Placement of big TVs a skilled art

"For all its flexibility, television is more a mirror of taste than a shaper of it." Russell Lynes (1910-1991), American historian and author, The Phenomenon of Change (1984)

Q: My husband wants a big, flat-screen TV and while I would enjoy watching it, I'm worried about it being the biggest thing in the room. What are my options for being able to enjoy it without making everything else in the room disappear?

A: The world of home electronics is changing every minute, and to have the latest, the delivery truck would be in your driveway each day. As with your husband, everybody's "must have" seems to be the big, flat-screen TV. And it can take over a space.

I have long been a proponent of hiding electronics, but today it seems that everybody wants to show off their latest gadget just like they would a prized antique or piece of art. It's just a TV -- well, at the price of some, it's just as expensive as a prized antique or piece of art!

The major decision when buying your big flat-screen is whether to hang it or house it in a TV cabinet. You actually can do both.

Hanging the TV is certainly a unique solution and one that also offers many choices. The TV can be hung over a fireplace or over a piece of furniture, and somewhat resembles a painting or piece of wall art.

If you are going to wall mount your screen, there are several considerations.

Location is the key to enjoyment and ease of use. Also, check your availability of power. Mount it close to your other components, i.e., cable or satellite connections, DVD players, speaker connections, etc. Pay attention to ambient light through windows so that you can prevent glare. And make sure that your seating is conducive to proper viewing of the TV.

Be sure you have the proper tools to work with. You can do this yourself if you're handy, but if not, hire a professional to install your big, expensive toy.

Whether the screen is wall mounted or placed in a cabinet, these are all important things to consider. Also remember that you can move the cabinet around, but once you go to the trouble of wall mounting the screen, it will be very painful to relocate -- you know, holes in the wall, frayed nerves, etc.

Never far behind or leading the pack in home trends, furniture manufacturers have come to the forefront with a multitude of cabinetry to house or display the new, flat-screen TVs.

For instance, the Bjornholmen cabinet available at Ikea (www.ikea.com) has a reinforced back panel for mounting a flat-screen TV so there is no need to drill holes in the wall. The TV is literally mounted inside the cabinet and doesn't require being attached to the wall. Cords can be hidden at the back. In addition to drawers with room for storage, the doors on top fold to save space when they're not hiding your TV. It is totally freestanding, offering the wall-mounted feature as well as cabinet doors to close it up when not in use.

Most furniture companies have something to offer in the way of cabinets, so you're limited only by your imagination. After purchasing the TV, your next big decision is what to do with it. The styles, finishes and sizes available in cabinetry will please and frustrate.

Buying a TV used to be one of the easiest things to do -- you bought the thing, lugged it home and plugged it in. If you didn't like it in the first place, you just moved it around until you were happy. The electronic revolution has basically ended the ease of buying a TV. I must admit, though, once the decisions are made, TV viewing never looked so good.

Carolyn Muse Grant is the founding president of the Architectural & Decorative Arts Society, as well as an interior design consultant/stylist specializing in home staging. Her Inside Spaces column appears weekly in the Home section of the Review-Journal. Send questions to creativemuse@cox.net.