Minimalist TV wall mockup in a light beige Scandinavian living room with a floating wooden media console and neutral decor.

Wall Decor Around a TV: How to Style the Wall Without Fighting the Screen

Wall decor around a TV is the one arrangement most living rooms get wrong, and the reason is simple: the screen was never designed to be part of the composition. It is a large black rectangle at eye level with hard edges and no visual softness, and every decision you make on that wall has to work around it. Ignore it and the wall looks unfinished. Try to hide it and the room looks fussy. The approach that actually works sits between those two — you give the screen company, at the right size and the right distance, so the eye stops treating it as the only thing on the wall.

This guide covers the four layouts that work, the exact spacing to use, how high to hang art beside a screen, and which styles hold up next to all that black. Every measurement refers to standard print sizes rather than oversized custom pieces, because the layouts that need a 150 cm wide artwork are not layouts most people can actually buy.

What's in this guide

Why the wall around a TV looks unfinished

A television creates three problems at once, and understanding them is what makes the rest of this guide make sense.

Contrast. A switched-off screen is the darkest object in almost any room, and the eye goes to the point of highest contrast first. Whatever else is on that wall gets seen second, if at all. This is why a single small print beside a television reads as an afterthought — it loses the contrast contest before it starts.

Proportion. Most wall-mounted televisions sit between 120 and 165 cm wide. On a typical four metre wall, that leaves roughly a metre of blank plaster on either side. That leftover space is too wide to leave empty and too narrow for a single large statement piece, which is exactly the gap that standard print sizes fill well.

Height. A television is mounted for viewing comfort, which usually places the centre of the screen between 105 and 125 cm from the floor — considerably lower than the 145 to 150 cm gallery standard. Hang your prints at normal gallery height beside a screen mounted low and the two elements float at unrelated levels. Most people cannot say what is wrong with a wall like that, but everyone can see that something is.

Every layout below solves at least two of these three problems.

Start with one measurement: the wall, not the TV

The instinct is to measure the television. That is the wrong reference. What matters is the distance from the edge of the screen to the edge of the wall or the nearest obstruction — a corner, a window frame, a bookcase.

Measure that gap on both sides and write down both numbers. They are rarely equal, and the difference decides your layout.

Both gaps over 70 cm. You have room for a symmetrical pair. This is the cleanest solution and the one that looks most deliberate.

One gap over 70 cm, the other under 40 cm. Symmetry is off the table. Go asymmetric on the wider side and balance the narrow side with an object rather than art.

Both gaps between 40 and 70 cm. A single narrow print on each side works at 30×40 cm (12×16"), but consider whether a console-based arrangement would be stronger.

Both gaps under 40 cm. Do not put art on this wall. The wall is too small for the screen, and adding prints will make the room feel more crowded rather than more finished. Style the console instead and put your art on an adjacent wall.

That last case is worth stating plainly, because most guides will not. Knowing when not to hang something is part of the job.

Diagram showing spacing and edge alignment for wall decor around a TV with two 30x40 cm framed prints

Layout 1: a symmetrical pair either side of the screen

This is the arrangement to reach for when both sides of your screen have space, and the one that reads as most considered.

How it works. Two identical-size prints, one on each side of the television, hung so their top edges align with each other and their bottom edges align with each other. The prints do not need to align with the screen — that almost never works, because televisions are wider than they are tall and prints are the opposite. What creates the sense of order is the two prints agreeing with each other.

Sizes that fit. For most walls, a pair of framed posters at 30×40 cm (12×16") is correct. If your gaps exceed 90 cm and your ceiling is above 2.6 m, step up to 40×50 cm (16×20"). Larger than that and the prints begin competing with the screen for attention, which is the thing we are trying to avoid.

Spacing. Leave 15 to 20 cm between the edge of the screen and the nearest edge of each frame. Under 15 cm the arrangement looks cramped and the frames appear stuck to the television. Over 25 cm they drift apart and stop reading as one composition. Whatever number you choose, use the same one on both sides — this single detail separates a considered wall from an approximate one.

Vertical placement. Centre each print on the vertical midpoint of the screen. If the centre of your screen sits 115 cm from the floor, the centre of each print sits at 115 cm too. This is one of the few situations where you deliberately hang art lower than the usual rule, and it is correct precisely because the screen is the anchor.

