Hello flat-screen, goodbye entertainment center

With flat-screen TVs now selling at record-low prices, it's tempting to buy a giant, new model for the living room.

But flat-screen TVs often create home decorating dilemmas because they can overtake small living rooms and don't always fit into deep home entertainment centers designed to hold thick tube televisions.

So does buying a flat-screen mean you have to get rid of your home entertainment center and buy new furniture? Should you limit the size of the TV you buy? And will you be required to hire an electrician to put up the flat-screen?

Yes, a big new TV often means goodbye entertainment center — but there are plenty of other ways to make it work, suburban design and electronics experts say.

Part of the problem, according to Andrew Eaton, who manages the 15 Chicago-area hhgregg stores, is that entertainment centers are becoming as outdated as the TVs they used to hold.

“As time goes by, fewer people have those home entertainment centers,” he said. “TVs aren't as big, sound systems have gotten smaller and smaller, and fewer people are buying DVD movies. A lot of consumers use streaming media, so they don't need a great big entertainment center to store a bunch of stuff anymore.”

Interior decorator Sharon Heinz, with Shelby Lynn Design in Vernon Hills, says this is a common problem now in suburban living rooms: what to do with a giant flat-screen TV.

Heinz says it's important not to let the TV overtake the room — a 60-inch TV doesn't really work in most suburban family rooms. Those are better suited for home theaters, she said.

But homeowners have a lot of options.

One of the coolest-looking choices is a TV that raises and lowers into a buffet and leaves enough room so art can hang on the wall, hidden behind the raised TV. That way, when the TV disappears into the cabinet, there's not a big blank space on the wall. Heinz said she just put one in a client's house and it cost less than $500.

A lot of people opt to mount the flat-screen over the fireplace, but that has drawbacks. In older homes, that requires expensive electrical work and often means drilling through brick to hook up the cable, Heinz said.

“Also, some people don't like to have a TV mounted above the fireplace because have to arch their heads to watch it,” she added.

Most people opt for a low buffet-styled piece of furniture and hang the TV over it or place the TV on a pedestal on top of it.

Electronics stores sell TV mounting equipment and related furniture, but furniture stores also have plenty of options. Heinz advises against buying the sleek stainless steel and glass styles unless you have a modern living room. They don't look particularly good with wood and brick, she said.

How you mount a flat screen can also make a difference. Some pedestals allow the TV to swivel, so it can be seen in other rooms. Heinz said if you want to mount the flat-screen TV on the wall, be sure to put something around it.

“You need to anchor it because it will look funny floating on the wall,” she said. “Depending on your space, you'd want to flank it with some bookcases. A carpenter can make a case to go around it, even if it's just a 3-D frame around it so you don't see the back (of the TV) and wires. Sort of like a shadow box.”

If you aren't ready to part with your home entertainment center, there are still options. One is to buy a flat-screen that fits into the space — and that often means a smaller TV.

Heinz said it's OK to put a flat-screen in a deep armoire, but you might need to add a painted or fabric-covered wooden box or stand to raise the TV up to the right viewing height.

At hhgregg stores, Eaton says a lot of customers are buying new flat screens — some as big as 80 inches — to replace their old tube TVs.

He estimates 10 to 15 percent of them also buy furniture to go with their TV and about one-third buy a wall mounting kit. Others just let the TV stand on a pedestal.

But according to Heinz, bigger isn't always better.

“In a small family room, you have to question what you want your focus to be, and how many angles do you want to watch this TV,” she said. “It's really a lifestyle and design choice.”