Thursday
Jan272011
Reader requests - what to do with a television
Thu, 27 Jan 2011I have gotten a few reader requests lately having to do with televisions and how to decorate around them and make them less of an eye-sore. There are all sorts of ideas below - hide it within built-in shelving, wallpaper the wall behind it (or paint it black), place it on top of a hot pink credenza as a distraction, hang art around it (like I did).....and at the end of the post is an example of what NOT TO DO.
Lonny
Living Etc.
Style At Home
Homes & Gardens
Hus & Hem
William Abranowicz
Home & Decor
Folio
Amanda Nisbet
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| Apartment Therapy | Mixr |
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| Hus & Hem | deko |
amoroso | design
Bolig Magasinet
my living room
Apartment Therapy
SemelSnow
workshop/apd
And PULEASE for the love of gawd DO NOT DO THIS:
Lonny
Reader Comments (30)
ok...I have to ask.
What is so bad about having the TV over the fireplace?
I wouldn't personally place it right ontop of the mantel but I see no problem with having it above, possibly even framed like a picture.
these are all great, but i have one better - get rid of the thing! i've been tv-free for almost a decade and can't say it's affected my quality of life negatively. then you have room for one more painting!
I'm with polish chick. Get rid of it all together. There's no reason for it with all the technology out there! (IMO) There's plenty to be entertained with - like your blog! (=
I am getting married and we are working on our dream home now. I am trying to draw the line at having a tv in the bedroom! on the one hand it would be nice, but on the other hand I fear it would hamper our communication and "us" time.
There are lots of good examples here! It took a second or two to locate the TV in a couple of them.
I think the picture from AT with the TV on the credenza (the white one from Ikea) right in the fireplace is far worse than your last example. Though I'm not keen on a TV above a fireplace either.
I don't have cable, but I do have a couple of TVs. I still think it's much more relaxing to watch the few shows/movies I do on a TV screen rather than a laptop.
I have been tv free for the last 5 years and must say I have more time...for me and blogs like this ;-)
HAH! I'd like to see what these people would do with a TV that has their husband's Xbox, Playstation 3, Wii, Tivo, and a DVD player hooked up to it! ; )
Thank goodness someone finally speaks up about tvs on the mantel!!! I hate that too. A tv is not a work of art! I see designers do it all the time! a mantel is such a great opportunity to disply beautiful artwork and items which actually detract from the tv.
I,too, have eliminated my tv; if I absolutely MUST watch a particular program I do so on hulu. The problem with the last photo, to my mind, is not so much that it's ugly (it is), but that it would absolutely destroy your neck to have the darned thing so high. My physical therapist would jump up and down in frustration.
Yes I think these last people stand up whilst watching their TV.
My husband and I love watching movies and TV, but we also want our house to look great. We have found mounting it on the wall works the best...now we have a PS3 and all sorts of other bits and peices that have to be hooked up. We have solved that problem by putting the cables down through the wall and hiding everything in a very nice buffet.
it is a bit of a quandry isnt it. a tele is what it is, so i always go with - dont try to hide it, and hopefully there's enough things of more interest in a room to make it secondary - like an a/c or other banal bits and pieces.
loved your spread in rue, i knew we shared a love of similar interiors, but its also perfume too i see. had to laugh at how you two seem like twins separated at birth! cool as.
Another TV free advocate here! I haven't had one for years, and don't miss it in the slightest.
I only know one thing about Men,
and that is that they want their TV to be celebrated and showed off to all their friends. Sigh!
OK, Kim, since you let the TV genie out of the bottle... I have to wonder about televisions placed so that only one person can watch comfortably--or no one can watch comfortably! Do people move seating when they want to watch a movie? And small televisions may be less obtrusive, but digital-small is still small; how can people see the movie/ show from across the room? Chuckles to Amanda--- I don't like commercials so a must-have is a spot for the TiVo! Decorating pics never show all the boxes and cables!
Hus & Hem & Folio were my two favorites - one so bright and the other so cool, and both sophisticated. But I just looked over to check the tv was still there - because I haven't even dusted it for- Moving on! If I were designing a house for myself - or half the people I know - I wouldn't even think of devoting space to a tv. You want options - I saw another pic on the site of a telly in a kitchen/dining room, right over the end of a rectangular table But- now that was awesome! But I agree with everyone else. Television is no longer the hearth of the home... (I'm so happy about that I could cry!)
Sheesh, people, what's with the TV bashing? Skip the McLuhan and embrace wood panelling and shaggy carpets, if you want to remain in the 70's. There are good and bad TV shows, like books, like films, like food. There are good and bad TV placements too - mine is in an alcove by the fireplace, and we're putting wood panelling behind it (see?) with matching shelves for the DVD player, Wii etc.
I like this post because televisions are such an eyesore. These ideas really help integrate. However, I really want to know who one of the artist's is in the photo of your space. It's directly to the left of the TV nearest the door. The woman with the curly hair - kind of a water-colory print. I believe we had this same one when I was growing up and it's long gone now. Would love to see if I could obtain it again.
Thanks!
Kristi, it's by Christine Rosamond. The one in the top right is also one of hers that my parents had received as a wedding gift back in the 70s.
I love your readers requests posts, I'm going to have to send in one of my own pretty soon! All these (except for the last one, I totally agree with you) are beautiful! And there is nothing wrong with having a television! Don't you people like watching great Hollywood classics at the very least? We don't have cable (a total waste of money) just instant netflix, and a large dvd collection. Film is art, if you feel you're rotting your brain by staring at a screen, then what about your computer screen? I get headaches if I sit and stare at computer screen for too long, but not if I'm watching a great movie with a bowl of popcorn on my comfy sofa at a good distance (and eye level, tv's are supposed to be at eye level!!)
We don't watch broadcast TV per se, but use it more like a large computer screen that happens to also be big enough to watch movies on. Our problem is the number of devices and wires attached to the thing...DVD, mac mini, cable/internet box, wireless network transmittter, VOIP phone, stereo, video games, yikes! What to do with it all! I love when it's hung on a wall, but what do people do about the wiring? is all the "stuff" removed before each photo shoot? We have an entertainment center, but for everything to give off a good "signal" and not overheat, my husband insists on placing it all above and out where it can be an eyesore.
No tv bashing....just saying why have 2 (or more) when 1 screen can do the job of both computer and movie screen. Put wheels on a desk....all the wires get hidden behind and it can be rolled from office to living room to bedroom. That's how we solved our small space solutions. Cheers from this happy condo dweller.
I believe I've stumbled on the perfect solution. My boyfriend and I are huge movie buffs and videogame enthusiasts and we decided to go with projector and screen over a regular television. The screen is mounted to a bookshelf and when it's retracted you can barely tell it's there. It's nice because we don't watch broadcast television and really only need the 'tv' for a couple hours a night for a movie or game so most of the time the room is completely normal and sans tv, and then for the movies we have a nice big 60" screen.
We have a TV room, I must say it is dedicated to the TV, but that is surrounded with beautiful muted and larger modern furniture and great art. We also offset the idiot box with stacks of gorgeous books that you can't help but pick up. Our second floor library has a tv set into the white glossy shelves. Again, the books surrounding the TV help to take the focus off of this thing. There is such a thing as balance. I live with a sports fiend, so the TV is a given. I also put my foot down on any lazy boys and leather sofas. Thank god.
I want to know what to do with large speakers - my husband has just bought a home theatre that he has placed in the lounge room!
JDurney: I'd suggest putting them in a cabinet of some sort and replacing the panels in the doors with acoustically transparent fabric (which comes in tons of colors) That way you can make it match your decor or even look built in, instead of ugly black speakers.