Hide the tv?

I'm not a big tv watcher. And by big tv, I mean literally BIG tv. I certainly have my favorite shows, but the television doesn't ever take center stage, nor should it in most rooms. I've never had one in the bedroom or living room if I can help it. My new little house, Nook Cottage, is pretty tiny and one small tv set will do me. The living room is very small - room for a 75" sofa (coming soon!), a small Hepplewhite settee, coffee table, and something to put the tv set on. There's no room for side tables - so I've installed plug in sconces to light up the room.

Do you like to hide your tv or just let it hang out there?

via Hudson Vision

These flip around tv/art piece installations are interesting, but I seriously doubt that people really flip them back and forth all that often - maybe for company. 

via Southern Living  

This set of built-ins with the tv hidden behind are very beautiful. 

Julia Blailock at Pink Ribbon House. Decorative Painting by Segreto 

I'm not a big fan of doors that wouldn't normally be there hiding a tv. The cabinet doors above are beautiful, but they look out of place, just as much as a tv set would, I think. 

"Hiding" a tv amongst a bunch of other stuff is more to my liking. The bottom image is more successful because the dark cabinet balances the tv, which is mounted to the wall along with the rest of the artwork. The top picture with its white cabinet and tv sitting on top isn't bad, but it does nothing to obscure the big black box. 

I've got a LONG way to go with my organizing and decorating as you can see. It's hard to take a photo because the living room is very dark in the back of the house and it looks towards the dining room which has a big picture window overlooking a river. 

The top view is from the sitting position on my sofa (well, settee until the comfy new sofa comes!). You can get an idea how small the space is. I toyed with mounting the tv on the wall above some kind of console, but I had the baker's rack and it fit so nicely in that it made sense to use it. I've hidden the cable box in the basket on the shelf right below the tv. I still need to work on taming the wires. The bottom basket holds DVD's, though I don't actually have a DVD player...

Another angle. Obviously, I'm still working on accessorizing. I need to get glass shelves made so things sit properly. One came with the piece, which is the shelf the tv is on. You can see the horizontal stripes behind the tv, which is another shelf that's not in use to make room for the tv.  

How do you handle your tv situation?