John has recently bought a costly audio-visual system that includes a 43in plasma screen television. This collection of shiny black and silver boy’s toys is destined for a rather gracious sitting room, which makes John’s girlfriend, Sarah, uneasy, especially as Sarah’s vision for their soon-to-be-newly-decorated sitting room centred on a recently acquired brightly coloured impressionistic painting of flowers. How can Sarah and John reconcile their opposing passions in one space?

The television set and elegant living space are rarely compatible concepts. Twas ever thus; time was when cumbersome sets were concealed in ersatz cabinets. And then came the plasma screen; the challenge of incorporating an ugly cube of technology into a pretty sitting room has now been replaced with the problem of blending in a more trim, but still dominating, piece of kit . . . not to mention all the additional bells and whistles that chaps like John love.

Bearing in mind a plasma screen’s look, as well as its shallow depth, I think it is best to conceal them entirely in a full height, wall-to-wall enclosed storage system (unless you want a room that insists on a monochrome decorative scheme in an effort to create visual harmony).

With the screen concealed you may dictate the form of your focal point — perhaps a modern fireplace punctured through the storage wall — rather than your focal point dictating to you. Interior Supply has recently started manufacturing alluring panels laminated with natural materials — from little dots of mother-of-pearl to cracked eggshells and giant tobacco leaves to grey shells — that would serve as a sumptuous and unusual finish to doors, sliding or otherwise.

Of course, there are other methods of concealment: Art Screen offers a system that frames your plasma screen in what looks like an ordinary picture and then hides it beneath a retractable picture. I think we may be into ersatz territory again but if you choose your frame and artwork carefully it just might work.

I recently saw a living room where the designer had recessed the plasma screen so that the surface was flush with the wall and had then mounted framed black and white pictures of a similar size around the perimeter. The screen succeeded in not being nearly so dominating, especially as the owner ran black and white movies across it when not in use.

If you fancy taking this route, do have your screen professionally installed to ensure that generated heat does not start a house fire! None of those solutions will work for John and Sarah, however, as John wants his screen on the chimney breast, possibly over an open fire. While this solution is popular it is rarely comfortable: where once the TV might have resided in a quiet corner, it seems that the plasma screen insists on centre stage, dictating the look and use of a room. Television and relaxation do not always mix, especially if this is your only sitting room.Besides, Sarah’s exuberant painting could not be more opposite in tone and feel to John’s high-tech toy.

My solution seeks to bring those opposites together by reducing the impact of the TV and incorporating Sarah’s painting to make for a relaxing, integrated space. If the screen must be mounted on the chimney breast I suggest that it be low-slung. Just beneath I would recommend that a bespoke side table be installed to contain associated equipment.

Fabric-lined walls will effectively counter the hard-edged characteristics of the TV and a charcoal grey weave will make the screen recede as well as adding some softness to the room. If that is too expensive a textured wallpaper would do the same job.

John and Sarah could then complete the scheme with a low modern sofa — the new Arne by B&B Italia would look good, and upholstery in a grey fabric is an available option; a selection of black table and floor lamps — CTO Lighting has some very attractive models; and a large deep-pile silk rug — Kasthall is a personal supplier. The two should live together happily ever after.



For fabric-lined walls: www.stretchedfabricsystems.com



CTO lighting: www.cto-lighting.co.uk

Agents for Kasthall: www.sinclairtill.co.uk

For textured wallpaper, www.brian-yates.co.uk

For laminated panels: www.interiorssupply.co.uk

For an off-the-peg side table: www.boconcept.co.uk

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