Art or Offense?

"If the primary purpose for being in a room is to watch television, then it's not necessary to go to extreme lengths to hide it," says Virginia-based designer Barry Dixon. "But in nearly every other case I will try to hide it."

Technology is a fact of life, but disguising it is no longer complicated. "I love the way that plasma screens have freed us from the expected ways of hiding a television," Dixon continues. "I used to say to clients, 'That armoire has made it through two centuries without being altered, and now you want to cut a hole in the back?'"

Boldly displaying the television in a family room is one thing. Doing so in a more formal room is quite another. After one couple came to a standstill over the placement of their television, they turned to Robin Bell, senior designer at McMillen in New York. The lady of the house couldn't bear the thought of a television in her formal living room. Her husband believed that it would help make the room more family-friendly.

Bell needed to find a compromise -- a way to conceal the television so that it would essentially disappear whenever the couple used the room for entertaining. So she built the media system into a paneled wall. The end result is that the living room now doubles -- during off-hours -- as a media room.

For clients who intended to use their garden room as a relaxing sitting area but also wanted to watch television occasionally, Dixon placed a flat plasma screen on a double articulating arm. The device can fit back into the wall behind two folding panels that close to show a grouping of antique botanical prints. "The botanicals are more representative of the room's function, but having a television makes the room multipurpose," explains the designer.

What used to be viewed as an anathema to good design is now considered anything but. In fact, in modern and contemporary spaces, a sleek screen complements the aesthetic. "The new ones are designed so beautifully, I treat them as artistic installations," says José Solís Betancourt, a Washington, D.C., designer. "I'll treat the television as a painting and have it flush with the wall. It definitely needs to be taken into consideration when designing the room." Just as any work of art would be.

DISCREET SCREENS

The new streamlined televisions have designers thinking of inventive ways to either hide them or openly incorporate them into the overall design of a space. Here, they share some of their ideas.

• "Place a television in a cabinet that's been built or painted to blend into the décor," says Dallas designer Cathy Kincaid. "Or for the kitchen, use cabinetry with glass doors -- so you don't have a heavy, wood-front cabinet -- and place sheer curtains behind the glass to hide the television when it's not in use."

• "Now that we have these wonderfully designed televisions, many people are asking for a flat screen over the mantel instead of a mirror or piece of artwork," says New York designer Robin Bell. "We create a frame for it so it looks integral."

• "Hide the television inside a glycine print -- a fine art photograph or even a photo of your family -- or behind 1/4-inch mirrored glass, so it's disguised when you're not watching it," says Dallas designer Sherry Hayslip. "When you're ready to watch, you just punch a button."

RESOURCES: Barry Dixon, Inc., 540/341-8501, www.barrydixon.com; McMillen, Inc., 212/753-5600; Dan Carithers Design, 404/355-8661; Solis Betancourt, 202/659-8734, www.solisbetancourt.com; Cathy Kincaid Interiors, 214/522-0856; Hayslip Design Associates, 241/871-9106, www.hayslipdesign.com.