1. Dump The Big, Honkin' TV

TVs are moving past the big, heavy, cube TV stage and are evolving into larger, sleeker models that are becoming more popular each year. Those older, clunky TVs became the focus of a room, and that's one of feng shui's definite no-no's. You want your TV to flow with the walls, to nestle into a corner, to dominate only when you tell it to. Today's LCD and plasma TVs do the trick nicely, offering a gloriously large viewing surface with a casing flat enough to fit much closer to the wall than ever before. Hang one on your wall, and you'll have a room where the wall itself comes alive whenever you play a DVD.

2. Black Is Beautiful . . . Sometimes

We all know people who have a black TV and black audio components in a room in which nothing else coordinates with black. Feng shui is about energy, and nothing saps a room's harmonizing energy more than intense contrast. Get some silver components instead, complete with a silver stand, and build your room's décor around it. Picture a large silver plasma screen stretching along the wall; a silver DVD and satellite receiver disappearing into the silver shelves of the stand; and silvers, whites, blues, and grays touching up the room elsewhere.

3. Wiry Vegetation

By combining your vision of a harmonious room with your enjoyment for music, you can use plants to create a space where your electronics' wires won't disrupt your feng shui. Select your plants wisely. Thick plants can absorb too much sound, so keep them away from speakers. Spend time checking the sound to compensate for the plants. And go for broad, spreading varieties to cover an area with lots of wires. One of the best things about using plants is that it becomes easy to hide wires without depending on those functional but unattractive wire guides on the baseboards.

4. To Thine Own Shelf

Be True One of the easiest and least expensive ways to achieve unity among your room's features, even in a room crowded with electronics, is to spread the components along a carefully arranged set of shelves, with the shelves selected to match the surrounding walls and furniture. Consider glass shelving (which takes extra care) to give the equipment a floating look (although in this case, we suggest that you dust your components regularly). If you want to hide the entire electronic ensemble, choose a cabinet enclosure that blends into the space where it will stand instead of using shelves. Don't necessarily get the biggest; get the one that works with the room and tailor your components accordingly.

5. Rearrange Your Speakers

We've all become so used to seeing speakers standing in the corners, jutting out at random locations in the room, or even serving as plant-holders that we don't realize how much less obtrusive they could be if we set them up more efficiently. Why not use some space in your walls to organize the area better? We suggest that you mount your speakers in your wall to conserve your floor or shelf space. Better yet, get your electronics store to do it for you.

by Neil Randall