Picture the scene: you want a TV in your bedroom for those Sunday morning lie-ins or early Saturday morning cartoons if you have kids, but you simply don’t have the space. This was the situation we faced recently at AV Installs when we were approached to provide a TV mounting solution for a client’s bedroom. There was no wall space available, and the client had built-in wardrobes at the end of the bed with very little room in between. Therefore, traditional mounting options, such as an end-of-bed TV lift cabinet or an under-bed TV lifting system, wouldn’t work. This posed a challenge, but one we were determined would not defeat us! It seemed that the only viable solution would be to install the TV in the ceiling, lowering it vertically into the room via a motorised TV lift. However, it wasn’t quite as simple as all that, as the installation now depended on the direction of the joists and the amount of space available in the roof void.
This is the situation we had recently at AV Installs when we were approached to provide a TV mounting solution for a client’s bedroom. There was no wall space available in the room, and the client had built-in wardrobes at the end of the bed with very little space between; therefore, traditional mounting solutions such as an end-of-bed TV lift cabinet or an under-bed TV Lifting system just wouldn’t work. This presented a challenge, but one we were determined would not beat us!
It seemed that the only feasible solution would be to install the TV in the ceiling, lowering it vertically down into the room using a motorised TV lift. However, it wasn’t as easy as all that, as the installation was now dependent on the direction the joists ran and the amount of space available in the roof void.
To ensure feasibility, our professional engineers surveyed the room, and we were pleased to discover that not only did the ceiling joists run horizontally to the bed, but there was also plenty of room in the loft. This meant that the TV could be lowered into the room without any additional articulation, and the 1200 cm overhead required to do the job was available to us. This was great news as it meant the room presented the perfect conditions for a vertical drop Ceiling TV Lift system, and as a result, we were instructed to design and install a low-cost solution.
Next came product selection, and our engineers decided to use the Venset TS1000a TV Lift system, which features a built-in height of 750mm and a lift stroke of 1000mm. Therefore, not only was it within budget, but it would also fit nicely into the ceiling void. It would potentially bring the bottom of the TV nearly a full metre into the room for more comfortable viewing. As we let’s face it, no one wants to be staring at the rafters to watch TV!
With the TV lift selected and the TV specified by the customer, the next challenge was to find something to house it, as there was nothing readily available on the market that suited our needs. The solution was to build a custom cabinet to house the TV, not only when it was lowered in the room, but also in the loft when it wasn’t in the viewing position.
The logistics were that the cabinet had to be made in interlocking sections so that it would fit through a standard loft hatch and could be easily assembled afterwards. Once assembled and moved into the correct position, we were able to cut the plasterboard section out of the ceiling, ready for the lid to be fitted.
Next came one of the most challenging issues when using budget vertical lifts in the ceiling: how to manage the opening both when the TV is returned to the ceiling and when it is in the viewing position? One of the easiest ways to overcome this is to bring a box section down from the ceiling with the TV mount inside; the bottom of the box will fill the hole when the TV is returned, and the top of the box will cover the hole in the ceiling when the TV is down. At this stage, you can opt for an enclosed boxed look, or if you prefer something more minimalist, you can omit the two side sections of the box, as we did in this installation.
By this stage, everything was coming together: we had a lift, a TV, a cabinet, and an opening in the ceiling. Now it was time to fine-tune the installation, which meant setting the dead stops on the TV Lift so that it returned perfectly into the void every time. Finally, the entire box, lid and inserts were painted to match the colour of the ceiling for a blended look.
The final result was a solution that was not only impressive in its design but also made the best use of the limited space available, looking seamless and blending into its surroundings when not in use.
If you would like to discuss a similar project for yourself or any other Audio Visual requirement, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at AV Installs Ltd on 0800 669 6600
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