The looming Feb. 17 digital TV transition isn't just a technology issue. It also affects hotel room design and specifically guestroom furniture. As many hotels continue to upgrade to flat-screen TVs, what becomes of the suddenly not-so-functional armoires that used to house the old square boob tube?

Finding a way to salvage existing furniture can help a hotel's bottom line — imperative in today's economy — and keeping the bulky items from a landfill is great for the environment.

“The need to manage existing assets is huge right now,” says R. Mario Insenga, CEO of The Refinishing Touch, a company specializing in on-site furniture refinishing, reupholstering and now armoire modification. “Plus there's a huge push to be sustainable now.”

Insenga estimates armoire modification has gone from a very small percentage of his business a year ago to nearly a quarter of it now. The Refinishing Touch analyzes a client's old armoire, off site, and comes up with a solution to meet its new needs. The company then converts and refinishes the pieces on site, room by room.

“We converted over 187 armoires during 2008,” said Scott Matthews, rooms division manager for the Crown Plaza Anaheim (CA) Resort, which used The Refinishing Touch for help with renovations. “Converting the armoires on property for the new flat-screen TVs not only helped the environment, it helped our bottom line.”

Leo Vogel, senior vice president of sales and marketing for American of Martinsville, called the disappearance of armoires one of the biggest trends in guestroom design last year. “Every level of the market is after the HDTV cabinet with a flat-screen TV on top,” he said.