[Luke M]

We’re trying to set up a shared digital calendar and task board for the family. The problem is our main living area is really small, so there’s no room for a big screen or even a dedicated tablet stand. I was thinking of mounting a small tablet on the wall by the light switch, but it might be too cramped. Has anyone made this work in a tight space? Just need something non-tech-savvy people will actually check.

[Tom911]

Mounting it by the light switch sounds fine actually. Small screen in a spot you already walk past beats a big one nobody looks at. My in-laws ignored a tablet on the kitchen counter for months, but the one stuck near the door actually gets checked.

[Mike38]

Wall mount by the switch is cramped but it works if you get one of those slim swivel brackets. My wife and kids actually check ours because it sits right where everyone drops keys. Downside is glare from the hallway light in the evening, so a matte screen protector helped a bit.

[M_Ortiz]

I think the bigger issue is placement, not size. A tiny screen right where people already pause, like by the front door, gets checked way more than a nicer setup tucked away somewhere convenient for charging but out of the daily path.

[Sophi86]

We tried the whole “single central calendar” thing in our last place, which was about as tight as it sounds. What actually ended up working was not worrying so much about where the screen lived but making sure everyone could add stuff to it without needing to touch it. My husband is the least techy person alive and he would never walk over to a wall tablet to type something in. So we just made a shared group chat where people text appointments and whoever sees it adds it to the calendar. The wall screen became more of a display thing than an input thing, which honestly took a lot of pressure off finding the perfect spot for it. A tiny hallway spot is fine if it’s just for glancing at, but I’d think about how people are actually going to put stuff on the calendar before stressing over the mounting.

[Sara Williams]

Wall outlet placement mattered more than screen size for us.

[Parker S.]

A tiny wall tablet sounds like a headache to me. We tried a shared digital calendar in a small apartment and the real problem wasn’t the screen size, it was that nobody wanted to walk over and tap through menus just to see what’s happening. The person who set it up checked it. Everyone else asked them.

If the people in your house aren’t already in the habit of looking at a screen for this stuff, a cramped tablet by a switch isn’t going to fix that. It might even make it worse because now it’s awkward to use and easy to ignore.

I’d figure out who actually needs to check it before buying hardware. Half the time these setups fail because one person cares and the rest just want to be told what’s going on.

[Ella Riddle]

We had ours in a narrow spot for about six months and honestly the thing that made people check it was just having it at eye level. Cramped is fine. If you have to look down or reach up, it gets ignored no matter how good the setup is.

[Paul Graves]

I’d skip trying to find the perfect spot and just put it somewhere people stand still for a few seconds anyway. For me that’s the kitchen counter, not a wall mount. I set ours to wake when someone walks by and that made way more difference than size. My parents actually use it now which I honestly didn’t expect.

[Eddie___K]

Putting it next to the light switch is actually one of the better spots if the hallway is where people already walk through. We did something similar at our old place, not a wall mount, just a cheap tablet sitting on a narrow shelf right above the switch plate. It was tight, but it worked because everyone passed it constantly. The bigger issue for us wasn’t space, it was that nobody wanted to stop and poke at a screen while walking by. So we made it show only the next day or two, nothing more. Once it was that simple, even my dad started glancing at it.

The one thing I’d watch is glare and height. Ours was a bit low, so people looked down at it and kind of ignored it. When we moved it up a few inches it got way more use. Also, if the hallway is dark, a bright screen can be annoying at night. Not a dealbreaker, just something to notice.

I don’t think a tiny screen is a problem by itself. The problem is when it tries to do too much. If it just shows the basics, a small wall tablet in a cramped spot can honestly beat a bigger one in a room nobody sits in.

[Tom C]

Wall mounting by a switch just creates clutter people ignore.

[Mark Carrell]

A wall tablet by the switch is still a screen nobody looks at. In our house the thing that actually got used was a shared calendar on the phones everyone already carries. The wall setup just turned into clutter I stopped noticing after a week.

[Jordan M.]

Mine never got checked until it sat right where the mail gets dumped.

[Tom 2020]

A tiny hallway screen sounds like a good way to guarantee nobody looks at it. My two cents: fix the real problem first, which is that half the family won’t touch a calendar no matter where you stick it. If they won’t check a phone notification, a wall tablet in a cramped spot isn’t going to convert them.

[Rivers]

The light switch spot works if that hallway is actually on the path people take. Ours is by the back door where everyone dumps keys and shoes, and the tablet gets checked because you have to walk past it anyway. A spot nobody passes is a dead screen no matter how small it is.

[Susan Kennet]

Small screens in tight spots only work if someone actually glances there every day. I’d probably test it with a cheap tablet first before committing to anything mounted. If people ignore it after a week, at least you’re not stuck with holes in the wall.

[Tom W98]

A tiny hallway screen is still a screen people have to stop and look at. If they don’t already check a shared calendar on their phones, mounting one on the wall won’t magically change that habit. Figure out where people actually pause for a few seconds and put it there, not wherever there happens to be space.

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