Beautiful TV walls: which colours don't fight the screen, and ideas that work in a condo too

A beautiful TV wall starts with a colour that doesn't fight the screen

Switch the TV off and look at it. The screen is the biggest black rectangle in the room. On a stark white wall it looks like a black hole; on a mid-dark wall it blends in like a deliberately hung picture frame. That's why the TV walls in beautiful homes are so often dark.

It matters just as much when the TV is on. A mid-to-dark wall means your eyes don't have to keep adjusting between a bright picture and a glaring wall, so you can watch for longer without tiring. Very bright colours, like strong red or yellow, pull your eye away from the picture and may reflect colour onto the screen when the lights are on.

The finish matters too. Gloss paint reflects lamplight and light from the screen back into your eyes, so a TV wall should have a matt or low-sheen finish.

• Charcoal grey or Volcanic Rock: blends with the screen best, looks modern
• Deep green: warmer than grey, goes with wood and plants
• Navy: deep and luxurious, goes with a light sofa
• Coffee brown: warm, like a screening room in an old house
• If you prefer light colours: choose a warm grey or muted beige instead of stark white

Glare on the screen: fix the position before the colour

Wall colour helps, but if the TV faces a big window, no colour can save it. In the afternoon the screen turns into a mirror. And with a window behind the TV, your eyes are fighting glare around the screen the whole time. The best position is a wall where the window is to the side of the TV.

Another trick that's kind to your eyes is soft light behind the TV. A strip of warm light shining up the wall from behind the screen keeps the wall around it from going completely dark when you watch at night. Your eyes won't tire as much as they do watching in a dark room, and a dark wall looks even better with a gentle glow.

• Don't position the TV facing a window
• Don't put the TV on a wall with a window behind the screen
• Use curtains or sheers to control the afternoon light
• Fit warm lighting behind the screen to reduce eye strain at night
• Choose a matt finish, not gloss, for the TV wall

A textured wall behind the TV still looks good with the screen off

The TV is off for most of the day, so the wall behind it should look good even without a picture. A textured wall does this well. A textured finish in stone grey or ink black has the depth of an old stone wall, and whenever the evening sun falls across it at an angle, you can see the surface play with the light. If you want this look, Voqe Mineral Finish has grey and dark tones that are just right for a TV wall.

Other options are vertical timber slats, which add warmth and help hide joins, or thin faux-stone panels for a solid look. But both are heavier and harder to change than paint. If you think you'll move the TV in a few years, a painted wall or a textured finish is more flexible.

• A textured finish in grey or dark tones: has depth, no extra materials to fix on
• Timber slats: warm, hide joins, need moisture-resistant materials
• Faux stone: looks solid but is heavy, check that the wall can take the weight

A built-in TV wall or a painted one: which to choose

A full-wall built-in TV unit looks neat and stores a lot, but it's a big job, it costs more and it's hard to change. If one day you buy a bigger TV, the space you built may no longer fit.

Painting the wall and using a floating or freestanding TV unit is far more flexible. You can change the screen, move the unit and repaint the wall in a single day off, and you still get the clean look many people are after anyway.

• Built-in: neat, lots of storage, expensive, hard to change
• Paint + floating unit: looks light, easy to clean the floor, must be fixed to a solid wall
• Paint + freestanding unit: the most flexible, suits rentals and condos
• A colour block just for the TV zone: clearly marks out the TV corner in an open-plan room

Hiding the cables on a TV wall, so the wall is truly clear

However beautiful the wall colour, three dangling cables can ruin it. The neatest method is to run conduit inside the wall and move the socket up behind the screen. That's a job for an electrician, and it should be done before painting, not after.

If you can't cut into the wall, surface-mounted cable trunking is your best friend. Choose one that can be painted over, then paint it the same colour as the wall, and it will almost disappear. The darker the wall, the less you'll see it.

• 1. Decide the TV height first. Generally, the centre of the screen should be at about eye level when you're sitting on the sofa
• 2. Have an electrician move the socket or run conduit inside the wall before painting
• 3. If you can't drill, use cable trunking that can be painted over
• 4. Paint the trunking the same colour as the wall
• 5. Gather the cables behind the unit with a cable box or Velcro ties

A condo TV wall: what to do when you can't or don't want to drill

Many condos use lightweight or plasterboard partition walls, and some have rules about drilling. Hanging a TV on walls like these needs the right type of fixings, or reinforcement inside the wall. Don't guess: check with the building management or a tradesperson before you drill.

The good news is that a beautiful TV wall doesn't need drilling. A dark colour block just around the TV, a low freestanding unit, the TV on a stand and a floor lamp give you a look close to a built-in on a very different budget.

• A dark colour block behind the TV, slightly wider than the unit on each side
• A TV on a floor stand, no drilling needed
• A long, low freestanding unit, which helps the wall look wider
• Always check the wall type and the building rules before drilling