Every hot interior design trend develops in response to some corresponding shift in the larger culture.
Home entertainment centers, for example, have been all the rage for the past decade or longer. And their popularity results from technological advances that have produced a plethora of media-related gadgetry.
Interior designers have had a hard time coming to terms with all this equipment. Many of us look upon it as a bunch of complicated contraptions that may well become obsolete in a year or two. The temptation is to turn to the quickest and simplest method of arranging all those receivers, terminals, speakers and related paraphernalia.
I've come to understand that you should think of a home entertainment center not as a jumble of ephemeral components but as a work perpetually in progress. The best systems make it easy for their owners to add, replace or remove parts as their needs change and as new products come on the market.
But you don't have to devote an entire wall to technological apparatus. It should be possible to fit most of it comfortably into a single large cabinet. Such a piece could also be integrated into a classical library, as shown in the photo.
This piece contains everything except speakers, which are discreetly placed amid the books on the two flanking sets of shelves. When the equipment is not in use, it can be concealed behind the cabinet doors. In the photo, they're hidden in thin compartments at the cabinet's sides. When opened, these accordion-style doors won't flop about awkwardly or interfere with anyone's view.
Because glare is often a problem in rooms with large video screens, care has to be taken in placing electrical fixtures in relation to the windows. Some people avoid this issue entirely by creating dark settings that resemble smaller versions of movie theaters. But not many of us can treat an entire room in this way. In fact, home entertainment centers are usually incorporated into a library or family room that has to be lighted for purposes other than watching TV or videos.