Disguising The TV Set

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30945, 29 December 1965, Page 2

Disguising The TV Set

A television set is one of the ugliest items in the house, but we have to put up with it, writes Stella Bruce. What do we do with it —stick it unashamedly in the middle of the room and let it dominate the proceedings, or attempt to hide or disguise it?

A compromise seems the best plan. The ugly, grey colour of the television screen and its scaled-down picture make it unsatisfactory as a focal point and for this reason it is best treated casually and not dramatised by symmetric-ally-arranged ornaments as though it were a fireplace.

A table-set looks at its best placed off-centre on a broad shelf, running the whole width of a wall. A battery of shelves above and below, con-

taining books and ornaments, will dim the intensity of the baleful grey eye. Hanging plants placed around it also help. Many people place the set in the corner of the room. This is a mistake because it gives an undue prominence whether the set is on or off. Ideally, the set should be placed in a specially-made wall recess with doors to hide it when it is not being viewed. But, of course, this is ex-1

pensive, unless you can have •it incorporated in a newlybuilt house.

There are quite effective camouflage techniques: stand the set in front of a wall, papered in • large-scale pattern or painted in a rich colour.

A background containing a large painting or even a collection of photographs or travel posters, makes a good foil, too. —Provincial Press Features.