Design of a luxurious interior: where to put the TV?
Whether we like it or not, televisions are here to stay. For some of us, they are in our lives from the moment we wake up to the last thing we hear or see at night. Throughout the day, there seems to be no place where there isn’t a screen flickering with some urgent image.
As interior designers, we try to find a way to make televisions accessible, when and where our clients want them, and also to make them discreet or disappear when they don’t.
Thankfully, we’ve now finally reached the stage of media evolution that seemed like dreamy sci-fi when we were younger, namely flat screens hanging on the wall. Just a decade ago, interior designers built huge cabinets to hold big-screen TVs that were practically as deep as they were wide, and weighed a ton.
Sometimes we still use these large pieces of furniture as a focal point and to have something beautiful to hide a big screen TV. In some of those cases, we have a false back built in so the TV has a surface to hang from. This also allows a space for cables and wires to occur without being seen.
Often we hang a TV on a wall surface with a suitable bracket. Before installing the TV, the wall must be prepared with plywood or other structural support provided behind the finished surface, and the power supply, cable and other signal cables must also be in their proper place. Therefore, coordination time with the contractor is required. But it can be a relatively simple and effective solution.
That method, just the image floating on the wall, works particularly well with contemporary interiors. However, just like the interior design approach to artwork placement, we generally like to place the picture on the wall with an object underneath. When it comes to a television, the cabinets below provide a place for the machinery that is often required. DVD and cable boxes are still a part of most of our worlds.
Some of our interior design clients now have whole house electronic control systems that provide multiple channels in different rooms, whole house audio in public spaces (indoors and outdoors), and many other features. This usually means that there is a centralized room that contains the equipment racks and is properly air-conditioned to help remove any heat generated. These systems are remarkable and can be designed to be easy to use. You can be in the room with a remote, point it at the TV and a menu is displayed giving you options on what’s available to watch and which movies you can catch up or download.
In some cases, when we have a more traditional interior, we like the television to be less prominent, so we have a recessed recess in the wall or above the mantelpiece. Of course, the same requirements of providing adequate support and wiring connections apply. In this case, however, the 6″ to 8″ gap allows the TV and its support bracket to create a condition where the screen surface is essentially in the same plane as the wall. We can then leave it in a simple rectangular opening or install a beautifully finished picture frame to hug the TV. This can sometimes cover most of the entire frame of the TV. But you have to be careful when doing this, because sometimes the speakers and the infrared signal receiver for the screen are built into its frame. An adjustment must be made to the frame of the frame to allow them to continue to function.
Televisions are also getting smaller. They can be hung under cabinets tucked into the corner of a kitchen so news and programs can join in with the activity of kitchens and families. We place them behind special mirrors so the news is available while you’re in your bathroom getting ready for the day. Of course, now they’re portable, too, and with your iPad you can stay up-to-date on your shows, the news, and whatever else is on the air almost anytime, anywhere.
