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Choosing a TV Unit for an Open-Plan Living Room: Size, Shape and Placement
September 28, 2026

Choosing a TV Unit for an Open-Plan Living Room: Size, Shape and Placement

Open plan living rooms bring light and sociability, but they remove the walls that normally tell furniture where to go. This guide explains how to choose and position a TV unit so it helps define the lounge zone within a larger shared space. We start with mapping the room, finding the quietest area and reducing screen glare, then move on to sizing, with clear guidance on width, height and depth that preserves sightlines across the space. You will find an overview of shapes that suit open plan layouts, from long, low consoles and floating units to designs on legs and double sided pieces that can act as partitions. We walk through placement strategies for kitchen diners, L shaped rooms, long rectangular spaces and rooms with no obvious TV wall. Advice on rugs, lighting, coordinated finishes, sound, cables and storage helps anchor the zone, and a section on common mistakes keeps the layout on track. Frequently asked questions close the guide....

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What Size TV Unit Suits a Living-Dining Room?
September 28, 2026

What Size TV Unit Suits a Living-Dining Room?

In a combined living and dining room, the right TV unit is usually wider than the screen by a comfortable margin on each side, low enough to keep the screen near seated eye level and shallow enough to protect the walkway between the sofa and the dining table. Because the room does two jobs, the unit has to suit the space as a whole rather than just the television. In this guide we explain how to measure your wall, screen and circulation routes, how to judge width, height and depth, and how to position the unit so it anchors the lounge zone without crowding the dining area. We also look at how storage needs change when a room is used for meals, homework and entertaining, and share layout ideas for through lounges, new build open plan spaces and compact flats. The goal is a room that feels balanced from the sofa and from the table alike....

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How to Zone a Large Living Room Using Your TV Unit
September 27, 2026

How to Zone a Large Living Room Using Your TV Unit

Large living rooms, knocked through reception rooms and open plan extensions offer plenty of flexibility, but without structure they can feel impersonal and hard to relax in. One of the most effective ways to bring order to a big space is to use your TV unit as a boundary rather than pushing it against a wall. In this guide, we walk through deciding which zones your room really needs, choosing a unit with a finished back and the right height and length, and positioning it back to back with a sofa, floating in the centre or running out from a side wall. We explain how rugs define each area, why lighting should be planned zone by zone, and how inward facing seating creates a cosier TV area. You will also find advice on keeping the whole room cohesive, managing cables safely in a central position and choosing furniture that suits the scale of a large room....

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8 TV Unit Ideas That Suit an Open-Plan Home Perfectly
September 27, 2026

8 TV Unit Ideas That Suit an Open-Plan Home Perfectly

Open plan living has many advantages, but it can make placing the television surprisingly tricky. With fewer solid walls and the screen often visible from the kitchen, the TV unit needs to define the living zone without blocking light or sightlines. In this article we share eight TV unit ideas that work well in open plan homes. We look at low, long units that anchor the seating area, units finished on all sides that can stand back to back with a sofa, and wall hung designs that keep the floor clear. We also cover echoing your kitchen finishes, pairing the unit with shelving or a room divider, hiding the screen when it is not in use, using a large rug to frame the zone and building a full height media wall. The guide finishes with practical advice on glare, acoustics, sockets, storage and scale, plus clear answers to a few common questions....

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Open-Plan Living Room Makeover: Start With the Right TV Unit
September 27, 2026

Open-Plan Living Room Makeover: Start With the Right TV Unit

In an open plan home, the living area often has no obvious anchor, which makes it easy to end up with a sofa in a walkway or a screen facing the wrong way. We believe the TV unit is the best place to start any open plan makeover, because once it is in position, the seating, rug and lighting fall naturally into place. This step by step guide shows you how to map the way your space is used, choose the right TV wall, avoid glare from large windows and plan around sockets and radiators. We explain how to get the proportions right in larger rooms, and compare low line units, floating units, media walls and dual purpose units that double as dividers. You will also find advice on building a defined living zone, creating a cohesive palette between kitchen and lounge, managing cables, improving acoustics and avoiding the most common layout mistakes in open plan spaces....

