I bought a farmhouse entertainment center that was 64 inches wide because I loved the barn-door detail and the chunky wood top. Got it home, dragged it into the living room (52 lbs, by the way), and then got to pick it all up again to return it. Why? My TV is 58 inches, and the unit was so wide that the TV looked like a postage stamp floating in the middle of a barn. I measured the TV, not the wall, not the proportions. That was my mistake.
So before you fall for that rustic look, measure three things: the wall space where it's going, the TV width, and the depth of your electronics. I'll walk you through what I learned, with numbers, so you don't repeat my return trip.
The Wall Is the Boss
Your wall width dictates the maximum width of the unit. In my case, the living room wall is 90 inches between the window and the door. A 64-inch unit left 13 inches on either side—that sounds fine, but it made the whole setup feel cramped. Plus, I had a sofa that's 78 inches wide centered on the same wall. The entertainment center at 64 inches was wider than the sofa, which looked weird. The sofa is the visual anchor. The TV stand should be close to the sofa width, not wider.
Rule of thumb that worked for me: the unit width should be about 70–80% of the wall, and roughly equal to the sofa width (or a bit narrower). For a 78-inch sofa, I should have looked at a 60–64 inch unit. But my TV is 58 inches wide, so even 64 inches left only 3 inches of extra on each side. That's fine—turns out, for a 58-inch TV, you want a unit that's at least 60 inches wide, but not much more than 70 inches. Anything wider and the TV looks lost.
TV Width vs. Unit Width
I made the mistake of thinking that the TV should be bigger than the unit. Actually, the TV should be roughly the same width or slightly smaller. My 58-inch TV was 50.5 inches wide, so a 60–64 inch unit was perfect. But I bought 64, and it was fine width-wise. The real mistake was the wall/sofa proportions. If you have a 55-inch TV (about 48 inches wide), a 60-inch unit is the sweet spot. For a 75-inch TV, you're looking at 72–80 inch units. That's a lot, so measure the wall first.
Depth: The Second Mistake
I didn't even think about depth. The unit was 18 inches deep. My TV stand is against a wall that has a door opening 24 inches to the left. The depth pushed the unit out, and the door swing hit it. Also, my center channel speaker is 16.5 inches deep, and it hung over the edge. That looked terrible. For most AV gear, you want a unit that's at least 16 inches deep, but 18–20 inches is safer. But if you have a shallow wall or a walkway, 14–16 inches might be better. Measure your deepest component before you order.
The Barn Door Detail Is a Trap
I loved the barn-door sliders on the drawer fronts. But those sliders add 3 inches to the total width beyond the cabinet frame. I measured the claimed width of 64 inches, but the actual footprint with the hardware was 67 inches. That's a difference of 3 inches that meant it didn't fit where I wanted. So when you measure, don't trust the "width" listing if there are protruding handles or doors. Look at the product dimensions that include hardware, or add a few inches yourself.
What I Ended Up With
After the return, I got a 60-inch farmhouse unit with 18-inch depth, no protruding sliders (flush drawer fronts). It fits the wall (13 inches on each side), matches the sofa width (78 inches, so a bit narrower), and my 58-inch TV looks right. The unit weighs 48 lbs, I managed to carry it with a friend. It's not too heavy, but the box is bulky.
Before You Buy: 15 Minutes of Measuring
1. Measure the wall width, and the sofa width. Write them down.
2. Measure your TV width (not diagonal) and the depth of your deepest AV component.
3. Add 3 inches to any unit with protruding hardware.
4. Look at the unit's actual dimensions, not the "style" name.
That's it. You'll save yourself a return trip. If you want to see what happened with other measurements, check out my Farmhouse Style Entertainment Center: My First Week and the One and the Large Entertainment Center Setup: My First Week and the One. And if you're considering a bigger unit, read about Floating Entertainment Center for 75 Inch TV: The First Week and the.
Next step: grab a tape measure and measure the wall right now. You'll need those numbers when you start shopping.