If you’ve just moved into a new apartment, or you’ve been living in an apartment and just got a new TV, you may be looking into how to safely mount a TV in an apartment. Use this guide to help you look at your options and ensure that you make the right choice for your situation.

Take a look at your lease

The first thing you’re going to want to do before you make any plans or buy anything is to look at your lease. Your lease should have a section that states whether you’re allowed to mount anything to the walls. If you’re having trouble finding that section or your lease for some reason doesn’t mention anything about hanging TVs (or any other items) on the wall, try giving your apartment manager, or landlord, a call to see what they say.

More often than not, they won’t be happy about you putting any holes in the walls, but some apartments may be more lenient than others. Some apartment managers will allow you to mount a TV on the wall as long as you make the repairs by patching the wall before you move out. However, there are other apartment management companies that may fine you or keep part of your deposit.

Making sure that you know what to expect as far as what’s allowed is the first important step.

Consider your options

If your apartment will allow you to put holes in the wall to mount your TV, or you’re simply willing to deal with the consequences, then you can get a wall mount. These allow you to safely mount your TV to the wall by selecting the correct size and weight. Using some pretty basic tools you can mount any size TV on the wall.

However, if you’d rather not mount your TV to the wall you still have an option that saves space. TV carts are a great option for having TV up high as if it were on the wall, while also having a very small footprint compared to something like a TV stand or cabinet.

In addition, TV carts are portable because they have wheels. This is great if you want to easily move the location of the TV regularly. As a bonus, our TV carts have a built in cable management system so you don’t have cords hanging all over the back of the TV.

Have the right tools

In order to mount your TV on the wall, you are going to need some tools to do it properly.

The first thing you’re going to need is a level. This is to make sure that the TV will be straight when it is on the wall. You definitely don’t want to skip this part because nobody wants a crooked TV on their wall.

Next you’re going to need a stud finder. This is a way to know where the studs are underneath the drywall. Why do you need to know where the studs are? Because to securely mount anything heavy, like a TV, to your wall you need to make sure at least some of the screws are going into studs. Drywall will not hold a lot of weight and if you don’t have the security of mounting to a stud you risk not only ruining the wall, but your TV falling and breaking as well as possibly hurting someone.

Lastly you’re going to need a drill. This will help you drill into the wall where the screws are going to go. Before drilling a large hole for your mount, always use the smallest drill bit you have to make sure there is actually a stud where your stud finder says there is.

Choose the correct mount

Before you start looking at the right size TV mount, consider what kind of mount you want. There are mounts that sit flat against the wall as well as walls that tilt up and down and others that are full motion mounts where they can move to face almost any direction.

Once you’re sure that you have the right tools and the style of TV mount you want, it’s time to pick the correct mount for your TV. Make sure you pay attention to the size and the weight of your television so you know that you’re buying the right mount to fit your TV. Ensuring that the mount you pick can accommodate the size and the weight will be the safest way to mount your TV.