How To: Hide the TV

We can marathon watch Animal Planet with the best of them, but when it comes to décor we like to squirrel our flatscreen away like a state-of-the-art dirty habit--because that sports bar thing doesn't really go with the French salon vibe we're cultivating. Read on for our favorite ways to make your television fade into the background--that is, until it's time for the latest episode of Gator Boys.

Play Curator

Like a politician with a suspect record, your TV will look better if it surrounds itself with a respectable crowd. Position it in the midst of your artwork and you'll be amazed by the upstanding impression it makes.

Style It Out

Set design your space; topiaries and plants can soften hard edges, and placing your TV atop a piece of furniture in the corner, rather than front and center on its own, helps to pull focus.

Distract the Eye

It is nearly impossible to train the eye on a motionless box when there is a floor-to-ceiling avian wallpaper scheme (or equally compelling print) to lure you away. Fact.

Lights Out

It's the "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" philosophy: give your screen a make-under by painting a backdrop around it.

Take Refuge

Pretend that your television is a fugitive in need of asylum, and create a hideaway. We're fans of the fireplace-mantle-cum-moving-panel disguise, a space-saving solution with a theatrical pay-off.

 

 

Photographs: 1. Ragnar  Ómarsson, 2. Courtesy Lonny, 3. Courtesy Style at Home, 4. Courtesy House to Home, 5.William Abranowicz