We're always talking about ways to play down the television in our homes. Here's one thought that is a pretty simple solution that incorporates a hot trend: black walls.
One common complaint about televisions being an eyesore is that when they're turned off they're just a big black box. Locate the television on a black wall such as designer Anne Coyle has done in this example and it actually disappears when turned off!
Has anyone given this vanishing trick a try? Please let us know of the results below. Would you consider doing this in your home? Why or why not?
Image: Anne Coyle Interiors
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Comments (21)
I actually have thought of it. I just finished painting my kitchen Steel Wool (charcoal gray) and think that adding another dark wall might be too much of a good thing. Will give it some thought now that I have seen this example -- perhaps just a short wall?
Wait what are you talking about? There is no Tv in that pic... oh wait, what? Oh, I see what you did there. Or do I?
Is that Tippi Hedren on the TV?
Have you thought about mirror or glass TV？ That's the best way to hide a TV. Try google "ad notam".
Funny, I've saved at least a dozen images over the last few months with just such an idea. Some with tvs set against a black/dark painted wall, as in your photo, and some in a black/dark bookshelf.
I did a similar thing in my last apartment. I had the TV mounted on the fireplace and painted the brick (which was previously white) charcoal gray. Worked wonders. The TV just dissapeared into the background when it wasn't being used. The rest of the room remained white with charcoal accents here and there.
Honestly, you don't really need a black wall to call attention away from a TV. There was a house tour a while back with an orange wall with a large flat screen TV that looked great. I think the best results come from people who learn to accept the TV as part of the decor and complement it rather than trying to "hide" it, which never looks good and appears half-hearted at best.
We've got my TV up at an angle in the corner, with windows to the right, and a wall of Guthrie Theater posters and graphic art to the left. It works really well, and having some "art" on the wall definitely makes it look and feel like grown-ups live there.
I have a giant, graphic piece of art above my flat screen and I think it works wonders. In a lot of living rooms the largest most striking object is the tv.
In my first apartment, I painted the living room a deep charcoal grey in an effort to make the TV blend in a bit. It didn't work. The TV will always be shiny, and the walls won't (hopefully.) It drew even more attention to the TV, as if I was painting the room to match it.
Lesson learned, I now go for mid-tones and working with the TV - not against it.
Is there some benefit to creating a 10 foot wide black rectangle just for the purpose of hiding a 27" wide black rectangle?
Why is everyone trying to hide their TV? We all have them. Is it SO terrible to see one in someone's home?
@ Scoot - my thoughts exactly.
Embrace it people. If you have a TV and you watch your TV, get over it and stop trying to "hide" it in plain sight.
i think in the picture shown here, it's less about the dark walls, + more about the surrounding artwork - making the tv appear to blend into a larger display.
our living room tv is in front of a black + white (photograph) wall art piece. i hope it helps the tv blend a little against the white walls, but overall, i'm not concerned with "hiding" it.
I agree now in days tv's look great our plasma is very sharp looking would never try to hide it.
WHY?!?! just WHY!?!?! never understood why you would wanna "play down the tv"... what's wrong with a tv?! if you have a horrendous, giant, 90's black monster; sure. But LCD's and plasma's can be very beautiful! It's a piece of furniture! A piece of art! It's design! WHYYYYYY hide it?? If you don't like tv's: don't buy one!
I love that this post says the biggest complaint by tv-haters is that it's just a black box when turned of... and what's the solution to that? create a giant black rectangle! Hahahaha!!
That's why I dont have TV at home....
I think all this TV hiding is silly. I decorate for myself and my partner (who owns five or six TVs, I lose track, one of which is 110 inches diagonal.) (It's a projection sysem, though, so the screen is white -- different issue.)
Anyhow, when I'm home in a room with a TV, most of the time I'm either watching it (obviously I want to see it clearly then) or I'm reading (totally oblivious to my surroundings) or I'm conversing with someone (and also oblivious to my surroundings.) I don't worry that someone will think I'm unintellectual or something (my book shelves probably counter that) and the "black hole" is more like a window to me, so it just doesn't bother me.
I guess if you are a purist about antiques or something your mileage may vary, but for most people, TV is just a component of modern life, like a stove or computer. We expect them in our environments, and they don't require subterfuge!
Stabbing eyes with spork --> unsightly TV problem resolved!
Spork? SPORK??? Bla ha ha! Terrific! And yes, that's Tippy alright. Had a mad crush on her as a boy. :-)
I did this last year only I painted the wall a dark bronze color. Love it! Actually, this is an accent wall with a white fireplace on it. When the TV is off, you only notice the dramatic fireplace. When it's on, your eye is still drawn in that direction by both the TV and the fireplace.