Still, enjoying a good telenovela or Monday Night Football game doesn’t mean you have to decorate your house entirely in La-Z-Boys and mini-fridges. In fact, you can use your furniture to completely hide your television when not in use. You know, for when the ladies from the book club come over.

First, throw out that ratty TV stand in favor of some real furniture—namely, an armoire to stash your TV in. Find a piece with a large enough compartment to fit your TV (and a spot for DVD players and such, ideally), with doors that you can close to conceal what lies within. Many armoires nowadays are specifically built to store televisions in, and they come with doors that can slide or fold back against the side walls so as not to interrupt your viewing. Joey from Friends would love that.

Of course, nobody’s going to believe you don’t have a television if you’ve got remote controls and DVDs strewn about. Invest in a couple of classic wicker baskets for storage to complete the illusion.