Just before Christmas we rearranged our living room but when I wrote that post I left out 1 small detail. . . the whole reason we flipped the layout of this room was to move the TV. You see, one day we’re going to rebuild our fireplace and when we do, the TV is going to be mounted above the mantle. So like logical people we thought, if we’re going to mount the TV on the wall one day, why not mount it now? And if you’re going to flip your living room so you can mount your TV on the wall you might as well hide the cords while you’re at it! And if you give a mouse a cookie he’s going to want something to drink. . . .
There are LOTS of great tutorials around the blogosphere about mounting your TV and hiding the cords like this one from the Harpster Home and this one from House of Hepworths, so we bought a mount and set to work.
We’d lined up a vintage dresser to convert into a media console and since we were eventually going to rip the sheet rock out anyway and in the meantime it was going to be covered up by the TV and media console, we cut nice big holes so it would be easier to thread the cords through. Great idea, right?
So we hung the TV and. . . if you guessed we hung it too high you would be correct! That means that we had to remount the wall bracket, cut another hole in the sheet rock and leave the existing hole somewhat exposed.
Don’t worry, things got much worse after that. Phillip started from the top hole and tried fish a small dowel rod through the wall just to make sure everything was clear and no insulation was in the way. About 2 feet down he hit something that was really hard. No worries we thought, he can probably dislodge whatever is stuck if he comes up through the bottom. He began to fish through from the bottom and about 4 feet up he hit the same something. What could be in our wall that’s really hard and lodged in between 2 studs. . .
I’ll tell you what, a mount for a fireplace mantle that’s what! We actually don’t know that for sure but that’s our best guess. Remember how there used to be a fireplace on this wall? You know, the one we’re going to rebuild with those stones that were in our backyard? Yeah, we determined that when they took the fireplace out they left the mantle mount in case it was ever rebuilt. How thoughtful.
So at this point we had a mounted tv, 3 holes in the wall and no way to hide the cords. (Short of ripping out the sheet rock and removing the mount which we were not about to do!) And then it hit us, what if we built a frame . . .
. . . and covered it in fabric. . . .
. . . and cut a hole for the TV mount. . .
. . . and hung it on the wall behind the media console and it turned out to be the most awesome idea we’ve ever had! Pretty great idea right?? So that’s what we did and today things are looking much improved.
My parents delivered this dresser to us over Christmas and it’s in line to get some serious love in the next few months.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. . . when we first moved in (almost a year ago!) our living room looked like this.
Yeah. . boring. Ugly. Blah! Here’s what it looks like today!
It’s hard to believe how far this room has come in just 11 months! Last fall we got a new-to-us couch, added new legs, made some custom curtains and painted the walls! Then in December we flipped the layout and added the deacons benches all in one fell swoop.
So there you have it, how to hide your TV cables the hard way. . . anybody else had a similar experience? How you ever started a project that went horribly awry?
this is a fabulous idea!!! do you have any advice or instructions on how to construct the frame? or did you just go for it? i would loooooove to do this in my family room – any tips would be most appreciated!!
Great question Liz! The construction of the frame was totally based on our furniture and room. We allowed an extra 6-8″ on each side of the TV and based the height on our approx. 8 ft ceilings. I would also recommend adding several braces, we only added one at the bottom and if I had to do it again I would add 1-2 more. And yes, just go for it, for me that’s most of the fun! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Hey Leah
What wood did u use to make the frame , would appreciate the details … Thanks
Leah,
This is such a stroke of genius! How did you mount this to the wall?
Thanks Sarah! We mounted it to the wall using a few nails that the frame hung on.
Great idea!! I have a Concrete Wall and this is the way to do it!!! I thought I couldn’t solve the cables problems and thank to your idea now I can…
I fell in love with your idea so I did it myself today!! Hopefully this think works to share my picture! Thanks for your inspiration
https://instagram.com/p/3UwezMjWeO/
We loved your idea and got as far as cutting the hole in. Mind is spent for today. Sarah did make up her mind and took all afternoon to make frame and hang. My daughter and I think different she couldn’t under how I wanted to do it and I didn’t understand her thinking ,and she was afraid to cut the hole after all the work. Any ideas for that?
We frequently have to change the cords at the back of our tv. Are you still able to do that with the fabric cover up? I need a way to cover the cords, yet still have access to change them easily.
What fabric was used?! Where did you get the wood to go behind /around fabric?!
Hi Alexis! We used a lite weight upholstery fabric to cover the frame which was made out of 1×2″ similar to these: http://www.lowes.com/pd_4511-99899-128218___?productId=50069451&pl=1&Ntt=1×2
Hope that helps!