Practical Advice: the hidden TV cabinet

Through incorporating carefully thought out storage, you can easily disguise a television (and other gadgets) within your extension to let the beauty of the space shine through.

Snuggling around the television is one of our favourite pastimes, especially throughout the cold winter months: according to research from Go Compare last year, 59 percent of Brits said that their ideal winter evening is spent cosying up in front of their TV.

A large open plan space creates a multifunctional hub for enjoying a wide variety of activities. While this may include watching television and enjoying media and technology, these devices and gadgets do not have to take over the room or overshadow any of your beautiful home decor. Through incorporating some carefully thought out storage options, you can easily create a hidden TV cabinet within your extension to let the beauty of the space shine through.

Use storage cabinets

Cabinets have long been a staple solution for storing media units and gadgets while they are not in use and there are many styles and designs to choose from in order to suit the layout and decor of your room. In a multifunctional room, a well-positioned cabinet will also double up as a room divider, zoning off a seating area from the kitchen, for example.

Create a television display

Alternatively, if you have a particularly large wall-mounted television set, you could consider surrounding the TV with a mixture of shelving and framed artwork or photographs in the same colour as the television screen bezel. Make the most of the shelving space to showcase your favourite books and accessories and this will help to deflect attention away from the devices and prevent them from completely overshadowing the room.

Incorporate discrete storage

If you wish to store your television set in a more discrete manner, you could mount it onto a static arm or an articulated bracket within a recess or behind a screen so that the television bezel can be adjusted for the perfect view from your position and then folded away out of sight after use.

Another simple method of hiding away your media devices is with the use of a folding room divider or a decorative screen. Again, these are available in various styles and sizes to suit your room layout. If there is ample wall space available and budget allows, you could have shallow cabinetry and a sliding screen built in around the television for a completely bespoke and organised storage option that will hide away all of your devices and DVD collections.

Projector screens

On the other hand, if you are very passionate about all things technology, you may actually love the idea of creating a full-on cinematic experience in the comfort of your own home from time to time. In this case, and if space allows, a state-of-the-art projector may be your preferred choice of media display in your home, but this doesn’t have to mean you will compromise any aesthetic details of the room. To strike a good balance, you can either project your favourite films and programmes straight onto a plain wall as and when you wish – a special reflective paint will allow you to enhance the image quality even further. Alternatively, it may be worthwhile investing in a motorised projector screen that can easily be hidden away after use – perhaps in the ceiling with thoughtful advanced planning.

If television viewing and media consumption are to be the predominant activity in a glazed extension such as a garden room or orangery, then be sure to take into consideration the aspect of the room and seek advice from your designer.