Wish I could afford a flat sceen. Makes it so much less obvious. Anyone have tricks for a good old CRT?

if you can, put the tv in a corner, it will help to de-emphasize it, then definitely arrange furniture so at least 2 seats (couch/chair, etc) are facing each other (while still able to view the tv)

Carder, when I lived in an 800 sq.ft. cottage, I kept my petite CRT t.v. on a rolling cart. When I wanted to watch it, I rolled it into my living room. I'm a proponent of treating the TV like any other kind of entertainment equipment in that it's put away when not in use.

Today I have a closet in my living room and all media lives in the closet (with speakers wired and hung outside the closet) -- I open the closet doors when I want to play a CD or DVD.

After my wasband moved out 18 months ago, I disconnected the cable service and have never, not even for five minutes, though to turn the service back on. I use my t.v. for DVDs about once a month. This attitude about t.v. viewing means I spend more time cooking, reading, knitting, sewing, gardening, and spending time with the people I love.

I challenge ya'll to turn off the tube for two weeks and see how your life changes!

When I was 10, I was grounded from t.v. for two weeks. It broke my addiction completely -- somewhat to the dismay of my wardens who found this particular punishment removed from their arsenal. I've been a fan of single shows like West Wing and Deadwood, but I've never ever had a regular viewing habit since I was a little girl.

I agree with lizb. I have the same problem and putting it in the corner has really helped to keep it from being the focal point in the room. My furniture is set up for conversation, but still within easy view of the TV, so I don't have to rearrange anything for viewing.

I recently invested in a super-shallow Samsung CRT - works great and doesn't feel as overwhelming as a regular tube TV that same size.

One thing that I like to do when I have friends over is to play TV Art DVD's without the sound - it keeps the TV from looking like a blank square but doesn't compete for attention.

I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the first photo. That is SUCH a goregous room.

There's no reason to have a tv in your home - I'm on 10 years and running.

Getting rid of a computer is probably a good idea too, but I haven't gotten that far...

Easyenough, I'm on month two and so far, no adverse effects! :-) but i'll always have me MacBook.

I'm not ready to give up the idiot box, but you can watch a lot of very recent (and some ancient) TV shows with very minimal commercial interruption on both www.hulu.com (really excellent offerings) and www.Joost.com. I'm all for TV online; I'd ditch the set if I could get the full array of TV offerings on my MacBook.

Yeah, why stay connected to your world via cable or internet. God forbid you want to enhance your life with a film either.

I've been TV free for one year! I still watch dvds on a computer/projector set up that I have going in my living room & I go over to friends house to watch LOST.
I have to say that the projector is the coolest way to watch dvds @ home - it kicks the flat screens @sss!!!

telling people to 'not have a television' as a way of dealing with the problem of where to put the television...is sort of like preaching abstenance...fine for those who don't want sex(tv)...but the majority of us love it and want it,sometimes for several hours a night!!and all day on a rainy saturday!!!

Love the first photo; but I can't watch tv from that far. Also, I don't like watching tv from an angle, which, apparently, is a quirk that a lot of people have (this has been a source of dispute between my coworker and her husband).

When I moved last year the new bedroom space was just not going to accomodate a full tube telly, so I donated it. Instead I used an old flat screen monitor from when I converted to a Laptop and for 50$ bought a cable converter. I use external speakers for both laptop and TV. The mmonitor sits on my computer desk very unobtrusively.

Unfortunately I live with roommates so in the livingroom all seats point toward the Cable God. I've tried rearranging, but its just no use.

i'm with bgball, tv watchers unite!!

We use a similar buffet for our tv stand and still have the CRT (waiting for it to blow to justify new T.V.) I put a sanseveria plant beside it and it seems to help detract from the giant tv.

I've used a childrens Ikea wardrobe as my TV cabinet before. If they still make the unfinished kind, you can paint it any color you want, replace the knobs, and shove it into a corner--it's really small!

I've found that it's worth the money to invest in a stand or something for your TV that goes with the rest of the furniture in the room so it doesn't stand out too much.

Many times, a sturdy dresser or other piece can double as a TV stand. The only time it doesn't work is if you have a ton of AV equipment.
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I have found that flat screen TVs are very cheap these days. You can buy them for $500 at Target, and to me it has been a very good purchase because of the space-savings and because of the imminent digital-broadcast-only date in 2009.

say what you want. i love my tv. it's a huge 52" dlp. soon enough i'll have a home audio system that complements it. people can poo poo the tv all they want but i love mine and i love being able to take an hour to decompress by watching some silly sitcom or drama each night. it helps clear my head before sleeping. i also love watching movies and have already filled up a 160gb apple tv with ripped dvds.

So there you anti tv folks!!! ;)

kimg924,

The rolling cart idea sounds like a good one. I watch films and the odd TV show on my computer, so I don't really understand the urge to have two separate energy-draining appliances when one would suffice. But for those who do, all one would need for the cart idea is room in a nearby closet, a free socket, a TV... and a cart of course.

we have a vintage danish cabinet that hides our tv nicely.

Nice sex analogy, bgball. For those TV abstainers out there, good for you for cooking and reading and all, but you are really missing out if you never watch The Wire, 30 Rock, Buffy, Friday Night Lights, Veronica Mars, Battlestar Galatica . . . just saying.

My parents have a whole wall of deep built-in cabinets in their den, and their monster CRT fits perfectly into it. They also have a semi-opaque screen inside the TV compartment (same mechanism as a projector screen) that can be pulled down over their DVD player/cable box, which both sit on a shelf above the television. It's perfect because you don't see any of the wires, but it's still thin enough that the remote controls work. So if you could install some sort of screen in front of your television (or your related equipment), that might be a nice in-between solution to having a whole cabinet.

I don't have enough space in my apartment to avoid the social television vortex, but I dream about someday being able to have guests over without feeling obligated to turn on Man vs. Wild to keep them entertained (for some reason, I find that when people sit in front of a TV, they expect to be watching it).

Has anyone tried out this new Mac television that I keep hearing about? Maybe that's a solution for you non-PC users...

The giant flat screen TV in my lr (thanks, Mom and Dad) doesn't bother me. It's the #$&(#& cable box that ruins everything. The TV could be mounted on the wall, but the box must be connected to the TV and the cable outlet. Where the heck do people put them?

We work in TV/film, as do most of our friends, so a big TV in the living room is sort of a must for social occasions when we have to watch everyone's new pilot/short film, etc.

But we almost never watch it otherwise. Odd.