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9 Ways to Style TV Units With Dining Tables
September 27, 2026

9 Ways to Style TV Units With Dining Tables

Many UK homes now eat and watch television in the same room, whether that is a Victorian through lounge, an open plan kitchen diner or a compact flat. The secret to making it work is to treat the TV unit and dining table as two zones that share one look. In this guide we set out nine practical ways to bring them together. We explain how to connect the pieces through one shared material rather than a full matching set, how rugs and lighting at two levels define each area, and why sight lines from the table matter so much. We look at using a low TV unit as a room divider, borrowing dining storage from the lounge, scaling the table to the space that remains and keeping the colour palette tight. You will also find layouts that suit typical British homes, a note on kitchen lounges and common mistakes to avoid in a shared living and dining space....

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Where to Position Your Dining Table in an Open-Plan Kitchen-Diner
September 26, 2026

Where to Position Your Dining Table in an Open-Plan Kitchen-Diner

In most open plan kitchen diners, the dining table works best between the cooking zone and the living or garden area, with at least 100cm to 120cm of clear space from the nearest worktop or island. Positioning it close to natural light, often by glazed garden doors, and aligning it with the long axis of the room usually gives the most balanced layout. From there, a rug, a centred pendant and careful chair spacing help the dining area feel like a defined zone rather than a table floating in the middle of the room. In this guide we explain how to map your kitchen, dining and living zones, compare the three most common table positions, and plan clearances around appliances, doors and walkways. We also look at typical UK rear extensions and compact flats, island and table combinations, and the layout mistakes that make open plan spaces feel awkward, crowded or disconnected during everyday use....

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Furnishing an Open-Plan Home: How to Choose Your Dining Table
September 26, 2026

Furnishing an Open-Plan Home: How to Choose Your Dining Table

To choose a dining table for an open plan home, start with the layout rather than the style. In this guide we explain how to treat the table as a bridge between the kitchen and living areas, placing it beside the routes through the room. We set out the clearance needed around seating, walkways, kitchen islands and appliance doors, and show how a quick masking tape test can confirm your preferred size. You will find a clear comparison of rectangular, oval, round and square tables and the spaces each one suits, along with the benefits of extending designs in a room that hosts both everyday meals and larger gatherings. We look at linking the table to the kitchen through shared materials and coordinated bar stools, and to the living area through repeated textures. We also cover defining the dining zone with rugs, pendant lighting and furniture placement, plus hardwearing materials and chairs that look good from every side....

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How to Fit a Dining Table Into an Open-Plan Kitchen-Diner Without Crowding It
September 26, 2026

How to Fit a Dining Table Into an Open-Plan Kitchen-Diner Without Crowding It

Fitting a dining table into an open plan kitchen diner is one of the most common layout challenges in UK homes. The table needs to feel like a proper place to eat, yet it cannot block cooking routes, crowd the island or turn the room into an obstacle course. The good news is that careful measuring, the right table shape and a few clever zoning techniques make it entirely achievable. In this guide, we explain how much clearance to leave around a table, how to work with kitchen walkways and appliance doors, and why round, oval and pedestal tables often suit tighter layouts. We also look at banquette seating, benches, extending tables and compact bar height alternatives. Finally, we cover how rugs, pendant lighting and a sensible choice of materials can define the dining zone visually, so it feels distinct from the kitchen while the whole space still flows as one open, comfortable room....

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Matching Dining Tables With Coffee Tables: A Styling Guide
September 26, 2026

Matching Dining Tables With Coffee Tables: A Styling Guide

Your dining table and coffee table do not need to match exactly, but they should clearly belong to the same home. The easiest way to achieve that is to repeat one element between them, whether that is a material, a colour, a shape or a leg style, while letting everything else vary. This approach keeps open plan rooms coherent without the showroom feel of a matching set. In this guide we explain when a coordinated pair makes sense and when contrast works better, how to link glass, wood, marble and high gloss pieces, and how shape and scale affect the way two tables read across a room. We also look at how rugs, lighting and accessories can bridge the gap between the dining and living areas, and share practical guidance on proportions and clearance so both tables are comfortable to use every day as well as good to look at from the sofa or the kitchen....

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