Convince the TV it's a flea-market find (see below for tip). Daniel Collopy

IF NBC WERE TO DO a special edition of "The Biggest Loser" featuring household appliances, the television set would probably confound the judges. Newly svelte since losing the tube, the average flat-screen is a few inches thin. But what it has lost in depth it's rapidly gaining in width.

And that makes it a decorating conundrum: The larger the screen, the more it looks like a gaping black hole in the wall—which is why the "television question" is one of the first designers raise when they sit clients down. "It's always in the initial dialogue," said Kristine Irving, the creative director of Koo de Kir, a design firm in Boston. "'Where's it going to be? Do you want to see it?'"

"It's like toilets," said Michael Simon, a New York decorator who specializes in classical interiors. "It is what it is."

And it isn't going away. Though more Americans are catching TV shows on mobile devices like tablets in bedrooms, kitchens, even bathrooms, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, people still want a big set in a big space like the living room for watching movies, sports or special events together.

Of course, not everyone minds the sight of a TV when it isn't turned on. San Francisco designer Ann Getty seems remarkably blithe about the issue, even though her husband's TV is gargantuan. "I don't object to seeing a television," she said. "It's a part of life today. Pretending it doesn't exist is sort of strange."

The ability to coexist with a sizable TV may partly be generational. Thomas Jayne, a New York designer, finds that younger Type-A clients often welcome an aggressively prominent TV set. "It's a badge of reality as to how big it is," he said. "We leave it out in the open."

Still, many people want to hide or disguise the TV and that's when it gets tricky. The old-school decorators' approach to TVs, said Mr. Jayne, was "just to jam it into a linen press." An antique armoire, a gutted sideboard, a credenza. But in most rooms, especially in squeezed city apartments, that's a lot of real estate to devote to hiding the TV. And think of the poor set: crouched like a convict inside a dubious piece of furniture.

Other disguises fare little better. You could frame the television like a painting (with help from specialty framers) and hang it above the fireplace, but the notion of "Masterpiece Theater" as Old Master is questionable. You could arrange for the set to drop from the ceiling as it does in planes, but this expensive option locks you into your existing equipment.

Or you could just change the channel on how you approach the problem. Don't hide the TV: Give it better reception. Start by considering context. If you hang a black flat-screen on a darkly painted wall, it will no longer pop jarringly. "It's the easiest [solution], just a can of paint," said Emily Henderson, a New York designer and blogger. "And accent walls are coming back, that look from the '80s." Similarly, you can de-emphasize a 60-incher by papering the wall with a bold pattern that pulls the eye away.

Even simple placement tricks work. If the set is not too mammoth, positioning it on a wall below eye level allows you to look "over" it, and makes viewing while sitting more comfortable. Alternatively, take the "stare" out of a screen by balancing it with strong visuals that deflect attention. Hang the set off-center on a wall and pair it with a large, commanding artwork. Or make it part of a more complex composition—a gallery of pictures or a shelving grid of books and objects.

From an architectural disappearing act to a more organic take on the frame approach, here are five solutions to living, peaceably, with televisions.

Convince the TV it's a flea-market find

'TV is my reality,' said Brian Patrick Flynn, a designer and producer of HGTV's 'Design Star' and other shows. Mr. Flynn has a television in every room of his Los Angeles home, he explained, but in his living room, where he entertains, he wanted the modestly sized set to be even more discreet. He hung it on the wall in a salon-style grouping of art and objects, as though the flat-screen were just another unusual flea-market purchase. The gallery wall's dark color helps hide the set by minimizing the contrast between the black glass and its background.

Outsmart it with art Nat Rea

Outsmart it with art

An advertising executive and his artist fiancée 'wanted a really big TV,' said Boston-based designer Kristine Irving, creative director of Koo de Kir, of recent clients, 'but they didn't want to see it.' Ms. Irving hung two large movable panels, which reveal or conceal a 50-inch set, on a standard sliding-door track mounted on the wall. One panel is a chalkboard, for creating a rotating exhibit of art; the other is a projection screen on which the couple watches their collection of old reel-to-reel movies.

Blur its identity Peter Molick

Blur its identity

In a small open-plan loft in Houston, a 60-inch television hides in plain sight behind translucent, sandblasted glass that helps 'dissolve' it from view. The glass rolls away on a track at the top of the shelving unit. 'Because the panels are glass,' said Heather Rowell, a partner at Content, the architects on the job, 'they don't [completely] hide the books or art either when they slide to the side.'

Tuck it in a 'fireplace' Steven Mays, New York

Tuck it in a 'fireplace'

New York designer Kelly Giesen installed a salvaged mantelpiece in a blank-box living room to add needed architectural interest and, in the absence of a real fireplace, provide an impressive frame for a TV. 'People usually put TVs above the mantel,' said Ms. Giesen, 'but it makes them too high to watch. When you're sitting, this is a better height for viewing.' When the set is off—what else?—a decorative fire screen conceals it neatly.

Slip-slide it away Kate Milford (3)

Slip-slide it away

Many people hide the TV in a bulky armoire, but architect James Wagman found a sleeker solution while remodeling a prewar New York apartment: a built-in cupboard that, decked out in traditional molding, looks like an original feature. 'Most people want to be able to put the TV away,' Mr. Wagman said, including his client, a TV casting director. The cupboard opens to reveal media storage and a flat-screen that slides out and pivots into viewing position.