Do you have a flat screen TV with ugly brackets to mount it like this one?
In order to hang our LCD TVs or flat screens on the wall, we have to use large industrial brackets to secure them in place. After the TV has been hung, most of the brackets are hidden, but from the side, sometimes the brackets peek out, and I have been searching for a thrifty way to cover up those ugly LCD TV brackets for a while.
I have this inner battle about hanging a TV on the wall. Honestly, ideally I would like a mirror to hang in the place of the TV and with a MAGIC touch of a button, the mirror could change to a TV. That way, the decor of the room shows a mirror 99.9% of the time, but it could function as a television at times. Wouldn’t that be nice? I looked it up once…these magic mirrors actually exist, but they are SUPER duper expensive.
So, for awhile, we, along with a lot of others out there, hung the TV on the wall pretending it was a form of art, and part of our decor. This one is specifically my friend Angie’s TV. It doesn’t look too bad. Her husband did a great job hiding the cords, and really the brackets are mostly hidden. Shown electrical cords are a major pet peeve of mine. I have to give him two thumbs up in that area.
She even bought a cute red stand to hide most of the television equipment. But, what she and her husband did next is pure brilliance. He built a frame for the TV. I have seen TV frames before at Pottery Barn, but they cost an arm and a leg.
He bought the molding at Lowes and went to town on the construction.
He had to make the frame stick off the wall precisely so that the TV would fit inside.
He also had to be careful about covering up the television sensor or else his TV remote wouldn’t work. That would be bad, very bad. Doesn’t it look GREAT!??!?
To add some fun detail, he actually stained the wood red before he painted it, then when we sanded off the paint to create a distressed look, the red added a subtle charm.
I am in love with the end result! To me it makes the wall look finished. It finishes the space and makes it look and feel decorated instead of just a television to dominate your eye.
How much did this masterpiece cost? In wood materials about $30.00, and after buying paint supplies less than $50.00. NOW THAT IS THRIFTY!
I asked Angie’s husband Eric if he would be willing to build more of these wonderful frames for those of you out there that might want one. He said he would be willing…so, are you interested? Of course it would cost more to pay him for his time and labor, but I think everyone needs one of these frames! E-mail me at allthingsthrifty at gmail dot com if you are interested and I’ll forward you on to the man in charge. 🙂
I've never commented before but have been reading your blog. You have great ideas and I love it! I have a question about this project. I love it, especially because I generally consider tv's an eyesore. I've heard that boxing in your LCD can cause it to overheat and die. Is there any truth to this rumor? I'd hate to ruin a $3000 tv…
Great idea, thanks for sharing!
This is a great idea. But, given that LCDs can generate a tremedous amount of heat, I would suggest drilling large holes in the top of this frame.
Ohhh.. Now my husband has a project this weekend AND he will still be able to watch the World Cup at the same time!
Perfect!
I am in love with the end result too!! I have the same exact problem! I'm going to email this to my husband!
OH MY GOSH, I am in love witht this. Did you make it up? see it somewhere? I LOVE LOVE LOVE this. Because I love tv, but i hate the way it looks- so ugly. You are so freaking cool.
ok i just read the post that I LOOKED at, I see you didn't do it- ha- but thankyou so much for posting this! This is such a brilliant idea! I have never seen this before! I thought I was creative, but man- this is amazing.
That is an awesome idea! Now if only we had a flat screen TV…..
I totally love the red dresser, too. LOVE it.
Kathryn,
I am guessing that with any electrical equipment a lot of heat can do nothing but damage to your TV, so if your TV has venting along the front, your frame would need to be fitted to go on the outside of that. Otherwise the heat would have no way to get out and would damage the TV. All TVs are different so you'd have to look at yours specifically to see if the system would be ok to frame.
