Winter is the time of year where you really get value out of your home entertainment. Long, cold, rainy evenings usually means more time at home watching boxsets, movies, or playing computer games. Therefore, it’s a great time to treat yourself to a worthy TV unit.

TV stands are like any other piece of furniture in that you often don’t realise the range of options available until you actually go to buy one. When choosing a TV stand, it’s a good idea to consider these 5 points. They will help you make sure you bring home the right TV unit for your home.

Salisbury Oak Large TV Unit

1. Style

For most, the living room is where you put your feet up at the end of the day and enjoy some winding down time. The decor of the room is important if you want to create a relaxing atmosphere. With this in mind make sure that your TV stand matches the existing style of the room.

This large Salisbury oak TV stand looks beautiful in a rustic, country style living room, while this minimalist Marcello TV unit is ideal for a more contemporary living room style.

Salisbury Oak Corner TV Unit

2. Room Size

The TV may be the central piece in the living room, but that doesn’t mean that your TV stand should overpower the rest of the room. Look at your living room carefully; visualise and measure the area that the TV unit should take up, without impeding on floor space.

Corner TV stands can work really well in small rooms that are tight on space. This Salisbury oak corner TV unit is a good option. It also provides storage for other media devices or games.

Salisbury Oak Extra Large TV Unit

3. Storage

Which brings us to the next important consideration – storage. How much extra storage space will you need? You may just have a satellite TV decoder to worry about, or your setup might include the works – Xbox, speakers, DVD player and so on.

Work out the kind of storage space you’ll need, not just for everything to fit, but for everything to fit comfortably and neatly. It’s probably better to overestimate here – the next must have home entertainment accessory is always just around the corner. This Salisbury oak, extra-large TV unitprovides ample storage.

4. Less Cluttter

If you have a lot of games, DVDs or remote controls, concealed storage can be really useful and prevent your TV stand from looking cluttered. This tall TV corner unit is more of a cabinet, than a stand, but uses space really well and has lots of doors and drawers to keep things looking tidy.

5. Height

Screen height is key for maximum comfort. The ideal height enables you to look down slightly at the screen. This is not that easy to achieve in a living room, so the next best thing is to aim to have the TV as close as possible to seated eye-level.

CNET writer Geoffrey Morrison explains how to determine what height your TV stand should be. Sit on your favourite TV watching chair and measure your eye-level height from the floor (A). Then measure the distance from the middle of your TV screen to the bottom of its stand (B). Subtract measurement B away from measurement A and this will give you an idea of how low or high your TV stand should be.