Beache, By what I can tell, you are not alone. Since I've been on decorating boards it's amazed me how many women and men get sooo involved with a room to the point where they litterally make themselves sick about it! I'll never understand that. I know what I want and if I can't find it I make it. If I can't make it I find something else close that works just as well. Sometimes better. As much as I love design, it's not a life and death situation. There are so many things more important.

"Flat screen TVs should simply be mounted on the wall, not hidden. We know you watch TV. Trying to conceal a television is like putting dolls in hoop-skirts over a telephone." Finally a designer with a brain! I've been saying this for a long time. So many designers and women get all crazy about their TV showing in whatever room. Though I would have compared it to hiding a clock so other's didn't think we paid attention to what time it was. TV has been a part of almost every family's life for half a decade or more. It's not going away anytime soon.

My Ladies parlor is peach, chocolate and vanilla. So I like his color comment too.

Oh, I need to take that first one to heart. Good reminder to stop overanalyzing things. :o) Thanks for sharing.

Agonize? Who agonizes? (ROLF!)

I realize it's a matter of taste, and not all differences in taste boil down to good vs. bad, but I can't see myself ever hanging a TV on a wall. It's not that I want to hide the fact that I own one; it's just that I don't consider them art. Since I don't have modern, contemporary, or industrial decor, the appearance of a television set would add nothing and detract plenty from the look I'm trying to achieve.

Susan

Good advice but one size will never fit all :)

Please, no peach :-).

agree with most, except the peach. eeekssss :(

Squirrel is right - very smart for a rodent LOL - one size never fits all.

I agree, the more you agonize and fuss doesn't actually mean you'll come up with a better design. OTOH it's easier for a designer or decorator to be cool and detached making decisions for a client's house - it's not personal.

As for TV, it depends on whether someone watches alot or not. If you only watch it once a week, then it makes sense if you don't want to see it, hide it behind something attractive. If you watch it every day, I think it's a little silly to waste effort hiding it, especially if you have more than one TV in your home. Should it be hung on the wall like a piece of art? Depends on what the home owners like and not on the dictates of a designer.

Sky

I agree that flat screens are fine mounted onto walls. This is not the first time I've heard such sentiments coming from an interior designer. Televisions are simply a part of modern life. Cosoles, armoires and entertainment centers often take up valuable space, not to mention they're a substantial investment. I can think of other things I'd rather spend my money on.

I do have our old console television in an armoire in our bedroom - this is how we stored it in our old house - but after buying a flat screen, we just figured there was no need for any special housing since it mounts almost flush to the wall. Very unobtrusive.

lol, SKy!

I am usually glad that I have 'procrastinated' and not rushed into things. Letting things evolve or change or correct themselves as other elements come to the front. It wasn't invented for nothin' you know :)

I have to laugh - its easy not to agonize when its not your own money you're spending! :-)

"Flat screen TVs should simply be mounted on the wall, not hidden. We know you watch TV. Trying to conceal a television is like putting dolls in hoop-skirts over a telephone."

Telephone? I've only seen those things on rolls of toilet paper.

I can handle an in-your-face TV in the boudoir or keeping room, but I better be able to hide the damn thing in the living room. IT IS NOT ART!!! no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise.

Christopher Lowell said "Where there is fear there can be no creativity." Easy for him to say. LOL He is the one who helped me end my fear of color. Now my fear is picking the right color. HA! This forum has been such an enormous help. Just seeing rooms painted in different colors is so helpful.

I think even if I were designing for someone else and spending their money I'd still agonize. Although now that I think of it, it IS way easier for me help a friend make decisions than to decide for my own house.

Just a note about hiding the tv from a mom with 4 little boys. Hiding the tv really does help with out of site out of mind. the little ones can't just walk up and turn it on when the armoire is closed. When company is over we actually visit instead of watching TV. At other homes when we visit and the tv is out in the open, someone turns it on and the men (atleast) just watch tv. I will keep mine hidden behind doors!

What a great point -- out of sight out of mind!

I love peach! I would love to see your ladies' parlor. Got pix?

I often get a laugh when I read designer's quotes, especially in decorating magazines. Let's not forget that they're usually spending someone ELSE'S money(and I would venture that most people who hire well known designers don't have serious budget issues), so not "agonizing" over decisions is a lot easier for them, I think.