I love the frame!! But what I love even more is the hiding of the cable cords… I too HATE. like severely HATE cords showing!! How the heck did he do it?!!? There is no trace of anything!! The company who makes tvs, cable boxes, and everything wireless and connect together without cords will be my hero and I will spend thousands with them! Maybe I should e-mail verizon! hehe
I would love to know though how he hid the cords so brilliantly!?!
And I was thinking about the overheating issue, which would def. be an issue. But most TVs are vented out the back so all in all you could leave the top open so the heat could rise away from the TV! I may be rethinking my armoire now and go for a sexy dresser and a framed TV! my husband would like this because he could always go up in size without worrying about buying another armoire too
Now that is brilliant!
This is amazing!
Wow! that looks better than great!
Gotta love it!
This is amazing I love it so much
I saw an hgtv episode once where they used this same idea, but they did use a mirror…. mirrored glass. According to them it was around $100.00. I haven't researched it myself, but I would say that isn't too shabby to cover up the dang thing. Also, I have a friend whose husband built a beautiful frame for her tv using crown molding, etc. They printed a family photo on canvas and installed a motor from some blinds in the frame. When the tv wasn't in use it was a family picture. With the click of a button up it went and voila, the tv. I'll have to see if I can get her to email you some photos.
It's a very nice project but as others have stated, I would be very concerned with over heating. I definitely would not do this for a Plasma especially.
Where did you find the red stand?
I got the red stand from lostnfoundfurniture.blogspot.com
So theres lots of comments about the heat situation. And you can't see in the pic but the bottom is completly open and actually all the way around the tv air is getting through cuz its not as close to the tv as it looks. Close enough, but air is through. I don't know much about this stuff but I think if it would cause damage, the things wouldn't be sold. Lots of places sell them and they completly frame the tv. Keep up the good work brooke, love your blog!!
What a great idea! It really does make the TV look soooo much better hanging on the wall. Thanks for the inspiration!
That is LOVELY!! I'm not a fan of the "floating tvs" anyway. This just finishes it off so beautifully. Well done!
@Staci- I saw that episode too, one was from Design Star from last year and the other, I think came from Divine Design with Candace Olsen. I love ideas like this!
Very cool idea! Your comment about mirror TV's made me curious and I found this totally awesome video of a TV behind a 2 way mirror. I don't know how thrifty a 2 way mirror is but, in theory, you could use your same TV behind a 2 way mirror for the same effect. Go check out his video, it's so amazing!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdRbt4NpewM (the video is also on my blog)
So is "how he hid the cords" a secret by chance? We hate it too, but have no idea how we'd go about hiding it, considering the outlets are down by the floor.
You can hide the cords for the TV by drilling two holes in the wall. One behind the tv and one behind your cabinet, then you feed the cord through the wall. And wala no more visible cords.
For those that live in an apartment or don't want to drill holes in the wall they also have TV cord cover kits that you mount and can paint to blend into the wall. Like this: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_717CMK30/Wiremold-Flat-Screen-TV-Cord-Cover-CMK30.html?tp=1290
This site sells a product that will turn your TV into a mirror when it's off, they also sell TV frames like this.
http://framemytv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category;_id=8
I can not wait to have a new tv so I can do this!! I posted about it here http://www.justforrachel.com/2010/07/all-i-want-for-christmas-is.html
You did a great job, and I fully intend on copying it exactly! Thanks!
Jen
I can not wait to have a new tv so I can do this!! I posted about it here http://www.justforrachel.com/2010/07/all-i-want-for-christmas-is.html
You did a great job, and I fully intend on copying it exactly! Thanks!
Jen
Just wanted to leave you some love for the amazing transformations and the way you document it for us all through the blog! I have painted a few thing and used your glaze technique. It has transformed my house! Now I look around and feel happy instead of bored. Thanks again!
It is really against code to have regular cords threaded behind the wall — you have to replace the tv power cords with ac adaptor cords and use other safegurards. Just wanted to let you know to be careful — a regular tv cord threaded through the wall is totally unsafe and if a fire results your insurance would not pay for damages. This is one of the areas where it pays to hire an electrician.