Saturday, July 08, 2006

Avoiding the Holy Altar of Television

OK, so the CSO and I like having a TV in our bedroom where we can watch it from the bed. Right now our TV is on a small stand on top of a cabinet, maybe four feet off the ground. It's OK for all practical purposes, but I hate it for aesthetic reasons.

I really hate that the TV is the focal point of the bedroom. I want to put the TV in a cabinet, or on a bookshelf, or do something so it doesn't look like we have a shrine to TV in our bedroom. But all the specialized furniture sold for that (since TVs are big and heavy) is really expensive.

TheCSO doesn't care but is willing to go along. He says eventually we will get a flat panel and then we can surround it with pictures on the wall. I agree that this will be OK.

But for now, any ideas? What do y'all with TVs in your bedrooms do?

CC

11 comments:

LaReinaCobre said...

how many inches is your tv?

Robin Edgar said...

Why do you spell 'altar' a-l-t-e-r? ;-)

Braidwood said...

Take it out of the bedroom! Do it now! It will free your mind! Make a real alter!

(Just kidding...sort of, I feel like caving every day and buying one, it could be so cozy.)

Early Riser said...

We don't have TV's in any bedrooms at casa de EarlyRiser. I don't believe it's conducive to sleeping or... eh... you know.

Anyway, chuck the TV.

Chalicechick said...

We have two of them, one in the bedroom one in the CSO's techy-looking office that is set up for video games, though CC very rarely plays on it.

I don't know where else we would put the second one. We have a kitchen, a living room, and my office, a storage room, a guest room and bathrooms in our part of the house, with an apartment downstairs where our housemates are moving in early next month. Having a TV where you recieve guests strikes me as tacky. I don't want it in my office, which looks like a library with a desk and a piano in it.

Unless I'm sick, I don't watch all that much TV, especially in the summer. Recently, the satellite cable was out for a week and a half and it wasn't any big deal.

But at the same time, a girl likes to watch her Law and Order or CSI sometimes, and theCSO finds shows about murder macabre. The CSO hangs out in his office in the evenings for awhile, where he can watch Comedy Central if so inclined. Having the TV in the bedroom, where CC can watch but the CSO doesn't have to, turns what might be a marital issue into a decorating one.


Robin: Ask Linguist Friend how much I like it when people correct my spelling. I made the change, though.

LRC: THe screen is 20 inches wide.

CC

Anonymous said...

Our TV sits on top of a dresser, about 2 feet from the foot of our bed. It actually needs to be replaced, as it stopped working last week.

I prefer to keep the TV in the bedroom, being as I don't spend much time in the bedroom throughout the day. Both my and my wife's households when growing up were the type in which there was a TV in the kitchen and a TV in the family room, and the TV was the focal point of family activity all evening.

I refuse to have a TV within sight of the dinner table, now, as I don't want anything to distract from dinner conversation.

LaReinaCobre said...

Geez, why do folks have to do the "kill your tv" spiel when you ask for a decorating tip? I read your query to the DH and he said, "She should burn the tv," and I reminded him that he watched Chappelle Show and "TRON GUY" (geezus!) on his 17 inch laptop computer in bed! And he tried to defend himself, but I told him not to bother.

Anyway, if your tv is only 20 inches that's easier to hide. I think you've got two options: attempt to hide the tv altogether, or camouflage it. It's probably easier to camouflage it.

One thing I've seen is people cover the tv with a nice floral or other patterned scarf, and then put a candle (or something that won't spew glass if it falls) on top. Don't worry about completely covering every inch of the box; it's enough to just cover most of it.

Another thing I've seen is people put together a series of bookshelves (for example, two columns of bookshelves), and then - for a tv that's only 20 inches - you could stick that on one of the shelves (that are adjustable of course). Or, it goes on the top shelf of one column and the second column can be filled with books or some other stuff. In this way, your tv is on an equal level with other things in the room. It needn't be a large contraption. A little later I will try to post some pics of the types of shelves I'm talking about.

Another thing I've also seen to good effect is the small tv on the round table in the corner. If you have a corner available you can stick one of those inexpensive pressboard tables (just make sure it's sturdy enough to hold the tv) in the corner and cover it with a busy cloth or scarf, and then put the tv on it - again with a bunch of other thing, like maybe a vase or some picture frames, or a box of knicknacks. In that way your tv is just another incidental in your room.

Those are all the ideas I can think of at the moment, but I'll keep ruminating on it. I don't have a tv in my room but I do sometimes want to prop my laptop up somewhere (I like to download episodes of CSI Las Vegas and watch them when I'm tired but not sleepy - Gary Dourdan makes me so happy).

Jamie Goodwin said...

I am of the opinion that you should be watching more television.. there is some good stuff out there!

The new season of Battlestar Galactica starts in couple of weeks!

My Partner and I have a television in the bedroom that is almost never turned on, Actually I am thinking of moving it out of there because it is always in the way.

But we have a big beautiful television in the living room, and yes as Joey from friends would say "all our furniture is pointed towards it".

Hafidha has some great ideas. A 20 inch television really isn't so heavy, just make sure you don't place in in the center of a shelf where the shelf could flex and crack.

Elizabeth said...

I agree with lareinacorbre that a nice little piece of material over it when you aren't watching it should do the trick. My mother in law does this. It looks nice.

indrax said...

Place the TV in a corner facing the other direction, then put up a mirror so you can watch it from bed.

Chalicechick said...

I am mostly a Grissom fan because something about the really-smart-obsessive-guy thing really does it for me, but I must admit that Gary Dourdan is six feet of sexy.

Jamie: Haven't gotten into BG yet, but I can't wait for the new season of Veronica Mars!

CC