When it comes to your TV, do you prefer to keep it hidden from view in a handsome armoire?
Or make your flat screen part of the scenery with a low slung TV stand?
There are definite perks to each arrangement so we can’t wait to hear which set-up works for you. Do tell.
Both images courtesy of Pottery Barn
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In my family room, it is behind closed doors in an armoire (similar to the photo you posted) which is great when entertaining and you don’t want the focus to be on the TV; but in the master bedroom it’s part of the scenery on an antique painted dresser. I would hang it on the wall but the layout of the room doesn’t lend itself to a good spot.
I would love to have it behind closed doors but our TV is in a alcove beside the fireplace and there’s a window in the alcove. It sits on a TV bench we made from three nightstands – you can see it here: http://tinyurl.com/5l9j7a
If you have a choice, my opinion is to choose hidden. Putting it behind doors gives you the option.
When my husband bought a 42″ TV, we went out and found the biggest armoire we could find that’s also elevated with 2′ legs off of the ground so it wouldn’t look like “the elephant in the room.” I love the armoire. My husband loves the television.
I’d love to have it hidden but buying a new armoire was not an option. So it’s on a low corner stand. Still looks good.
I would prefer hidden in most cases. Our TV’s are all out in plain view, however.
I wish we could put it behind closed doors. We have a VERY ACTIVE 17 mo old and that would sure help baby-proof!
Definitely hidden! Mine is in an armoire similar to the one you’ve shown.
I do, however, think that the wall-mounted flat screens provide a happy medium between the hidden tv and the old chunky box style sitting out. So if I had a wall-mount, I could probably give up the armoire.
I always had it in an armoire, but the doors ended up constantly being open anyway (yeah, we like our telly). So now I have it on top of our built in bookshelves. The computer has moved into the armoire (but the doors are still always open…we like our internet too!).
I thought it was only my wife and I that were obsessed with hiding the TV. We have it hidden in the armoire in the bedroom, and we have built-ins going in the living room designed around hiding our flat-panel.
Our family room TV is in a nook above our fireplace. There are doors on the nook, but they’re rarely (never) closed. But I really like having the option. I especially love that you could play music on one of those cable music channels but close the doors so you aren’t distracted by the display.
Our other TVs are out in the open, but they’re also old clunkers. I love love love TV’s in an armoire.
All of our tv’s are out in the open (two of the three are hanging on the wall now) and it doesn’t bother us. I feel like if we hid away the tv in the living room the doors to the armoire would always be open anyway.
We put it in the finished basement, on top of a shelf, out in the open, but not part of daily life.
Our main TV will eventually be in an armoire…unless my husband somehow manages to get his way, then it’ll be mounted above the fireplace. We’ll see about that!
I like to keep all electronics hidden. We have an armoire for the tv and the computer. It feels like a totally different room when they are closed up! So relaxing. Out in the open makes me feel like my home is a bachelor pad.
I am an armoire kind of gal! I love my armoire though, so when I bought the flat pannel, I used my piece of furniture to determine my guidelines.
I keep mine out…I think the new LCD/Plasma style looks nice that way. I also wonder how often it would really be closed (sad). The only drawback is keeping the cords tamed and hidden. If you look from the wrong angle, it aint so pretty–grrrr.
Retta, your comment made me laugh. I guess it’s not just us who love our electronics.
Our living room TV is the older kind and it’s in an armoire, which has its doors always open.
Our bedroom one is mounted on the wall behind the curtains. It has a swivel arm so we pull it on a diagonal away from the curtains when we watch it. (Hope all this made sense).
So I guess both are hidden when not in use.
But when we replace the living room one, I want to mount in on the wall with black a white photography all around it… so it looks like another piece of art. I do like the low slung TV stand option, as well. Hmmm, too many choices.
We just bought a t.v. stand at Cost Plus- the Tahoe media, for our living room. (http://courtneysthommen.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/give-and-you-shall-receive/)Hubby is now searching for the flat screen to hang above it.
Ideally our master bedroom t.v. would be inside of an armoire. However, it isn’t possible with the size of our room (home built in 1957). Eventually I think we will hang a flat screen across from the bed, possibly with a dresser under it.
Hidden all the way! Right now our TV is out in the open, but we plan for our next to purchases to be a new TV (to satisfy Hubs) and a new armoire to hide it in! This will be ideal for us as our TV is in the first room you walk into when you enter our house, and I don’t want to the TV to be the first thing people see. I’d also like to hide it so I can read without being distracted by the big, black hole a TV creates. For me, an amoire with doors that side inside is the perfect balance — you can display the TV when you’re watching it, and hide it when you need to. What could be more perfect?
