We remodeled our kitched in the fall of 2005 and my husband mounted a television underneath one of the cabinets. It swivels so you can watch it from the kitchen or the breakfast nook.

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We will have the following arrangement on a 65-inch-wide wall that is visible from all parts of the kitchen and sunroom:

A 40-inch flat-screen TV on a full-motion articulating mount will be surrounded left, top, and right by an inverted U of narrow and shallow open shelving made to match our cabinets. The shelving (9 inches wide and 9 inches deep) serves two purposes: 1) It will be used for display. 2) It hides the ugly back of the TV when the TV is pushed against the wall.

This complex of shelves and TV will be set 16-18 inches above the countertop of a "bar" composed of two cabinets that together measure 60 inches wide x 15 inches deep. One cabinet (24 inches wide) with shelves behind doors will house the cable box, DVD player, and liquor bottles; the other cabinet is a 36-inch-wide four-drawer base that will hold "desk" needs (it sounds like a lot of space, but the drawer interiors are only 10.5 inches deep).

Our builder created a vertical conduit through the studs made of large diameter pipe material so that we can run all the AV wires and cables behind the drywall between the cable box, the TV, and any speakers we might decide to place on top of the upper shelf. There are large grommets in the drywall that open into the channel at three locations: inside the component cabinet, behind the TV, and above the top-most shelf.

Sorry, no pictures yet; we are only just getting drywall this week.

No pictures because there's still no kitchen but here's the idea in the works. We are wrapping 3" walls around the fridge and pantry and from the wall our peninsula/breakfast bar extends. So we made a nook in the wall and will install an extending, swivel TV mount recessed in the nook. We purchased a 2" LCD TV so it will look a bit like a picture frame on the wall when it's pushed back into place.

The TV swivels and pulls out, doors of cabinet slide in for opening.

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kelleg, I searched for the message about flip down tvs but couldn't find it. Is there really such a thing as a flip down tv that can be mounted under the wall cabinets? It'd be great to be able to hide it away when not in use. When we remodeled, I kept the existing cable plug, thinking I'd get a small tv for it but haven't been able to find anything small enough OR that can be attached underneath a run of wall cabs. I could only find a tv that required the space of a triangular corner wall cabinet - but my cable outlet isn't in a corner and I don't have a triangular wall cabinet anyway. Where can you find these little tvs? Do they even make them?

In my prev post, I meant to say I kept the existing cable outlet that's located in the backsplash. I'm thinking I might as well have gotten rid of it.

They make 'em. Try a search for under counter TV. Here is a sampling from Amazon. Under Counter TV.

Thanks, jaymielo! Now why couldn't I think to search for "under counter tv" when I was looking? Evidently that's the descriptive magic phrase.

Lily, Igloochic's message is current. Just look somewhere in the list. She has about 11 responses right now.

Thanks for the details everyone.

Julie7549: Thanks to you (in a previous post) we will install our kitchen TV above our double ovens. I love the fact that you can hide it when it's not being used. Great idea!

BOOYAH, Sundial! ;>D

I really can't afford to lose counterspace with a flip-down TV, so ours will be above the double-ovens in an arched niche rather than cabinets. I don't really mind seeing it all the time since it will almost always have the Food Network playing.

We put ours on an arm so that we could see it from the kitchen or table (if turned toward the other direction.)

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Lily1342, when you really think about the phrase, they are really not under counter TVs at all. They are under cabinet TVs or OVER counter Tvs. Some manufacturers call them under counter, some over counter, some under cabinet, or flip down or drop down. If you think about it, if the TV were under your counter it would in the base cabinets and you couldn't see it. I was calling it an under counter TV too, until I did a search and my search engine asked me "are you sure you don't mean under cabinet TV?". Glad I am not the only one to make that mistake. It makes me feel better that manufacturers label them that. :)

We have a 50's ranch,so we have a kitchen,dinette,and dining room.We have our tv mounted in the corner of our dining room so you can see it from the dinette area or the dining room.
Kathi

Here's ours...DH wanted a big tv..I was a little hesitant...and now I enjoy it as much..or more!

DW blocked the view of the 50" plasma in the FR with a flower arrangement so I installed this TV under an upper cabinet, visible from the prep sink. Fortunately, I had asked the A/V folks put antennae and power drops inside the upper cabinet during construction, anticipating that we might want something like that.

