How to build a TV frame {Tutorial}

I love me a good knock off, so when my good friend Lindsay from Makely invited me to be a part of Knocktoberfest 2013, I was stoked. So if you are coming from Traci’s amazing site {Beneath my Heart}, WELCOME!! If you aren’t familiar with Knocktoberfest, you are in for a treat! There are some fantastic projects in the line up that you cannot miss! I will have links at the end of my post for you to check out!

 

This Pottery Barn Chadwick frame caught my eye years ago. In fact, when it went on clearance a few years back, I wasted an entire afternoon calling every Pottery Barn in the Western U.S. searching for one. Obviously I was unsuccessful in my quest.

 

I think TV’s can be so big and ugly and since we are redoing our master bedroom right now,  making a TV frame for our room was on our to do list. I am no stranger to TV frames.

In fact, check this one out from Jill’s House!

The TV frame isn’t hard to build at all! BUT, the size of your frame will completely depend on your TV. PLUS, it will depend on your TV mount/hardware also.

But before we get started, let me give you a supply list:

Tools: Miter Saw, Brad Nail Gun and Brads, Spade Bit and Drill, Table saw if you need to cut your MDF {but the awesome guys at Home Depot rip cut ours for us}.

Other supplies: paintable caulk, nail hole filler

Wood supplies: MDF {amount will vary based on the size of your TV}, Crown Molding {again amount will vary}, and 1 2X4.

So, the first thing you need to do is measure your TV. Plus, you need to know how far off the wall your TV sits. So, measure from the wall to the front edge of your TV. Our TV stuck off the wall 4 inches. So, we knew that the inside edge of our frame needed to be 4 inches.

We built the TV frame out of 1/2 in. MDF and crown molding, so you will need to go to the nearest home improvement store {unless you are like us and are molding hoarders….then just go to your garage and rummage through the pile}. We didn’t buy one supply for this project. We just shopped through our own hoard.

First start off by building the inside box that goes around the TV. Since we already knew that our tv was 4 inches off the wall, we used 4 inch MDF. The box should be slightly larger than the TV. We left 1/2in around the frame to be able to hang it properly.

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After you have the inside box built, place it around your television to make sure it fits before you go any further!

Next comes the tricky part if you are not familiar with crown molding. Luckily I have the handiest hubby around and he can do anything with his miter saw! Our crown was 6 in. wide, but you can use any size or style you wish to get the look you want. Make sure when cutting your crown molding that you follow the correct angles and miter angles on your saw to be able to create the box. Our Rigid miter saw is awesome and has small little marks right at the correct angles of 31.6 and 33.9.

 

So make sure you have measured your cuts precisely and cut those bad boys. Remember the inside edge should measure 1/2 inch wider and taller than your TV on each side. {So, that means 1 inch wider than your TV and 1 inch taller than your tv.}

 

Next, brad nail those bad boys together.

We attached the crown box to the bottom box with our brad nailer too.

 

Next you need to measure the distance from the top of the crown molding to the ground. This measurement will vary depending on the size of the first box and the size of the crown. We wanted our frame to be really big and chunky since it is the for the TV in our bedroom and will only viewed from straight on. If you are making your frame for a living room TV that has seating from different angles, you might want to make it smaller so it doesn’t stick out so far. We had the helpful guys at The Home Depot rip cut  our MDF boards to 8 1/2 in. to complete the outside box of the frame. After you have the outer box built, attach it to the crown molding with brad nails.

As you can see, we drilled holes all around the frame with a spade bit for a couple of reasons. The bottom of the frame cannot be seen on the wall when it is hung.  We drilled all these holes for the speakers on the TV so the sound is able to be heard. The holes on the inside will also not be seen, because they will be behind the TV. This allows ventilation for the TV so it doesn’t overheat. The top of the frame will be out of sight also when hung on the wall, so it also has many holes drilled for ventilation.

This is what a spade bit looks like for those {like me} that didn’t know before today:

Next we cut 3 in. blocks out of a 2×4 to nail between the inner box and the outer box for support on the whole frame. We staggered them enough to allow for the proper ventilation. As you can see, my hubby didn’t want anything to happen to the precious TV that shows all Red Sox games. Go Sox!

After that, your frame should be ready to caulk all the spaces between the different boxes and fill all the nail holes. I wish I would have been a little more careful when I caulked the gaps because it wasn’t super smooth when it dried. So take your time. But, if you need to, you can always sand with 220 grit sand paper to lessen the look of nail hole filler goopies..etc.

After your frame is built, you need to paint it or stain it. I used the same instructions I’ve been preaching for years about spray painting 101.

Make sure you prime the frame with Kilz spray primer before you paint, since MDF tends to suck up paint. We painted our frame Krylon Jade to go along with our Master bedroom makeover that is currently underway! As far as hanging the frame, we put the TV back on the wall then hung the frame. We used a 2×4 mounted to studs and then slid the frame onto it. Depending on your type of wall, you can use a number of different mounting methods. Just make sure that it is secure and not resting on the top of the TV!

After we hung the frame, I decided that I wanted to glaze it. It added just a little bit of pizzazz. This is a picture from my phone so it’s not fab.

But you can see the glazed details and it makes it look TONS better in my opinion! So, there you have it! If you have questions about making the frame, don’t hesitate to leave a comment. We will try our best to answer it quickly!

Now, head over to Finding Home for the next Knocktoberfest project!