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Room Designers Get The Picture For Using Flat-Panel TV Sets

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By MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON, For The Associated Press

Published: February 16, 2008

Kim Shaver's not ready to eulogize the armoire.

"The demise of the armoire is greatly overstated," says the spokeswoman for Hooker Furniture, which specializes in entertainment units. "It's one of if not the most classic pieces of furniture. I don't think it's going to go away."

She will concede, however, that the armoire has more competition for housing televisions than ever before, thanks to the growing popularity of flat-panel TV sets. Hooker and other companies have responded by introducing different options for stowing flat-panel televisions and slowing production of armoires designed for TV sets.

"No one is talking about putting their TV in an armoire anymore," confirms Megan Pollack, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Electronics Association.

A drop in the price of plasma and liquid crystal display televisions has created record sales of the sets and affected the furniture market. Sales of flat-screen TV sets are expected to top 25.9 million this year, according to the association in Arlington, Va. That's 81 percent of the expected television purchases in 2008.

The new televisions are so popular that interior designers say they rarely work with any other style of TV set.

Furniture-makers have started producing hutches, consoles and shelving units designed to work with the new televisions. The sets' slim design gives homeowners many more options.

"It allows the room to feel much larger," said Richard Ott of DesignSourceCT in Hartford, Conn. "You don't have this deep, full cabinet filling the room."

Some customers opt to set the television on console cabinets, long buffetlike pieces with shelves or drawers. Others like putting them in a hutch, where the TV can be surrounded with shelves for displaying photos or knickknacks. To accommodate the flat screen's shape, most of the new pieces are rectangular.

Ott has placed televisions in credenzas and bookcases for clients. He recently tucked one into a secretary desk behind fabric-lined glass windows.
Advancements in technology also make it possible to store components for watching movies or recording programs in a cabinet across the room from the TV, Ott said.

"It offers a lot of flexibility if you're designing around the TV," he added. Hooker recently launched a new piece of furniture designed to hold the companion equipment but not the TV set. The company's "Fireside Piers" have adjustable shelves, ventilation and electrical outlets.

In its advertisements, the Martinsville, Va., company displays the units next to a fireplace, the television hung over the mantel.

The look of the new televisions does prompt people to leave them exposed, agreed Susan Schuyler Smith of Spectrum Interior Design in Vero Beach.

She has helped clients incorporate a wall-mounted TV set into a grouping with shelves. The approach offers a more finished look than just hanging the television on the wall, Smith said.

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