I used to live in Nebraska, so I'm familiar with tornadoes. I'm not nearly as afraid of them as I am for other disasters though. It's a relief that you can see and hear them coming and get to safety. Not a lot of people die from them each year. Now what I'm really afraid of are earthquakes. When we finished school, my SO wanted to move to California. I refused solely due to the potential for earthquakes! He thought I was nuts . But seriously, there's no where to hide in an earthquake and it can kill tens of thousands in one fell swoop. I'm really terrified of those!
Purplefrog - I use this website called olioboard. It doesn't exactly let you lay out rooms the way a traditional room designer app would, but it does allow you to put different furniture and backgrounds on a white board pretty easily. Don't need any photoshop or image editing experience, and you can upload your own stuff. It's good for visual people!
Hey, Jenny.
I hear ya'! Due to my husband's work, we've had to spend significant time in a variety of places. We lived in CA for eighteen months. That's where I experienced my first earthquake. Then, we were in Christchurch, NZ for a month, where there was at least one earthquake every day. Yes, daily. Most were less than 4.0, but I felt every one of them. When they happened at night, my husband slept right through them. Not me! While he was at his office, I spent almost all my time outside, mostly because NZ is so gorgeous and I love walking, hiking, etc. But, I also did that to stay out of and away from buildings because of the earthquakes.
I'm still as terrified of tornadoes, likely because I've experienced a handful of them. Living in Wichita Falls, TX was no fun at all. We had a root cellar, thankfully, and the dog and I were in it more than once. I think what really sent me over the top, though, was the tornado that, years ago, hit a tiny community just a few miles up the road from my then tiny TX hill country community. It was an F5! When allowed, we went to take a look and saw for ourselves what an F5 does. Asphalt road ripped up and just gone. Same for grass pastures...not a blade left. Every tree left standing was completely stripped of leaves and bark. Obvious signs of all the cattle that had been killed. And, yes, sadly, people lost their lives. Ever since that, every time the radar indicates possible storms, all I want to know is if there is any hint of tornadoes.
TXCajun
Give the TV over the fireplace a try, it will open up other options if you are ok with it. I personally didn't recommend it because I have tried it in two different houses I've lived and both times have not liked it, I don't like having to look up and in one house the couch was too close and I had neck pain after a while.
If you usually watch in a reclined position or you have a lot of distance between the seat and TV it might be less of an issue for you.
I'm going to set it on the mantle and see how I like it before I commit to hanging it permanently. I will say that last night I moved the sofa to the wall my the window and it didn't work for above the mantle TV viewing. So now the sofa is back against the other wall where it's been for the last 13 years.
I can see how neck pain would be an issue. I noticed in some pics that the TV is facing down slightly I wonder if that helps rather than being flat against the wall.