When people think about home style or interior decorating, they often immediately begin thinking about colours, textures, and furniture. These are great places to start, but have you thought about designing a room around electronic gadgets. Don’t be afraid. This doesn’t mean that you have to turn your house into the house from the Jetsons. Designing around your electronics is just putting an eye toward functionality as you begin your design project. Taking a different starting point will actually enhance the choices you make about colour, texture, and furniture. Here are some of the common electronics that are found in most living rooms.

  1. Television – The television has been the centerpiece of living rooms for over half a century now. More people are getting flat screen TVs that can be mounted on the wall. Here’s a quick design idea – mount the television on the wall and consider a decorative border. You could use wood for a picture frame look, or colours to jazz things up.
  2. Stereo – Today’s stereos are typically lumped in with home theatre systems. Think about how much space the typical theatre system takes up because it is kept in an entertainment center. You can free up a lot of space in the living room by hiding some of the home theatre components inside drawers or on bookcases instead of an entertainment center.
  3. Computers – Many living rooms have a computer in the corner on a desk or table. Think about ways to minimize the room that the computer takes up. Perhaps it’s time to upgrade to a net-book or laptop. Getting rid of big, bulky desktops can free up a lot of room and make your living room more relaxing.

The big thing about electronics is that while the components themselves get smaller, the furniture that holds them tends to get bigger. Think about ways to minimize the extra furniture for these devices to open up the room and to do some decorating around the electronics, instead of in spite of them.

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