The Home Ownership Thread

[otc]

A decent share of the time I have other people in my apartment...the TV is used. Have a nice dinner and then watch GoT? Movie night? Debate? It wouldn't make sense to try and have separate seating (especially if there is less space) in a different section of my living room.

I've accepted that the TV is something that can be visible. We aren't in monster CRT land anymore...my TV doesn't look half bad. Sure, you can tell it is a TV, but half the time we are going to use the TV later that night. We are OK with open plan kitchens...I don't try to hide my stove, dishwasher, or fridge when not in use. Some people go with cabinet facings on the latter two, but I don't see anybody out there with sliding countertop covers for their range.

 

[RedLantern]

After staying in AirBnB's for 2+ weeks, my house feels like ******* Versailles! I'm always happy to come home from vacation - though admittedly, I have come to like vacation much more now that I don't have to do it on a student's budget. It's much more relaxing when you have budgeted well for it and don't have to constantly monitor your spending.

 

[TheFoo]



Or you could become a properly cultured Manhattenite and ditch the TV.

Not going to happen. TV is too damned good these days. What would I talk to all my fellow Manhattanites about?

I blame HGTV.

They are also the culprits behind accent walls, yes? Bastards.

A decent share of the time I have other people in my apartment...the TV is used. Have a nice dinner and then watch GoT? Movie night? Debate? It wouldn't make sense to try and have separate seating (especially if there is less space) in a different section of my living room.

Yeah, I think this is the (sad?) truth. TV and socializing are often more intertwined than they necessarily should be, but that is the reality of things.

. . . but I don't see anybody out there with sliding countertop covers for their range.

Actually, these do exist . . .

 

[Gibonius]



A decent share of the time I have other people in my apartment...the TV is used. Have a nice dinner and then watch GoT? Movie night? Debate? It wouldn't make sense to try and have separate seating (especially if there is less space) in a different section of my living room.

I've accepted that the TV is something that can be visible. We aren't in monster CRT land anymore...my TV doesn't look half bad. Sure, you can tell it is a TV, but half the time we are going to use the TV later that night. We are OK with open plan kitchens...I don't try to hide my stove, dishwasher, or fridge when not in use. Some people go with cabinet facings on the latter two, but I don't see anybody out there with sliding countertop covers for their range.

It really depends on the layout, but the default scenario is where you end up with the whole space designed around the TV. Either it's awkward to watch, or all the seating is oriented around the TV. It shaped the whole focal point of the room. I really like having a main living space that's actually designed around being a living and entertaining space, not a "TV watching space."


And these days, if you want to pull up the game or whatever and don't want to go into the TV room (for us suburbanites), you can pull it up on your tablet. It's not the optimal experience, but it's a solid compromise. I've watched games out on the patio.

 

[otc]



I blame HGTV.

When I was looking for houses, nearly all of the flipped houses came pre-wired to have a TV mounted over the fireplace.

Some of them had even installed electric fireplaces so that people could mount a TV over them.
You need to talk to HGTV right now, get this going. I bet 4K TVs give a great looking fake fire.

Is HGTV the reason for it? Or does it just show up on HGTV becasue there was a huge spat of developers starting sometime in the 90s/2000s who built living rooms that didn't have any sensible place to fit a television because they also felt the need to install a gas fireplace.

Can't tell you how many condos I have seen that have an open kitchen that looks out into a long space that is supposed to fit your dining table and living room...but between french doors on the far end of the room, and a fireplace on one side, there's often no way to set up furniture so you aren't blocking something...unless you mount the TV over the fireplace.

I definitely have seen people just seal them off, use the fireplace cutout as a home for DVD/cable/audio gear, and then mount the TV at a normal height (where there was just drywall and wasn't some big mantle to interfere with the placement).

 

[TheFoo]



It really depends on the layout, but the default scenario is where you end up with the whole space designed around the TV. Either it's awkward to watch, or all the seating is oriented around the TV. It shaped the whole focal point of the room. I really like having a main living space that's actually designed around being a living and entertaining space, not a "TV watching space."

And these days, if you want to pull up the game or whatever and don't want to go into the TV room, you can pull it up on your tablet. It's not the optimal experience, but it's a solid compromise. I've watched games out on the patio.