It's simply a 10" Sharp that's mounted to a bracket made for this purpose, both of which I bought on-line. But what makes it more versatile is that we have a home automation system which allows her to access DVDs, VHS tapes, TiVo and our audio system on this TV, all with one remote. DW loves it!

Bob

I forgot to mention that I saw a TV similar to mine but already made for this purpose at, of all places, Costco about a month ago. For those familiar with Costco's stock rotation practices, you know it's anybody's guess whether they're still carrying it. As I recall, it had a CD/DVD player built into the unit.

And ten or 15 years ago, I ran across an early version of this product with the improbable name of Icebox. In addition to TV and DVD, it also permitted network access to a house computer and the internet. It had a cordless mouse and keyboard and the keyboard could be cleaned by running it under the tap! It was $2-3,000 if I remember right.

Bob

Here's the iCEBOX flip TV (see link)...

Here is a link that might be useful: iCEBOX TV

sue ct, you're right, "under counter tv" really doesn't make sense. Whatever you call them, I need one like montalvo's. The ones with DVDs and all that other stuff are too bulky. montalvo, can you tell me which mounting bracket you got? Are the screws that come with it too long for the cabinets? Is the back of your Sharp tv already set up to accept any brand of bracket?

lily1324, I put my TV in four or five years ago and didn't save all the paperwork but the mount was made by OmniMount. I found it by Googling something like "TV mount" (include the quotes). It seems to me that I had to order a mounting plate that was compatible with the Sharp TV but I may be wrong and mounting holes may be in a standard configuration on flat panel TVs now.

It wasn't an entirely straight-forward process installing the mount. I have European-style (frameless) cabinets with an under-counter light molding mounted to the cabinet's base. I had to use a router on that molding to enable the mount to fit properly. And the mount is bolted to the underside of the cabinet with counter-sunk bolts that come through the bottom shelf of the cabinet. They could easily be hidden with adhesive caps but I haven't bothered. If you have face-framed cabinets, your installation may well be different...easier or harder. This wasn't the kind of thing that you slide out of the box, follow the instructions and, voilà , you're done! It's gonna take a bit of creativity, examining the requirements of cabinet, TV and mount to figure out how they can work together harmoniously. I initially bought a 13" Sharp but returned it when I found that it was just too tall to fit under the cabinet because of the way the TV had to mount to the bracket. I did the installation myself, am pretty experienced with one-off projects and have lots of tools.

Incidentally, the mount that I installed not only flips up/down but when down, rotates side to side. Because of where we have it installed, we haven't needed the rotation and had I installed it so that it COULD rotate, it wouldn't have fit under the cabinet as flushly as it does.

We have a very large kitchen and flipping the TV up is something we don't do a lot. It's usually not necessary for counter access but mostly just done for aesthetic reasons when we're entertaining. But if you're counter-space constrained, it could be particularly valuable for more practical reasons.

Bob

We have a galley kitchen--and I love my TV in the kitchen--I have been expecting to put in two TV's, one on each side of the kitchen. Both ends have doors and I can't think of what else to do that won't involve me craning my neck all the time. I have one on the counter right now, but half of the time I have to turn my back on it. Anyone have any solutions they used in their galley kitchen?

Bob, thanks for the additional info. I ordered a bracket today (that I found on jaymielo's link - thanks, jay!) and I'm hoping that, you know, I'll be able to slide it out of the box, read the instructions and voila! Customer reviews indicated installation wasn't too bad. Maybe they've improved them since you got yours and I'll be able to put in a 10" tv and when I'm through in the kitchen, not have to keep asking DH what happened???

Here is a link that might be useful: tv mounting bracket

My kitchen is far from finished but I will try to post a pic of my over the fridge tv. Please excuse the dirt and tape and unpainted surfaces. I had my cab maker build me a box to house it. I skipped doors, thinking there was really nothing to hide! Guests seem to think it's cool, especially when we have people over for a steelers or pens game...you don't miss the action if you go to the kitchen for a second plate of food!

I did have my guy make me a little trap door in the side of the cabinet box, where I will keep cookie sheets, cutting boards, big trays. I made a little mock up out of heavy paper to show him what I wanted, lol.

When my kitchen is finished, I'll show a more complete view. Right now, it's too embarassing.

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It's on an articulating arm, so it can be aimed to be seen from anywhere in the room.

Sharp Aquos 26"
Casey