What to hang. Calm, low-contrast work. The screen already supplies the drama. A pair like Silent Canyon framed wall art and Rising Silence framed wall art shows the principle: the two pieces share a palette and a mood without repeating the same image, which is what makes a pair look curated rather than duplicated. More landscapes in the same muted register sit in our nature framed wall art collection, where soft, warm-toned scenes give the eye somewhere restful to land after the black rectangle.

One practical note on format. Framed posters arrive with the hanging hardware already attached, so both pieces go straight onto the wall and you adjust once. Canvas prints ship with a hanging kit you fit yourself, which means levelling two pieces to exactly the same height takes noticeably longer. For a matched pair, framed is the easier route.

Layout 2: an asymmetric stack on one side

When your two gaps are unequal, forcing symmetry produces a wall that looks slightly wrong in a way nobody can diagnose. Asymmetry, done deliberately, looks chosen.

How it works. Two prints of the same size, stacked vertically, positioned on the wider side of the screen. The vertical stack does something a single print cannot — it occupies height as well as width, which balances the horizontal mass of the television.

Sizes. Two framed posters at 30×40 cm (12×16") is the reliable choice. The stacked pair reaches roughly 85 cm in total height with the gap included, close enough to the height of most screens to feel proportionate.

Spacing. Leave 5 to 8 cm between the two frames — tighter than you would use on a gallery wall, because the pair needs to read as a single unit rather than two separate objects. Between the stack and the screen, keep 20 to 30 cm. The extra distance compared with Layout 1 is deliberate: an asymmetric composition needs breathing room to look intentional rather than squeezed.

Vertical placement. Centre the stack on the screen's vertical midpoint. The top frame will sit above the top edge of the television and the bottom frame below it, which is exactly what you want — that overlap in the vertical range is what ties the two elements together.

What to hang. This is the layout where graphic, high-contrast work earns its place. A black and white pair picks up the black of the screen and turns it from an intrusion into part of a deliberate palette. The wall in the photograph below pairs Quiet Contrast framed wall art with Soft Arch framed wall art — two monochrome pieces that share a visual language without repeating the same shape, which is what keeps a stacked pair from looking like a copy. For the full range in this register, see our black and white framed wall art. The logic is worth understanding: when a room contains only one black element, that element looks like a mistake. When it contains two or three, it looks like a decision. Our guide to styling monochrome prints in a minimalist home covers how to balance black and white work across a whole room rather than a single wall.

Balance the other side. With art on one side only, the opposite side needs something with visual weight at a lower level — a tall vase, a table lamp, a plant. The composition then runs diagonally: art high on one side, object low on the other, screen in between. This is a standard design move and far more forgiving than it sounds.

Two black and white framed prints stacked to one side of a wall-mounted TV in a neutral Scandinavian living room

Layout 3: a gallery wall that absorbs the TV

The most ambitious option, and the one most often attempted badly.

How it works. Instead of placing art beside the screen, you surround it. Prints sit above, below and to both sides, and the television becomes one rectangle among many. Done well, people stop noticing the screen. Done badly, the wall looks like a jumble sale.

The rule that makes it work. Treat the television as one item in the grid, not as an obstacle to build around. The spacing between the screen and its neighbouring frames must match the spacing between the frames themselves. If your prints sit 8 cm apart, the screen sits 8 cm from its neighbours too. The moment the screen gets a wider margin than everything else, the illusion collapses.

Sizes. Mix 30×40 cm (12×16") and 40×50 cm (16×20") framed posters. Five to seven pieces is the practical range for a wall with a mounted television. Fewer than five reads as scattered; more than seven around a screen and the wall becomes genuinely busy.

When to skip it. If your television is on a swivel or pull-out mount, do not attempt this layout — the screen will move and break the grid every time someone adjusts it. If your screen is wider than 165 cm, also skip it, because the scale difference between the television and any standard print size becomes too large to reconcile.

A word on cables. A gallery wall draws the eye to the whole wall, which means visible cables you previously ignored become obvious. Sort the cable management before you hang anything.

Layout 4: one print above a console, screen off-centre

The least common layout and the most useful in awkward rooms.

How it works. The television sits deliberately off-centre on the wall, and a single print hangs on the remaining space, usually above a console or sideboard. Rather than trying to make the screen the focal point, you accept that it is simply an object in the room and give the wall a different centre of gravity.

