1. GOOD-LOOKING TV SCREEN
Interior designers love to hate television screens and while it is easy to understand why, the devices are a fact of real life. For designers it's the fact that they've gone to the trouble of creating a colour scheme for a room, artfully hanging works and installing practical but easy on the eye storage, only to have the pesky client come along and stick a 65-inch big black screen into the scheme undoing all the aesthetic work he or she has paid for. But we all still watch a lot of content on the TV screen so one practical solution is a good-looking TV screen. Samsung is a brand that has invested heavily in TV design hiring the Bouroullec brothers to design its Serif. Pictured is another design from the firm the super slim framed Q90R, with LED screen, Apple TV app, Google Assistant and impressive colour and sound quality. It has a pedestal base and you can upload photos or designs to make the screen into an artwork rather than an empty black space when in ambient mode. It can also be set to blend it into the background colour. The QE55Q90R smart TV was €3,199 and is reduced to €2,149 as part of Harvey Norman's Black Friday sale. harveynorman.com
2. PAINTED WOOD AESTHETIC
If you like a painted wood aesthetic in your kitchen then Neptune's Henley TV dresser might work very well in the adjoining family room. It is a simple cupboard whose doors fold open to reveal the screen and unfold to shut it from sight and the base can be used store media boxes, DVD players and games consoles. The top unit has cable access points to the rear to keep any spaghetti junction situation to a minimum. It comes in two sizes; four feet wide, €2,800 or five feet wide, €3,380, to order from Neptune stockists. If you don't mind the TV on view then the base cabinet can be bought for €1,420 and €1,655 respectively. neptune.com
3. DARK SCREEN
You can reduce a TV's impact by incorporating it into a bold media unit such as this Intralatina, by Roche Bobois, pictured. It has a stained veneer back panel with metal shelves and surround lighting that highlights this feature, even when the screen is dark. It comes with matt lacquer and printed glass doors, in bronze frames, and measures 330cm long by 177.5cm high and is 49.7cm deep. The design costs from €9,470 at Roche Bobois in Sandyford's Beacon South Quarter. roche-bobois.com
4. WATCH IN BED
Watching TV in bed is no longer a pleasure preserved for hotel stays. A bed with TV storage means the device can be raised from a concealed compartment in the foot of the bed when you want to catch up on your favourite series and lowered, out of sight, when not in use. DFS sells two similar styles of bed with upholstered bed head and base. The upright Escada comes in three fabric colour options – silver, charcoal or bark – and has a storage drawer in its base. In a king size, ex mattress, it costs from €1,689. The equally voluminous but less upright upholstered Lumeo, pictured, comes with two Dreamatic mattresses and its king size costs €3,249. These are available to order from the chain and exclude the TV. dfs.ie
5.TONAL COLOUR SCHEME
An easy way to make the TV recede into the background is to create a tonal colour scheme around it. A simple solution is a black or deep charcoal painted wall on to which you affix a wall-hung TV. A more stylish option can be seen here in a property in Foxrock by Carlow-based Woodale Designs. Its built-in cabinetry features solid brass hardware and is book-ended by a pair of drinks cabinets concealed in the cupboards to the far left and right. These have fold-down serving areas and wine glass storage as well interior strip lighting. The visible shelving is backlit using LED strips that are dimmable. The slatted deep drawers at the base are both decorative and practical as the venting allows the infra red signal to pass through the timber to the devices concealed within. Hand-painted in Obsidian Green 216 by Little Greene and measuring about six metres wide by 2.8 metres high, which includes space for an 85-inch soundbar underneath, something similar will cost from about €9,000. woodaledesigns.com
6. HIGH-SPEC THEATRICAL OPTION
There are many ways to conceal a TV, from doors that slide apart to reveal the black screen to panels that disappear up into a void above the set. If you want a high-spec theatrical option that opens like a set of curtains, then UK-based Future Automation's mechanisms are essential. One of the freshest ways to play hide and seek with your TV is this slim-line picture split mechanism that uses artist canvases to screen the TV from view. It ranges in price from €3,500 to €5,995, to order through Blackrock-based Cloney Audio. If you have additional funds you could commission a diptych, so two unique pieces, from an artist whose work you admire. The custom piece could be designed to allow the art to work visually, whether the TV is on display or not. futureautomation.co.uk; cloneyaudio.com
7. EXTERIOR WALL SET-UP
If you're considering major refurbishments and possibly factoring in an open plan area to the remodel, then consider this exterior wall set-up for any new TV room. The wall and its clerestory windows to the right of shot offer a natural space to position a TV that will dial down the reflection of natural light that the popular option of floor-to-ceiling glazing causes. Many homeowners end up having to fork out more on expensive wave head curtains that fit with the glazing and screen out the sunshine. Pictured is a pair of Gregor sofas by Italian brand Molteni. Each is 242cm by 104cm by 67cm and upholstered in a rich russet Kingston fabric, a polyester/cotton/viscose/linen mix with removable, dry cleanable covers. Prices for this style start from €6,920 each, but those pictured cost €7,380 each, incl VAT, and available to order from Minima Home. London-based Chaplins also sells the sofas. minimahome.com; chaplins.co.uk
8. SMART TVS
The growth in subscription services means it makes sense to buy a smart TV now that apps like Netflix, YouTube, NowTV, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime all come pre-loaded on your smart TV. The majority of the 2019 range is also compatible with Amazon Alexa speakers. Pictured is the 49-inch LG SM8200 TV, €829.99 at Arnotts, that also lets you play content from your mobile to your TV and comes with airplay built-in, regardless of which operating system you use; Apple or Android. arnotts.ie