I prefer an armoire, as we discussed when you were making my dreamy bedroom mood board! But the one in the living room is 56″ (rediculous) and I couldn’t find an armoire or entertainment center with doors to fit it. And now (per your suggestion) the one in the bedroom will be hanging on the wall. But I definitely think a flat screen on the wall is better than a clunker on the dresser (or the floor!)
Ours is on a stand (42″ flat screen) we have large walls in our living room, so it helps to break the space up. I think an armoire would be too bulky looking. Also, the stand lets us swivel the tv when we need too – I feel like an armoire would get in the way, with the doors sticking out and all.
Ours is in an armoire, but we like it both ways. Our living room area doesn’t lend itself to being out in the open and looking good at the same time. Plus, it seems like when we had it in the open we had to be more careful about dusting the piece of furniture and every book/decor that was sitting on it. Now that it’s hidden, it’s not as big of a deal because the dust can’t be seen.
If you don’t mind me asking, where is the TV stand that is pictured in this post from? My husband and I are getting a 52 inch flat screen this week and it’s going in a large media room so we would prefer to have a stand rather than in an armoire. I’ve been looking for a black stand (to match the rest of the furniture in the room) but I really love the one that you posted. Thanks!
While an amoire would be great to “hide” the tv, in our house, it would just be too big of a bulky furniture piece. Not all rooms can handle the look of a large piece like an armoir.
When hubby gets his way and we do get a huge flat screen, it will go on some type of low/buffet style table.
In a perfect world, I would get my way, and there would not be a tv in our living room… only one in the den/family room. Of course, this is not the case, so in a better world, I’d be able to have it hidden away. Unfortunately the poor floorplan of our current place means it’s in the fireplace nook. But in the next house it will be wall-mounted if I can’t get it hidden.
We’re half and half – our flat screen is in the armoire…but the doors are always open! :)
Behind closed doors for sure… but mine is not. Furniture can be quite pricey!
ok…hidden behind an old retrofitted armoire in the bedroom. But out in the open (attached to wall) over a low slung old asian pirce.
We currently have ours on a low, open TV stand. It’s not our preferred arrangement b/c we don’t want the TV to be the focus of the room and the things on the open shelves get covered in dog hair. We don’t realy like armoirs either, though, bc they seem to scream “I’m hiding an ugly TV”, so our ideal solution would be built in cabinetry that blends into the walls. We are considering adding a fireplace and would also consider hanging it on the wall above said fireplace (in a nook that could be hidden from view).
Where did the open tv stand picture come from? I want it!!
I’ve been fantasizing about a flat screen that would look like a mirror or a painting when not in use. I love hiding things in plain sight!
However, it’s very possible that these don’t exist and my wishful thinking made it up completely. Ah well.
Our living room had an arched recessed area that would have been suitable for either an armoire or a built-in cabinet/shelving unit. We chose the built-in. It was MUCH cheaper than buying a big armoire.
So now we have a nice big cabinet on the bottom, the TV sits on top of the cabinet (Mike just HAD to leave room for the big TV he hopes to get), and we have a floating shelf that holds our DVD player, xbox, etc. Mike ran all the cords through the wall too, so we were able to avoid the mass of visible electrical cords and cables! Pic here: http://mikeandmcgee.blogspot.com/2008/10/beautiful-built-in-furniture.html
Had we NOT had the recessed area and had to deal with our TV projecting further into the room, I still would have leaned towards a more open look for an entertainment center, mostly because I think closed armoires are SO big and end up taking up so much space that they become a focal point in the room, which would have taken away from the rest of the space.
McGee
Ours is currently out in the open, and I’ve adjusted. Ideally I like a hidden TV, but the hubs is convinced that a 42″ flat screen is a piece of art.
Hmm, I think I am in the minority. I think armoires are very 90s. I like my TV right out in the open where it is meant to be. That doesn’t mean that we have it on all the time, either. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it’s a nice flat 42 inch LCD screen either. Pretty!
Hey guys,
We always love hearing your points of view! Keep ‘em comin. As for where the tv stand is from (we loooove it too), it was actually a Pottery Barn find (along with the armoire) but it has recently sold out so it’s no longer available. So sad, but knowing PB they’ll have something similar up in no time.
xo,
Sherry
Hey, CaitStClair -
Oh no, the tv that’s a mirror (that’s a tv) really does – or did – exist: http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/2004/inventions/tech3.html
http://www.luxurylaunches.com/gadgets/philips_miravision_23_lcd_tv_is_mirror_clear.php
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/philips-miravision-in-new-sizes-147899.php
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2005/09/tv_that_looks_l.html
It believe Philips only released it overseas, and several years ago. I don’t think it made it far into the average consumer marketplace. Perhaps it was the hefty pricetag? I’m not sure whether Philips even manufactures it anymore.