When to use it. Rooms where the television wall is also a circulation route, rooms with a door or radiator constraining placement, and rooms where the sofa is angled away from the screen. It is also the right answer for anyone who would rather the eye went somewhere other than the television.

Sizes. This is where a larger piece earns its place, because it is doing the work alone. A canvas at 50×60 cm (20×24") or 60×75 cm (24×30") holds the wall properly. A framed poster at 45×60 cm (18×24") or 60×90 cm (24×36") does the same job with a lighter visual weight.

Spacing. Keep at least 40 cm between the screen and the print. This layout depends on the two elements reading as separate zones rather than a pair, and a generous gap is what communicates that.

The console is not optional. A single print floating on a wall next to a floating television gives you two disconnected objects. A low console or sideboard running beneath both ties them to a common horizontal line and grounds the wall. This is true of every layout here, but it matters most in this one. For sizing and placement across the rest of the room, our complete guide to living room wall art covers the whole space rather than just the television wall.

When the TV sits above a fireplace

A television mounted above a fireplace is a different problem from a television mounted on an open wall, and most of the advice above needs adjusting.

The first difference is height. A screen above a mantel usually has its centre somewhere between 150 and 170 cm from the floor, well above the natural eye line. That changes the hanging rule: instead of matching your prints to the screen's centre, treat the mantel shelf as the horizontal reference and work from there.

The second difference is that the wall either side of a chimney breast is usually recessed, which means you are not decorating one flat surface but three. This is actually easier than it looks. Leave the chimney breast itself alone — the screen and the mantel are enough — and hang a single print in each alcove instead. A pair at 40×50 cm (16×20") in the two alcoves, centred at the usual 145 to 150 cm, frames the fireplace without crowding the screen.

The third difference is heat. Do not hang anything on the chimney breast directly above a working fireplace, and keep prints at least 30 cm clear of the mantel on a working flue. Sustained warm air is unkind to paper and to wood frames, and the effect is cumulative rather than dramatic — you will not notice it for a year, and then you will.

If your fireplace is decorative or the flue is sealed, none of that applies and you can treat the mantel like any other console: something with visual weight below the screen, art in the alcoves, nothing competing directly with the television.

How high to hang art next to a TV

The standard gallery rule — centre the artwork 145 to 150 cm from the floor — does not apply on a television wall, and following it is one of the most common mistakes.

The reason is straightforward. If the centre of your screen sits at 115 cm and you hang your prints with their centres at 150 cm, the art floats 35 cm above the screen's centre line. The two elements no longer relate to each other and the wall reads as two separate, badly coordinated arrangements.

The rule for television walls: measure the centre height of your screen and use that same height for the centre of your prints.

There is one exception. In a gallery wall arrangement, the composition has its own overall centre, and it is that composite centre which should sit at the screen's centre height. Individual prints will sit above and below it, which is expected.

If your television is mounted unusually high, art can return to normal gallery height, because at that point the screen is above the natural eye line and the usual rules apply to everything below it.

Which styles work beside a screen

Not every kind of artwork survives next to a large black rectangle. Three categories reliably do.

Muted and tonal. Soft neutrals, warm greys, sand and clay tones, low-contrast abstracts. These work because they ask nothing of the viewer. The screen is loud, the art is quiet, the wall feels balanced. This is the safest choice and the one that ages best.

Graphic black and white. Works for the opposite reason — it matches the screen rather than retreating from it. Bold monochrome shapes make the black of the television read as intentional. Best in rooms that already contain other black elements: a dark coffee table, black metal lighting, dark window frames.

Dark and moody. Deep browns, near-blacks, low-key abstracts. These reduce the contrast gap between the screen and the wall, which is the most effective way to make a television visually recede.

What does not work. Bright, high-saturation pieces — strong reds, vivid yellows, saturated blues. Next to a black screen they create three competing focal points and the wall becomes tiring to look at. Also think carefully about reflection: a glazed frame beside a television, directly opposite a window, doubles a glare problem the room already has. Our framed posters use shatterproof plexiglass rather than glass, which reduces reflection noticeably compared with standard glazing and removes the safety concern of hanging glass above seating.

Dark TV walls: when the screen should disappear

The single most effective change you can make is to paint the television wall a deep colour. It is worth understanding why before committing to it.

