8 Tips to Propping up Your TV Without Stand

Your television is one of the most important pieces in your room, tying together the other elements of family rooms, living rooms, and even bedrooms. However, even the most expensive flat screen televisions usually do not come with a television stand. If they do come with a stand, they are usually flimsy and wear out quickly over time. 

Entertainment centers are expensive just to hold a TV. You do not need to spend a lot of money on a pricey television stand, as today’s televisions can be propped up without an official television stand. Here are nine tips to propping up your television without a stand and making sure it is sturdy and visible to you, your family, and your guests. 

Prop up Your Television on an Existing Bookcase

Do you have a bookcase in your home that displays your favorite literary novels, pictures, and decorations? Well, you can use your bookcase not only to store books, but as a mount for your television too. As long as it is not too high and is wide enough to hold your television, a bookcase can work well to prop up your television and hold its essential items. 

A bookcase can work well as an affordable alternative to hold your cable box and game consoles, and hold decorative storage boxes for remotes and video games. This storage can also add style and flair to the room by showcasing your favorite books and accessories while you and your friends are watching your favorite shows. 

One warning if using a bookcase as a television stand is to think about how the wiring will flow from the devices to the wall outlets. Bookcases are not meant to hold a television, so yours may not be equipped with holes to feed the wires through to the wall. You may need a bookcase that has a back able to poke holes through for wires. 

You could also use a bookcase that does not even have backing, but it may not be sturdy enough to hold your television. You will also want to measure the bookcase to make sure it is not too tall or too short for proper viewing. Television stands are usually between 20 and 30 inches tall, so you should make sure the bookcase is as well. 

Dressers Could Work as Perfect Television Stands

Dressers are not just for the bedroom anymore. As long as your family or living room has enough space, a dresser can be repurposed as a stylish and functional television stand. Not only does a dresser offer the perfect amount of storage so that you can store essential entertainment items and hide cords. They add elegance and style to a room. 

In the bedroom, a dresser serves the dual purpose of providing storage and décor, so it can do the same as a television stand. They come in a variety of sizes, so you will want to make sure it is not too big and clutters the area of the room in which the television is being displayed. As long as it is not too big, you can choose the perfect style: 

• Traditional – These styles are timeless and will fit into nearly any type of room. They are usually made of wood and can complement other pieces of furniture already in your family or living room.
• Rustic – These dressers are also usually made of wood, but the wood is usually in its natural state and is not varnished or painted. Rustic dressers are very solid and sturdy for holding a television.
• Antique – These may be wooden or made from other materials like leather or marble. They have a European-style that can add a formal flair to any room while holding your television.
• Modern – If you are incorporating a dresser into a modern room, this type will work well due to its minimalist décor, clean lines, and contemporary build. They usually come in different colors, have a glossy finish, and can complement an already-existing color scheme.
• Cottage style – Also known as “shabby chic,” cottage style has become very popular because it is informal and homey. They can be incorporated in any living room or family room because they usually come in neutral colors, are sturdy wood, and show off accessories nicely. 

Antique dresses can add sophistication to your modern television, modern dressers can add color, and traditional or rustic dressers compliment other furniture. The storage keeps the room clean and orderly because you can hide your television accessories and wires in the drawers. You can even mount the TV above for an added style. 

Dressers are also very durable and sturdy and are frequently the perfect height for television viewing. They come in a wide array of styles and colors and you just need to make sure you measure the area before using a dresser for television viewing. 

Prop up Your Television with a Chest

Some people use the terms dresser and chest interchangeably, but they are very different pieces of furniture. Both pieces of furniture are usually used to hold clothing, but a dresser is wide and short and a chest is narrow and tall. That being said, they both can be used to hold a television in lieu of an expensive entertainment stand. 

Depending on how high it is, a chest can work well to prop up your television and add a unique look to your room. They also have drawers that can be used to store your entertainment consoles and accessories while hiding any wires and cords behind them to avoid clutter. They come in a variety of colors, finishes, sizes, and styles: 

• Vertical chest – this is the standard chest that is usually tall and narrow, on the smaller side, and can fit into a corner or area of the room to hold your television.
• Gentleman’s chest – This usually contains both drawers and wardrobe doors and could give a very unique look to a living or family room.
• Bachelor’s chest – These may be too small and narrow for larger televisions and only have three or four smaller drawers. They would work well for a small television in a room with limited space. 

There are also lingerie chests, but these are tall and skinny because they are traditionally used to hold lingerie. They may not be sturdy enough to hold a television. You may be able to find an actual media chest that is wide like a dresser but tall like a chest and has open shelving to hold your media accessories. 

As long as your chest is not too high that you cannot see the television, it can be the perfect item to prop up a television, add a sense of style to the room, and hide your media consoles and accessories so that your room stays clean, uncluttered, and stylish. 

Repurpose a Coffee Table as a Television Stand

Many coffee tables also work really well as a television stand and can be a much cheaper option than a large dresser, bookcase, or entertainment center. In the past, a coffee table would have been too thin to hold the bulky televisions on the market. That has all changed today since the higher definition televisions are thinner and lighter. 

There are many cheap coffee tables for sale online that can be repurposed as a television stand, but you may already have the item in your home since furniture sets usually come with a coffee table. That way, the television stand already matches the other furniture in your room so you do not need to repaint the item. 

The only downside to coffee tables is that they are short due to the main purpose of holding drinks and snacks while watching television. There are some DIY solutions to this if you want to use your coffee table as a television stand. You could place your coffee table on a few pieces of vintage wood to prop it up and create a rustic look. 

Coffee tables usually work better for smaller television sets in a smaller room that is tight on space. For example, a coffee table would look great in the corner of a smaller living room or bedroom and still give focus on the television. They also do not offer an adequate amount of storage space compared to the other options. 

