Classic Hardwood

Let’s face it, even though some of us moan about the television and how it has ruined social skills forever, we all enjoy sitting down in front of the box and watching our favorite programmes after a harty dinner. However, a big plasma screen and all the gubbins that goes with it doesn’t sit quite right when you have a living room full of the finest antique furniture.  The question is, what do you do with the telly?

A die hard antiques fan may go so far as to buy a big wooden TV set from yesteryear

The other method is the one Bond villains seem to like, where the massive flat screen appears from the wall by way of a series of electrical motors and clever hidden doors.

These are both too extreme for most people though, so Kelly Giesen from Kelly G Design has come up with an elegant, if slightly bizarre, way of hiding your television away. She has come up with a flase fireplace surround and decorative fire guard.

It’s really very simple.  There are appatures within the surround for wiring, freeview boxes, etc. and when you’re not watching whichever celebrity dancing contest is currently floating your boat, you just put the fire guard in place.  Hey-presto! No more ugly 21st century technology to sully your room!

There are obvious downsides to this though.  The main one being that the TV is very low down and, unless you like sitting on the floor, you may end up with a bad neck by the time the drum beats signal that the horror of Eastenders is finally over.

The other one is that if you already have feature fire places you may not want to do away with them, or convert them into glorified TV cabinets.

Still, if you don’t want your telly on view when your not using it (and you’re not a Bond villain) you may find this a logical solution to your problem.