, snaked the cord from the TV to inside our cabinet, installed the mounting brackets, and hung our TV (if you’re local, we used Carolina Smart Solutions and they were great). You can often buy your TV from the installers too, but we got a better deal buying it on our own while it was on sale.

You can buy the Frame TV on Amazon {here} or Best Buy {here}. Don’t pay full price! On holiday weekends they usually go on sale for a few hundred dollars off. Samsung comes out with a new version of the Frame TV every 1-2 years so you can save money by getting an older model. However, the upgrades to the 2022 Frame TV model were significant, including a matte screen that looks more like true art and reduces glare from nearby windows. So I strongly recommend going with the 2022 model (or the next model once it comes out).

Frame TV Art

The Frame TV comes with a small selection of art to use free of charge. Samsung also offers the option of an art subscription which is currently about $7/month or $80/year. With this subscription you can choose from their vast library of art and change up your art as often as you wish. Or you can buy a single piece of art for your TV from Samsung for $$$$. I didn’t want to spend that much money on art after already having spent a ton on the TV, so instead found several art options on Etsy. Most were $5 or less!

I bought my blue heron TV art for under $2 {here}. Check out other Frame TV art options on Harris Lane Prints {here}, Willow Home {here}, Alluring View {here}, and 96th Avenue {here}. It’s fun to be able to pick seasonal options, like {this snowy deer art} we used during the holidays:

The “After” Of Our Fireplace Renovation

So you’ve seen the “before” of our fireplace…

and some of the “in progress” photos. Are you ready for the after? Here’s what it looks like today:

Another “before”:

and “after” (all sources are linked under photo):

Sources: Rug  |  Rattan chair  |  Tripod lamp  |  Block print pillow (similar) |  Sectional |  Acrylic coffee table (similar)  |  Coffee table tray  |  Bookcase wallpaper  |  Cabinet pulls  |  Oak shelves  |  Bookcase (left): Large faux coral – staghorn (similar)  |  Woven owl  |  White bubble planter  |  Fern art  |  Star pod  |  White candlesticks  |  White square frame  |  Burlwood frame  |  Elephant bookend  |  Bust planter  |  Round basket  |  Scalloped rattan frame  |  Bookcase (right): Large handled vase (medium size)  |  Cane wrapped vase  |  Brass pig bookend  |  Fluted white bowl  |  Faux succulents  |  Wood knot  |  White ginger jar (similar) |  Stacked boxes  |  Small coral (similar) |  Landscape art  |  Blue planter – no longer available

And one last closer up view of what it used to look like:

versus now:

As you can see, I went super simple with my fireplace mantel design. I simply sketched out what I had in mind for our carpenter and he created a sample piece based on my sketch. After seeing the sample piece, I revised some of the measurements and then gave him the green light to build it. Here are the measurements for everything if you’re looking to design something similar:

Along with redesigning the fireplace, I swapped out the cabinet pulls for {these 6.3″ pulls in the golden champagne finish} that I also used for our kitchen remodel and I made several changes to the bookcases too. We removed the fluting in the bookcase arch, added {this wallpaper} to the back of our bookcases, and removed the old shallow white shelves and installed {these custom sized oak shelves} in “Nature” finish that are adjustable in height. I then styled my shelves using my ten tried-and-true decorating formulas in my post on how to decorate a bookshelf – definitely check it out!

So what do I think about hanging our TV above the fireplace now that we’ve had it this way for over a year? We love it! We have no issue with the viewing angle and don’t ever feel like we’re craning our necks to watch TV. We WERE craning our necks when trying to watch the TV in its original location crammed in the corner on our bookcase. And it’s been so nice this winter to be able to snuggle up on the couch with a roaring fire and catch up on our favorite shows. My sister installed her TV above the fireplace shortly after we did ours and she loves it too. So if it’s something that you’re considering, don’t let all of the naysayers spoil your plans – it might work just as well for your family as it did for ours.

Phew… that was a long one! I think I answered all of the questions that you guys threw at me as I shared on Instagram while this project was in progress, but let me know if there’s anything I missed! I’ve added a bunch of new favorite finds to my Shop page so be sure to check that out {here}!

XO,