Forget Television Stands and Use a Mount

You may not need a television stand at all if you decide to mount your television on a wall. Mounting the television gives you more space, keeps things clean and open, and gives you the option of placing it anywhere in the room for a chic, clean, modern look. You are not limited to the size of a stand and you just first need to choose the mount: 

• Fixed position – This places your television flat up against the wall fixed into place. Your television cannot be adjusted once it is mounted on the wall and works well for very large, flat screen television sets. These mounts give a clean, sleek look to your room.
• Tilting – Offers more flexibility because the television is mounted on the wall but can still tilt up or down anywhere from five to fifteen degrees.
• Full motion – This is the greatest option out of the three because you can fully rotate your television to fit your specific viewing situation. The downside is that they are also the most expensive. 

If you choose a fixed position mount, you will need to make sure you measure your television perfectly so that it is centered, is not crooked, and is the proper height for visibility. Once your television is fixed it is permanent, so you want to make sure it is exactly where you want it to be. 

If you need to mount your television higher on the wall, a tilting mount would work better because you can move it up or down for viewing optimization. For example, a television in the upper corner of the room, over a fireplace, or even on an outside deck could benefit from a tilting mount. If money is not an issue, a full motion mount is best. 

Another way to mount your television on the wall is by adding shelves to the wall to hold your television. With just some hardwood planks, some nails and screws, and a bit of time, you can DIY your own television mount and save space in your room. Just make sure the planks are fully-mounted and strong enough to hold your television securely. 

Use a Console Table for Added Versatility 

A console table is a furniture piece that can be placed nearly anywhere in a room, against a wall, behind a sofa, in between furniture, the choices are endless. You may have a console table sitting in a hallway, foyer, or family room that can be used as a television stand. Since they are usually around 33 inches in height, they are perfect. 

Consoles are so versatile that they can definitely be used as a television stand: 

• Consoles come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles for nearly any type of room
• As long as the console is large and wide enough to support the weight of your television, it can be the perfect addition to your family, living or bedroom to prop up your television

Consoles also have some storage underneath in the form of drawers or open areas, which would work well to hold television remotes, streaming devices, and entertainment and gaming consoles. You can also hide wires from the devices underneath, either behind the console or in baskets placed in the space-saving areas of the console itself. 

A console table can add a simplistic, uncluttered look to your room, store your needed television devices, and prop up your television so that everyone can watch comfortably. They can also add to the existing décor since they come in so many different styles. And you may not even need to buy one – you could have one already in the home. 

Use a Bench to Prop up Your TV

If you do not want to purchase a stand for your new television but all of your existing furniture is too high or too big, that bench sitting out back may work perfectly. A dresser and chest may be too high, you may not want to deal with a mount, and television stands are too expensive. This is where a bench comes into play. 

Since a bench’s original purpose is to hold multiple individuals, they are usually wide enough for a television and sturdy enough to hold the proper amount of weight. A bench would look great on a long or short wall, but would work especially well with a smaller television in a smaller space. That being said, there are some downsides to a bench. 

First, a bench does not have any storage space, so you will need to rethink its use if you have cable boxes, gaming consoles, Rokus, or an Apple TV. If the bench is holding your television, which means these extra devices would need to clutter up the bench or be placed on the floor, which could be dangerous to the devices. 

A bench is also pretty low to the ground since, again, it is meant for us to sit on with our feet comfortably touching the ground. You can alleviate this problem, however, with a little DIY creativity. Try mounting the bench on pieces of wood to prop it up to your desired height. Just make sure the bench is secure so that it does not fall over. 

A Fireplace Can Be Your next Television Stand

Sure you can purchase an electric fireplace that is incorporated into an entertainment center, but if you already have a fireplace you can save money and repurpose it. Having your television either mounted over or placed on a fireplace serves as a space saver and a great look of ambiance and style. 

Depending on the size of your fireplace, your television set could fit perfectly on top. Many of the tops of fireplaces are made of stone, which is sturdy and safe, and are wide enough to place pictures and accessories on top. However, you will need to do some research to make sure your television can withstand any heat the fireplace generates. 

Many electric fireplaces today give off heat using an element that is at the top of the fireplace unit. A fan then blows the hot air throughout the room to give the aspect of a real fireplace. You will need to do your research to see how hot the top of the fireplace gets and if it will damage your television before repurposing it for propping up your TV. 

If you are worried about heat, simply mount your television over the fireplace. However, the heat may still be too much even mounted above, especially with wires and other electronics that do not mix well with heat. Using a fireplace to prop a television can be beautiful and classy as a centerpiece, but should also be done with the utmost care.

How Do You Make a TV Stand?

Unless you are going to mount your television on the wall, there are many different ways you can make a television stand so that you do not have to spend hundreds of dollars on an entertainment center. For example, if you have two boards lying around that are around the same size, you can turn them into a stand with a few simple steps: 

• If needed, stain the wood pieces a darker color to match the room
• Use some sturdy metal pipes and fit them into the wood as legs
• Drill holes through one piece of wood, fit the metal through
• Fit the top of the metal into the top piece of wood so that you have space between the two pieces to hold cable boxes, gaming consoles, and remotes 

These steps are a cheap way to build a television stand, probably under $50 total. If you are creative and handy, you only need some wood, metal, and maybe some PVC plastic to build a cost-effective television stand exactly the way you want. You choose the style, the color, and the size to meet the needs of your television viewing. 

However, not all of us are DIY-savvy and if that includes you, do not fret. There are other ways to make television stands using items already in your home that do not require drills or extra materials. It just requires the moving of some furniture.