Freestanding TV cabinet with bloody-minded cats and gymnastic child
November 8, 2017 2:33 AM Subscribe
I want to put a 55" TV into our living room, but we have several challenges. We're likely to move in a year, so it can't be an expensive or permanant solution. Because of the room's configuration, the TV would be best perpendicular to the wall, but I'm leery of putting a large TV on top of a cabinet with three active cats and a small child who treats the sofa as a trampoline without some way to secure everything.
I'm okay with the Ikea Lappland if anyone knows a way to make it secure. We have the matching cube shelf secured on one side of the wall, and the kid regularly attacks it.
But - am I overlooking obvious concerns or solutions? I haven't owned a TV for about a decade.
We had a projector screen for a while, but the room gets seriously windy and blew it about, and it was annoying to have to keep turning on the projector and hook it up, and we could only use it at night.
I'm open to projector solutions if they're better now, if they can be managed with a Nvidia Stream, the solution I'm planning on (we mainly will use this for netflix, youtube and gaming).
The room is large, with a bank of windows on one side, and I can't easily put curtains in so the glare from very bright sunlight makes the flanking walls hard for daylight watching. I could do one wall, but then the sofas would have to be very awkwardly placed, and there'd still be partial glare. (Is glare an issue with modern TVs?)
I'm okay with the Ikea Lappland if anyone knows a way to make it secure. We have the matching cube shelf secured on one side of the wall, and the kid regularly attacks it.
But - am I overlooking obvious concerns or solutions? I haven't owned a TV for about a decade.
We had a projector screen for a while, but the room gets seriously windy and blew it about, and it was annoying to have to keep turning on the projector and hook it up, and we could only use it at night.
I'm open to projector solutions if they're better now, if they can be managed with a Nvidia Stream, the solution I'm planning on (we mainly will use this for netflix, youtube and gaming).
The room is large, with a bank of windows on one side, and I can't easily put curtains in so the glare from very bright sunlight makes the flanking walls hard for daylight watching. I could do one wall, but then the sofas would have to be very awkwardly placed, and there'd still be partial glare. (Is glare an issue with modern TVs?)
If you don't want to mount the TV on your wall - and but you do want your TV to be stable and unreachable for cats - then the type of TV stand that is commonly used in exhibitions may be a good solution. Something like this - this puts your TV on top of a couple of big, unclimable poles, allows you to use the standard VESA mounting and potentially lets the base of the stand be hidden beneath something like a floor cabinet.
posted by rongorongo at 4:18 AM on November 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 4:18 AM on November 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
We have a low cabinet with an integrated TV mount. We got it at Costco, so I can't link the exact one, but it has worked well for childproofing purposes. It's a solid, heavy cabinet that wouldn't tip even if a kid climbed on it, and the TV is securely mounted to a metal bar that's integrated into the cabinet. Ours has doors with panels that can be switched for wood, glass, or speaker mesh. We have the wood in, for safety reasons.
I can't find one that looks exactly like ours, but here are a couple of pictures to help you get the idea of what I'm talking about: One Two Three (Note that these are just from a google image search, and I have no idea about the quality of any of these specific products. Ours is solid wood wood, heavy as hell, and thus a good solid mount.)
posted by telepanda at 6:51 AM on November 8, 2017
I can't find one that looks exactly like ours, but here are a couple of pictures to help you get the idea of what I'm talking about: One Two Three (Note that these are just from a google image search, and I have no idea about the quality of any of these specific products. Ours is solid wood wood, heavy as hell, and thus a good solid mount.)
posted by telepanda at 6:51 AM on November 8, 2017
I'm a very cautious person, and I probably overthink the "how can someone get hurt with this" angle regarding these kinds of things. But you might be overestimating how easy it is for a modern flat screen TV to get knocked over. I've owned several over the years, and the bases are pretty stable. Mine are both currently wall-mounted, which I love just for the clean look, but I've had them on regular TV stands, with two rambunctious cats and many visiting children without ever having a problem. It would be unlikely to have the TV knocked over accidentally. A climbing toddler could certainly pull it down, however.
So, if I had a climbing kid, and wanted to be very cautious, I would get the Ikea unit you like, but anchor its side to a stud in wall. (This will require more than just screwing through the particle board side of the unit, but it wouldn't be very difficult.) Then anchor the TV with one of many available anchoring kits. (Google flat panel tv safety kit.)
Alternatively, get an entertainment center similar to this. I don't think they are very attractive, but that's a personal decision.
posted by The Deej at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2017
So, if I had a climbing kid, and wanted to be very cautious, I would get the Ikea unit you like, but anchor its side to a stud in wall. (This will require more than just screwing through the particle board side of the unit, but it wouldn't be very difficult.) Then anchor the TV with one of many available anchoring kits. (Google flat panel tv safety kit.)
Alternatively, get an entertainment center similar to this. I don't think they are very attractive, but that's a personal decision.
posted by The Deej at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2017
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posted by amro at 3:13 AM on November 8, 2017 [1 favorite]