High Definition Design

Ain’t Technology Great…

We’ve all got one, even if we say we don’t ever look at it, but the problem is… where in the world does the TV go?

Seems like many years ago when the first flat screens came out, that the new shape and size solved an Interior Design question that had plagued us from its conception, where do we put that big black box that is ruining this room?

I think because of its thin, lightweight design, the answer was get it off my floor plan all together and hang it on the wall, obviously, over the fireplace! And once the first boob tube was hung, we were all doomed! One gaping black box over another black box…lovely.

One of the projects I am tremendously proud of made the cover and was a featured home in Luxe Magazine. I designed all the fireplaces in the home, three of them, and the largest covered the entire Living Room wall. It featured a six foot fireplace, that required some clever flue planning for the builder, custom built, and painted three dimensional art for above the fireplace, art niches, and of course a ginormous TV!

It has always been difficult design problem to have two focal points, a TV and the fireplace, and then there is the whole issue of does this put the TV at the totally wrong height?

There is an overwhelming consensus out there that having the TV above the fireplace totally makes the TV too high for ideal viewing. My favorite comment online about this issue was by Dr. Obvious in a New York Times article.

Eye level.

Dead center of your eye.

End of discussion.

But in answer to his comment was an answer involving the 20 degree angle of your head due to the degree of tilt of said head, depending on the chair being used angle of additional 13 degrees… and two trains leaving the station with cargo of X tons, 20 mile an hour tailwind, and when would they arrive at the station?….I know I had that problem on a math test in the 5th grade!

One comment involved Alpha-Brainwave-Mode,( gotta love that title),stating that eyes have to be focused below your horizon line because focusing above your horizon line will cause not being mentally aroused. Or could that be the content of much of what’s on TV or a totally shut out game? I’ve actually got to try that line on my hubby tonight…Darling, I’m not mentally aroused by this show, could we change? (Should I be afraid of what he’ll change to?)

Years ago, I was hired by new clients to totally re-do their home from top to bottom, new kitchen, baths, flooring, carpet, every inch! When I arrived at the home for the first time, the TV was in the fireplace. When all the work was done, all the re-model behind them, the TV was still in the fireplace. It totally made sense and nobody wanted it moved, it worked great for them. Kids could see it from the sofa, parents could see from their easy chairs, and company could see from side chairs at the other end of the room. Bottom line, it’s their coin and I can’t see it from my house!