A black screen on a white wall has extreme contrast, and the eye cannot avoid it. The same screen on a deep charcoal or warm brown wall has very little contrast, and its edges soften until the television stops registering as a separate object. The room reads as a considered dark scheme rather than a light room with a black hole in it.

Choosing the colour. Go warm rather than cool — deep charcoal-brown, warm taupe-black, dark olive-brown. A cool grey wall beside a black screen looks industrial and slightly cold. Avoid true black, because then the screen genuinely vanishes and the wall has nothing left to look at.

What to hang. This is the one situation where a pale print is the wrong choice. A light print on a dark wall becomes the brightest object in the room, which recreates the exact contrast problem you just solved — only now the art is the culprit instead of the screen. Choose work with a dark ground: deep tones with lighter detail rather than light tones with dark detail. Silent Motion black abstract canvas is built on exactly that principle, with white line work on a black ground, and there are more dark-ground options in our black and white canvas prints.

Why canvas rather than framed here. Canvas has no glazing, so there is no reflective surface to catch light from a window or a lamp. On a dark wall with side lighting, a glazed frame will show reflections that a canvas simply does not. Canvas also has a soft matte surface that absorbs light rather than bouncing it, which suits a dark scheme.

Lighting. Warm side lighting, never direct front lighting. A lamp on the console or a wall light to one side. Anything pointed straight at the wall will hit both the screen and the artwork and undo the effect.

Dark abstract canvas print beside a wall-mounted TV on a deep charcoal wall in a modern living room

Five mistakes that keep the wall looking wrong

Prints that are too small. The most common error by a wide margin. A 20×30 cm print next to a 140 cm television reads as an accessory, not as art. On a television wall, 30×40 cm (12×16") is the practical minimum.

Symmetry without the space for it. Two prints crammed into unequal gaps look worse than a deliberate asymmetric arrangement. Measure first, then choose the layout the wall can actually support.

Nothing beneath the screen. A wall-mounted television with bare wall below it always looks unfinished, regardless of what hangs beside it. A console, sideboard or floating shelf is what gives the wall a base.

Aligning the art with the screen's edges. Matching your prints to the top or bottom edge of the television seems logical and consistently looks wrong, because screens and prints have opposite proportions. Align the prints with each other and centre the group on the screen's midpoint.

Ignoring the light. A wall that looks balanced at midday can look completely different at night, when the only light source is a lamp beside the sofa. Check the arrangement in the evening, with the lamps you actually use, before deciding it is finished.

Frequently asked questions

What should you put on either side of a TV on the wall?

Two prints of the same size, one on each side, hung with their top and bottom edges aligned with each other and their centres level with the centre of the screen. For most walls a pair at 30×40 cm (12×16") is right, with 15 to 20 cm between the frame and the edge of the screen on both sides.

How do you fill a wall next to a TV?

Measure the gap from the edge of the screen to the edge of the wall first. Over 70 cm and you can use a stacked pair of prints. Between 40 and 70 cm, use a single print at 30×40 cm (12×16"). Under 40 cm, leave the wall alone and put the art elsewhere in the room.

Should you decorate the wall behind the TV?

Yes, but with colour rather than objects. Painting the wall a deep warm tone lowers the contrast between the screen and its background, which makes the television recede visually. Adding art directly behind or immediately around a screen usually makes the wall busier, not better.

How high should art hang next to a TV?

Level with the centre of the screen, not at the usual 145 to 150 cm gallery height. Measure the centre height of your television and use that same height for the centre of your prints, so the two elements read as one arrangement.

Can you hang a gallery wall around a TV?

Yes, if the screen is under 165 cm wide and mounted on a fixed bracket. Use five to seven prints and keep the gap between the screen and its neighbouring frames the same as the gap between the frames themselves. Skip this layout entirely if the television is on a swivel or pull-out mount.

What colour art works best next to a television?

Muted neutrals or graphic black and white. Neutrals give the eye somewhere calm to rest after the screen, and black and white makes the black of the television look intentional. Avoid bright saturated colours, which turn the wall into three competing focal points.

What size art goes on either side of a 65 inch TV?

A 65 inch screen is roughly 145 cm wide. If the wall gives you more than 70 cm on each side, a pair at 40×50 cm (16×20") is well proportioned. In tighter spaces, 30×40 cm (12×16") keeps the arrangement from looking crowded.

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