Sometimes, marriage can feel like being part of a legislative body with discussion after discussion about important “action items,” slow movement on big decisions, and a great deal of negotiating and compromising.

For example, following extensive research and deliberation, a 45 to 50 inch flat screen LCD television wasn’t in the Beard family budget this spring. After about three weeks of research, we realized talks were about to break down, and so we “tabled” the item until a later date. We did quite a bit of looking around, both in area stores as well as online, and just couldn’t really find one that we liked within the amount we were willing to pay. It just came down to the fact that while a big-screen television sounds exciting (and I’d still like to get one some day — perhaps even later this year) it’s not quite so simple as just going out and getting a new television.

First of all, we have to have a place to put it. In our home, we really only have one ideal location, and that is the spot where the current television is. It’s not a flat screen, either. In fact, it’s an older television that is, as most televisions from 10 to 15 years ago were, rather bulky and very heavy. So right away discussion of a new television prompts differing suggestions on what to do with the current one. I wanted to move it upstairs into the bedroom. My wife wants to put it in the basement. The only way I would do that is if it came with a small sofa, which is another added expense for the overall project. I didn’t even try to propose that idea, because there were plenty of other hurdles to clear before we even reached that point.

The second related issue is that if the current television is going downstairs, then the entertainment center it sets on is, too. The entertainment center we have is designed to hold the style of television we own, and so it makes sense that they stay together. Of course, this means I would be the one responsible for doing all the moving of furniture, which I don’t mind to do. However, it’s not something I want to be struggling with in the kind of weather we’ve been having. I would literally have to carry the thing outside and down the hill to get around to the basement section. (As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, reference to the room on the lowest level of our house as a “basement” is a bit misleading. It’s not actually underground, it’s just on the lower part of a hill on which our house was built.)

So those are the first two things: move the television and the corresponding entertainment center downstairs. This means finding a place to put it in the basement area, which is no easy task. Between various bookshelves, a large computer desk, deep freezer, and other storage containers, we don’t have a lot of room to work with, and that’s before we even get into the discussion of a sofa in the basement. Ultimately, we would be looking at a complete rearrangement of the basement as it exists today, an idea to which I’m not completely opposed. However, it’s going to take some long-term planning on our part to make sure when we are done it is the way we want it. I don’t want to spend the next year regretting some or all of the set-up decisions.

You may have already guessed issue number three: a new entertainment center will be required upstairs. If you’re like me, and thought the television itself was kind of pricey, well just check out how much the stands go for, especially if you want one that you feel can safely support a very heavy and very expensive television. Best case scenario is something that adds about one-half the cost of the television to the total price tag. That doesn’t even take into account a stand that provides space for all the electronic equipment that would go with the television, such as a DVD player, stereo equipment, video game system, movies, games, and other various items. Some of the stands we looked at were almost as much as the television.

At least this time I can say neither one of us used our “veto powers.” We reached a mutual decision that it wasn’t something we wanted in the house right now. Instead, we each agreed to use the money we would have spent on other personal items we wanted. I got a laptop for myself and my wife is planning a big shopping trip for the near future, so it all worked out. Now I have to go start preparing my fall agenda with the big screen television at the top of the list.