Our solution (or, rather, compromise) is that all seating in the living room is oriented toward conversation/socialization--which is to say, facing each other and centered around a coffee table. But the sofa happens to face the television. It is the only place from which television watching is optimal or comfortable. In other words, when my wife and I want to watch TV together and we are by ourselves, the arrangement works very well. But if we have a bunch of guests over, most of the available seating is not conducive to TV-watching and people will find themselves facing each other no matter where they sit.

 

[otc]

I suppose I am somewhat biased because my HTPC also becomes the source of my music and I actually do a fair amount of random web browsing on it with a wireless keyboard/touchpad.

So if I want to queue up some music...TV becomes the control point.

If I am working on some project (or even cooking) in the living space of my home and need to look something up, more often than not, I will just click the TV on and google it there rather than using my tablet.

 

[Medwed]



I blame HGTV.


When I was looking for houses, nearly all of the flipped houses came pre-wired to have a TV mounted over the fireplace.


Some of them had even installed electric fireplaces so that people could mount a TV over them.
You need to talk to HGTV right now, get this going. I bet 4K TVs give a great looking fake fire.

That sort of broadcast was available in 1950s for B&W TVs , I saw some commercial to that affect. This should come back STRONG as pay-per-view from your friendly folks at Comcast.

 

[RedLantern]



Our solution (or, rather, compromise) is that all seating in the living room is oriented toward conversation/socialization--which is to say, facing each other and centered around a coffee table. But the sofa happens to face the television. It is the only place from which television watching is optimal or comfortable. In other words, when my wife and I want to watch TV together and we are by ourselves, the arrangement works very well. But if we have a bunch of guests over, most of the available seating is not conducive to TV-watching and people will find themselves facing each other no matter where they sit.

I have a long sofa facing two swiveling barrel chairs and it works to alleviate this problem. The tv is on a mobile wall mount on one side of the room, so usually we have it tiled towards the couch for the best viewing angle from the couch (still sort of off to the left, but not really bothersome). If we have people over for the game or something, we can adjust the angle of the tv and people in the chairs can also swivel around to get a decent view. Overall, I just love swiveling barrel chairs.

 

[Medwed]

Here is the solution for urban dwellers.

 

[MrG]

We actually have a really cool little cut-out in the corner living room that was designed for a TV, and it would be no big deal to design a nice door that would make it completely inconspicuous when closed. It's a really clever design, actually.

Unfortunately, the house is about a decade older than mass adoption of thin, widescreen TVs, so the cabinet is about 18" deeper and 6" narrower than it needs to be.

 

[Piobaire]



I suppose I am somewhat biased because my HTPC also becomes the source of my music and I actually do a fair amount of random web browsing on it with a wireless keyboard/touchpad.

So if I want to queue up some music...TV becomes the control point.

If I am working on some project (or even cooking) in the living space of my home and need to look something up, more often than not, I will just click the TV on and google it there rather than using my tablet.

Have you checked out Sonos for your music needs? They have freestanding powered units too and your phone/tablets/computer can all have the app.

http://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/play5.html

Bonus is the app streams several Internet sources for free. I've only explored TunedIn and I love it. Can pull right off your NAS, stream music from your phone, all kinds of stuff.


Sometimes these threads tempt me to post a floorplan of my house, or even worse, pics of whole areas...and then I remind myself the **** storm a single lounge chair caused and wise up.

 

[brokencycle]

We actually have a really cool little cut-out in the corner living room that was designed for a TV, and it would be no big deal to design a nice door that would make it completely inconspicuous when closed. It's a really clever design, actually.

Unfortunately, the house is about a decade older than mass adoption of thin, widescreen TVs, so the cabinet is about 18" deeper and 6" narrower than it needs to be.

Reminds me of this post on reddit today

Quote:

 

[TheFoo]



Sometimes these threads tempt me to post a floorplan of my house, or even worse, pics of whole areas...and then I remind myself the **** storm a single lounge chair caused and wise up.

People seem very reluctant do show their living spaces. Odd on forum where people regularly post pictures of themselves. What's the issue?

 

[MrG]



Reminds me of this post on reddit today

Pretty much, yeah.

The weird part is how it has revealed how high everyone likes to place their TVs now. This space is about four feet tall, maybe a bit more, which makes sense given we used to put our huge TVs on some sort of stand, bringing it to eye level when sitting.

My plan was actually to have the cabinet expanded to accommodate a wider TV, and I'd sold MrsG on the idea until the guy I had check it out talked her into the notion that it was "too low." This was despite the fact that my plan would have actually raised the TV a few inches from its original layout.