The modern living room throws up a choice the old telly cabinet never did. Do you mount the TV on the wall and float a slim unit underneath for that clean, media-wall look, or stick with a solid stand that sits on the floor and holds everything? Both work well, they just suit different rooms and different living situations. Here's how to decide which is right for you before you start drilling holes or lugging furniture about.
Why people love a floating TV unit
A floating unit fixes to the wall with nothing touching the floor, and that one detail changes how a room feels. You can see the carpet or floorboards running underneath, which tricks the eye into reading the room as bigger and more open, so it's a favourite in smaller living rooms and flats. It looks sharp and contemporary, especially paired with a wall-mounted TV, and there's the practical bonus that you can run the hoover straight under it with nothing to shift. In the range there's a white floating console at £40.18 for a simple setup, or a larger floating unit built for 60-inch TVs with shelves and cabinets at £79.07 if you need to hide more kit. It's the pick if you want the tidiest possible look with the least furniture in the room.
The part nobody mentions: your wall
Here's the catch that the product photos gloss over. A floating unit is only as solid as what you fix it to. A brick or block wall will take the weight of the unit and everything you pile on it without complaint. A plasterboard or stud wall is a different story, and you'll need to fix into the timber studs behind it or use proper heavy-duty plasterboard anchors, then be sensible about how much you load on. If you rent, or you'd rather not put big fixings into the wall, this is the moment to lean towards floor-standing instead. It's also worth deciding your height before the drill comes out, since a floating unit can't be nudged up or down later. Aim to have the TV centred roughly at eye level from where you sit, with the unit a comfortable arm's reach below.
When floor-standing is the smarter call
For most people in most rooms, a floor-standing unit is the easier, more flexible choice. There's no drilling, it holds a heavier load without any worry, it usually gives you more storage, and it comes with you when you move house. The range runs from a compact three-tier stand at £39.28 right up to solid mango and acacia wood media consoles from Indian Hub if you want a proper statement piece. Awkwardly shaped room? Several corner units make use of that dead corner most furniture ignores. And if it's the glow of a media wall you're after rather than the wall-mounting itself, there are stands with built-in LED and RGB lighting that give you the effect without a single hole in the plaster.
Getting the size right, either way
Whichever route you take, the same rule keeps it looking right: the unit should be a bit wider than the telly, ideally around 10 to 15cm clear on each side, so the TV looks supported rather than perched. Check the weight the unit is rated for too, because modern large screens are heavier than they look. Cable management matters more with a floating setup, since there's no big cabinet to hide a tangle of wires behind, so look for units with cut-outs or channels that let you feed cables through and keep the whole thing neat. A clean run of hidden cables is half of what makes a mounted TV look deliberate rather than messy.
The media-wall look without the fitted price tag
Fitted media walls are everywhere on social media, but you don't need a joiner and a plasterer to get close to the look. Mount the TV, float a slim unit beneath it, tuck the cables away, and add a bit of backlight or an LED-fronted unit for that soft glow behind the screen. Keep the shelves underneath sparse, a couple of considered pieces rather than a crowd, and the effect reads as expensive even when it wasn't. A rug to anchor the seating and a finish that matches your coffee table or other living room pieces pulls the whole corner together.
So which should you pick?
If you rent, can't drill, want maximum storage or have a heavy older TV, go floor-standing and keep life simple. If you own your place, have a solid wall to work with and want that light, modern, floor-visible look in a smaller room, a floating unit is worth the extra effort of mounting. Browse the full TV units range to compare both, and if you'd like a shortlist to start from, our pick of the best TV units rounds up some favourites.
Delivery and returns
Every TV unit ships free to UK mainland addresses, excluding Northern Ireland, with no hidden fees at checkout. Orders are dispatched within 3 to 5 working days, and since these are larger pieces our delivery team takes care to get them to you in one piece. Change your mind and you can return an unused item in its original packaging, with the return postage covered by you on change-of-mind returns. If anything arrives damaged or faulty, we'll put it right at no cost to you.