Regarding displaying vs. hiding flat screen tvs--I personally loathe a piece of technology being the focal point of a room. And televisions are "focal points" in the truest sense of the term!! I agree with Skypathway that how often a family uses media should determine the importance of the screen in the room. In some households the television is on literally all day and night, so what would be the point of trying to hide a screen in a cabinet then? And I also agree with mommyto4boys that it's a lot easier to minimize kids screen time when you can visually distract them from the screen itself. We make a conscious effort in our home to keep DD (7) away from television -- she is allowed to watch up to one hour per day, but many days she doesn't watch at all, by her own choice. So our televison stays closed in the armoire most of the day. I notice that when the armoire is open she's more apt to turn the tv on, when it's closed she usually finds something else to do.

It's funny. My wife is just finishing up here interior design degree. She went back after our kids started grade school.

She was always naturally good at design and decorating. Her mother and sisters have the design gene I think. So now that she is a semester away from finishing, she is concerned that people don't need help designing/decorating.

She feels why would they pay someone when they can do it themselves. She says since she can do it, anyone can. I try to convince her that most people can't put it together - or at least they don't know how. I see it all the time in our custom rug business. People ask me questions on paint, lighting , furniture layout, etc.

I think most people know what they like when they see it, but getting there on their own - building it piece by piece, is not easy.

One thing my wife did find is that all her classmates can walk into most homes and come up with ideas. But the hardest home to decorate - is their own!

fllwfan: think your wife will be pleasantly surprised that the need for her talents is always going to be there. While there are many talented DIYers out there, there is an equal number who can't (for a variety of reasons including lack of time, ability, desire, etc) and shouldn't be DIYers (for a variety of reasons including lack of ability, etc. etc.). And even those with a good eye, good color sense, good grasp of design principles oftentimes do need help in pulling it all together. And your wife will have resources available only to the trade - many times that's where the "I'll know it when I see it" items are to be found.

I'm a DIYer myself insofar as choosing my paints and doing my own painting, but I'll be using outside help for draperies and appropriately sized furniture. I don't need validation and, for the most part, trust my own skill and instincts. But there are times when paying someone for their expertise can be a bargain in the long run.

I spend a lot of time lurking here and on the Landscape Design forum - there's an almost strange disconnect between the amount of attention (and money) paid to detail in a home's interior versus the exterior. The several thousand spent on a sofa is one thing, but spending the same amount for a good landscape design enhancing the entire property would be unthinkable.

What's wrong with peach? There are so many hues of peach, and sometimes the right shade can make a room (and its occupants) glow radiantly! :-)

My kids bathroom is peach. I think the room is really pretty-like the inside of a seashell. But I wouldn't want it in my living room like in the 80's. I can see a gorgeous peach, chocolate and white bedroom though.

I guess I just am not over the 80's peach and green thing....I look good in peach, but I'm not ready for it our decor....I'm sure it can be lovely though.

I love the first suggestion. I do professional design work (landscape) and it's rather easy for me to be quick and decisive with a client's plan. I do angonize a little over plant materials but rarely of the 'lines' on the design- that just sort of reveals itself to me, the property tells you what it wants done.

Now, in my own yard? I TOTALLY agonize. You can't just change out a tree next season though so that's part of it- it's more somewhat permananent than interior design. Still, it's not as though there is only one right choice, usually there are several, anyone of which would be as good as the other though in a different way.

Not sure if I'd agonize too much over decorating inside since my budget to do so is so small! LOL!

I just wanted to say that deciding for someone else who is paying you to make those decisions and deciding for your own personal space are two different animals with one being much easier than the other. You have more objectivity with someone else's home than you do with your own.

Peach was never "out", only over/misused.

No TV screen is attactive. I don't care if people know I watch TV, that's not the point. The point IS the dead screen is HOMELY and removing the screen from view allows people to focus on pretty surroundings... the furniture that contains the screen? (I'm still trying to tame the "black hole" in the living room!).

Absolutely agree with making no apologies! go for it, go from the "gut", and if you -uck it up, move the hell on! But be sure to share your failure with someone else... it becomes funnier with time.