A TV unit is chosen first by the size of the screen it carries, then by what you want to store or display on it. Three measurements are enough, and teak does the rest: in the living room, it is often the longest piece in the room, the one you see as you walk in.
Width: wider than the screen
A screen is measured in inches, along its diagonal. Its actual width, in a 16:9 format, is roughly 0.87 times that diagonal: about 122 cm for a 55-inch, 144 cm for a 65-inch, 166 cm for a 75-inch. The simplest rule: a unit at least twenty centimetres or so wider than the screen, so that it does not overhang and leaves room on either side for a lamp, books or a speaker. A unit much longer than the screen becomes a horizontal line that makes the wall look bigger.
Height: stay low
We watch television sitting down, often sinking a little into a sofa. The most comfortable position puts the centre of the screen at roughly eye level, or slightly below. A low unit, 45 to 55 cm high, therefore suits most living rooms: it is the height of all our TV units. Any higher and you tilt your head up, and the screen dominates the room.
Depth: the screen’s stand and what you store
A screen standing on a unit rests on a stand or two feet: check that they fit within the depth of the top, with a few centimetres to spare at the front. 30 to 40 cm is enough in most cases. Depth also matters for what you store: a set-top box, a turntable, records or baskets.
Open or closed
This is the other choice, and it depends on your living room. An open unit, with niches, shows books, records and objects, and lightens the line. A closed unit, with doors and drawers, hides cables and the box and lets the wood speak.
Our TV units, by width
120 cm: Embum, compact with rounded corners, two niches and two rattan cane drawers, on small tapered legs.
140 cm: Kelam, an open frame in raw reclaimed teak, with a middle shelf.
150 cm: Sanggar, four open niches under a thick top; Peluk, closed, two doors and two drawers.
160 cm: Damai, four solid doors; Reza, a fluted front in solid teak.
180 cm: Angin, an open frame in reclaimed teak; Cerah, three niches and three rattan cane drawers.
210 cm: Hangat, long on tapered legs, alternating doors, niches and a drawer.
220 cm: Legam, low, with no doors or legs, three through niches in a body with very rounded corners.
All are indoor pieces, and most are made of reclaimed teak, recovered from old buildings: the article Reclaimed teak: where does it come from? tells the story of this wood.
Placing it
Allow a distance of roughly one and a half to two and a half times the screen’s diagonal between the sofa and the screen: about 2 to 3.5 m for a 55-inch. Avoid a window behind the sofa, which reflects in the screen, and a window behind the television, which dazzles. A long unit centred under the screen structures the wall; set off to one side, it leaves room for a lamp or a plant.
See it at home
Take a photo of your living room: Balinaisa.ai places the TV unit in it, with a quote. Or come and measure our units at the showroom in La Teste-de-Buch.