In theory I would prefer hidden, but the room where the TV is situated does not lend itself to a piece of furniture that big — I think it would be overwhelming.
Definitely hidden, though neither of ours are. The flat-screen in our bedroom is not so bad (though I hate tv in the bedroom), but I am trying to convince DH to build a unit WITH DOORS into the tv alcolve next to the fireplace, so I can hide that sucker.
CaitStClair & Jean-
A television placed behind a 2-way mirror will replicate the look you’re talking about. That’s how the hotels who feature the tv-in-a-mirror do it. When the tv is off, mirror, when the tv is on the light shines through and all you see is the picture. Magic.
Sometime last year-ish Apartment Therapy had a post about building your own.
I would prefer it be hidden. Hey, John and Sherry! Let’s see some pictures of TVs hidden in a nook above the fireplace by artwork or something. We’re getting ready to build a house that has a TV nook above the fireplace, and just do not want the TV to be such a focal point. I’d like to be able to treat a piece of artwork as a door with inset hinges so that, when we aren’t watching TV, it just looks like a painting up there.
I prefer it hidden. In fact, in our bedroom we use a laptop so we can fold it up and put it away and in our living room we use a projector. One of the best features of the projector was that I wouldn’t have to have a tv in my living room!
Before I was married I had a sad little 21 inch screen tv hidden behind an old floor model armoire. But along with a boy, I moved in a 52 inch big screen tv so out went the armoire and in went the low Ethan Allen tv cabinet holding all of his man toys ie. xbox, playstation, dvd player, blue ray, etc. It’s a wonder our house doesn’t blow up with all of those things running all the time. ha. Alas, I am stuck with the tv OUT and about for all to see but I think I can deal with it. He’s worth it. ;)
As my roommate and I are recent college grads, we’re still rockin’ the IKEA stand she had, but I actually prefer the out-in-the-open look. Listen – everyone knows what the cabinet is hiding, and I tend to think that as long as your TV isn’t totally ugly, you’re probably fine letting it be out in the open. When it’s closed in a cabinet, I tend to think it just looks clunkier than it needs to. If you just have it on a simple stand, it can almost become a piece of sculpture, I think. (Again, as long as it’s a fairly attractive TV.)
I would prefer that the one in the main family room was hidden and the other ones can stay out. However until we get a house with a “mancave,” I have a feeling all the TVs will stay out in the open (though it would be nice to mount them on the walls like they are pictures.) Luckily we have very nice looking TVs so they aren’t an eyesore.
I have the flat screen on top of a pretty, small, low-profile cabinet with the junk (cable box, DVD, Xbox, etc.) in side of the cabinet. (=
Thanks for letting me/us know about the tv and two-way mirror thing, Ryan. :-) Cool–and much cheaper than the Philips’ option! My husband travels to Japan now and then and, boy, do they love things like this over there. You find mirrors in hotel rooms that automatically de-fog, etc. – j
I prefer open but with a toddler, must be closed in armoire. Maybe someday!
so…I’m over a year late on this post but better late than never right? haha We can’t afford one right now, but I’d love to save and get a plasma mounted on the wall with a curtain that could go over it so that it would look like a fully covered window when covered. For now though, ours is out in plain view, but surrounded with books and such to distract and make it prettier. :)
Also chiming in really late…but I’m in the minority. I like the way it looks all out in the open, as long as the cabinet it rests on is clean and uncluttered. This is how we have ours. It also adds a nice pop of modernity in an otherwise pretty formal setting. I think it’s a striking contrast. I also agree the armoires are bulky and a bit dated. All that aside, I am completely against TVs over fireplaces.
i’m chiming in late, too thanx to sherry linking to this post in today’s post! i like/want mine out in the open… i don’t want to have to open doors…. i think they are sleek and look so nice hanging on the wall! we have 2 on the wall…. one in the computer room and one in the “xbox” room and just love how they look… don’t take up any property!
for now the one in the living room in on an entertainment center and i hate it! so cumbersome! same with the one in the bedroom… it’s in a TV armoire and would be SO much nicer and sleeker on the wall! the only reason we haven’t gotten rid of the armoire is cuz it’s part of our matchy matchy bedroom suite (which i can’t wait to replace!)