As we often design our living rooms before bringing in tech, soundbars can easily look like an afterthought in a small room, especially when they’re crammed in front of a TV.
But although you may be limited on space, designers have revealed three simple – but beautifully effective – ways to accent your best soundbar in a way that looks thought-out.
3 Simple Ways to Highlight Your Soundbar in a Living Room
Instead of trying to hide your soundbar, treat it like a feature of the room: Float it, frame it, and light it. Turning a useful piece of tech into a mini statement shows style know-how.
1. Floating Mount
Floating the soundbar beneath the TV highlights it without adding to clutter in your living room.
Mounting your soundbar directly beneath your TV makes a surprisingly big difference. It creates a slimmer, more intentional profile – and suddenly, the setup looks as though it was designed cohesively.
Lauren Lerner, founder and principal designer at Living with Lolo says, 'You can make a soundbar feel intentional in a small space by giving it its own moment. A simple floating mount keeps it visually light and naturally draws the eye without adding clutter.'
A floating mount is also practical. It frees up surface space on a media unit, keeps cables closer to the TV, and suits compact soundbars that might otherwise feel crammed. Many brackets are universal or designed to work specifically with popular models, making installation straightforward with a drill and spirit level.
Anna Tatsioni, lead interior designer and architect at Decorilla, agrees that this is often the easiest fix for smaller rooms. 'Soundbars can be a somewhat awkward piece of tech to get right in a small room,' she says. 'A floating soundbar elevates it from a piece of tech and makes it a design moment.'
The mount-it! Sound Bar Mount at Home Depot is a highly reviewed option, slotting neatly underneath the TV and fitting almost every soundbar model, and most TV screen sizes. As it floats directly below the TV, cables become easier to conceal.
Ensure there’s around six to eight inches of clear space on either side, as Anna suggests, so the look remains visually balanced.
This cold-rolled steel mount attaches to existing mounted TVs, fitting most screen sizes and almost every soundbar model. It hangs directly below the TV, so connecting cables can easily be hidden out of sight.
Another option is to mount the soundbar so it floats with a bit of distance between the TV and the soundbar, although you'll need some in-wall cable organizers if you want to avoid wires hanging between them.
This kit allows you to hide every power, audio and HDMI cable in the walls, with outlets that open up directly behind the TV and soundbar.
2. Floating Shelves
Floating shelves are ideal for framing the soundbar, especially if you want to position it alongside plants and objects.
If you prefer your tech not to sit too close to the TV, a floating shelf creates a different look, beautifully framing the soundbar while giving you room to decorate around it.
Lauren explains that this works particularly well when you bring in greenery or shaping objects. 'Slim shelving can frame the soundbar and make it feel like part of a curated vignette, especially when you mix in a couple of plants or a sculptural piece to keep the look balanced,' she advises.
This is ideal if you’re already following movie room storage ideas to keep clutter hidden elsewhere, as the shelf then becomes a decorative zone. IKEA and Home Depot have some of the bestselling collections of affordable floating shelves.
You can even build around it with smaller shelves above or beside the soundbar, a trick Anna often uses to create more aesthetic freedom. 'You can also add floating shelves around at different heights and style them with a small plant and a candle to create a mini gallery wall effect,' she suggests.
Floating shelves also help with consistency, whether organizing a music room or keeping the TV stand free of clutter. As Anna shares, 'One piece of advice I will always give is if your TV and speaker stands are matte black, get a matte black soundbar. Consistency makes everything look better.'
If you already have a media cabinet, Lauren also suggests placing the soundbar neatly on top or integrating it into an open shelf to keep the space feeling clean and intentional.
In a natural, dark brown wood finish, this three-pack of floating shelves is a great value pick and comes with invisible brackets that don't show underneath the shelves. Having three of the same texture will help the media wall look more cohesive, and the dark brown will complement any plants or earth-toned ornaments.
3. LED Lighting
LED light strips behind the soundbar will add a gentle glow – or even sync to music and TV playback to make viewings more immersive.
When used subtly, LEDs add a glow that highlights the soundbar as a feature without making your small room feel like a gaming cave. And if you choose well-reviewed options like the Govee RGBIC LED Strip Lights at Amazon, you can even sync them to music or TV playback.
Alina Enache, co-founder of Lamp Genius, recommends a simple approach depending on your setup. 'If you have your soundbar on an open shelf, you can place a single strip of LED tape behind the soundbar, which creates an indirect glow from behind, which is excellent for highlighting it subtly,' she advises.
'LED strip lighting behind or underneath the soundbar looks so good with floating shelves and adds a gorgeous glow. It’s a fun little touch that adds some atmospheric lighting, which smaller rooms often need.'
Choosing from 16 million colors, this smart LED light strip can lay behind your soundbar, and sync with your TV or music.
Next, learn more media wall alternatives that designers love, and the six movies that you need to watch before your next redecorating project.
