A Gallup survey in the early '90s found that 49 percent of Americans said they watched too much. Designers help clients maintain the fiction. Most of her clients don't want a TV in the living room, she says. Mitchell agrees it's partly a gender issue. Men like technology.
Every guy has to have a subwoofer.
Guys like that stuff. Women just want it to look good. Drysdale says if you want to downplay the presence of television, keep the set small and consider the function of the room. Drysdale says that upright pieces such as armoires and secretaries can minimize the presence of a television within. A very vertical piece doesn't instantly communicate what's inside.