I feel like I'm living in a building site, plaster dust in every room nook and cranny, and today the heating gets drained as old school type rads go in so roaring fires are in order I think. Its at this point in a project where you begin to loose faith, have gotten over the excitement of it all (quick I know) and the end looks like it will never happen. Patience patience patience as my mother will say! Yesterday I got asked to post about TV's and although I've touched upon it before its a good time to do so again particularly as I've just decided not to have one in the new bedroom. Not sure if that is silly decision or not but I have the laptop and can always watch stuff on that.
Its interesting when we touched upon this in my master classes leading up to Christmas everyone said their partners sourced the biggest flat screen on earth and how often times it would take over as the focal point of the room which I have to say is bordering on a criminal offence. TV's are ugly (sorry boys) ugly ugly black boxes. If you have a separate TV, cinema room that can be shut off to all and sundry then fabulous go for as big a screen as you want but in a main living room ugg. So what to do, well the plan is to take the focus off the TV and there are a number of ways. Criminal offence number 2 by the way putting a flat screen TV on a pale neutral wall WRONG as you are only highlighting the uglyness of said TV. You want the TV to go away not stand out like some giant ugly alien so paint the wall dark that way you immediately take the attention away. It doesn't have to be black or even dark grey just as long as its not white or cream as the contrast is too great. If its over a mantle accessorize the mantle with stuff again its taking away the attention. If its in the middle of a wall even better - litter that wall with art all around the TV that way it will look just like another installation. Two images below to illustrate my point:
When I first walked into this room to photograph for my book (A Girls Guide to Decorating) a few years back I promise you not I didn't even realise there was a TV on the wall. There is so much other fab stuff - the cabinet under the TV accessorized beautifully, the art surrounding the TV, you don't even notice it. Genius hey
An old image of my sister and boyfriend's pad (its radically changed since) but it illustrates my point perfectly. Take the attention away from the TV firstly by painting the wall a dark colour and then filling your room with stuff so that the eye is so tantalised it doesn't quite know where to look.
Easy peasy no?
Now I've just realised (little slow in the mornings) that I shouldn't be encouraging everyone not to have TV's especially as I am appearing in a 6 part prime time series transmitting very soon. Love TV's the bigger the better, the more you can have in a room the more fabulous it becomes!! Need to get out of this hole I've just dug!
When I first walked into this room to photograph for my book (A Girls Guide to Decorating) a few years back I promise you not I didn't even realise there was a TV on the wall. There is so much other fab stuff - the cabinet under the TV accessorized beautifully, the art surrounding the TV, you don't even notice it. Genius hey