Framing in a Wall Mount Television
Well, for those of you that are not really into crafts, I am finally back with a remodeling project. I realized lately that it is very good for my stress levels to have some small projects now and then…. and actually it was just sorta fun to be creative in a different form…
But back to my first love, finishing the big projects! For the moment we are still currently working on the family room mantel. The last time you saw it, this is what it looked like, a big huge hole on the wall!
Later with the TV hung back up this is what it looked like.
Basically it is starting to look close to done, but the TV is screaming for a face lift. Especially since it is sort of the main feature up there.
Framing in a Wall Mount Television
What’s a girl to do?… pick up trash from another persons yard and build something. ***Correction… her husband is supposed to do that for her! Last spring here in Texas we had some big wind storms and a lot of old fences got blown over. A neighbor down the street had about 10 whole panels just sitting by the curb. So my awesome hubby went and collected them. ( I like that rustic wood look like in this sign art I made a while ago) and a whole bunch of free rustic wood sounds good to me!
He cut some boards off and laid them out to get ready to use them.
He started with a 4 little corner blocks (old scrap wood)
He placed those blocks on the outside corner and nailed the mitered edges in place just directly thorough the front of the frame with finish nails. once it was square.
Here he had a basic square frame, but it was just flat wood, and wouldn’t hide the TV edges very well.
He added a small bead of wood in the inside corner, for dimension.
Now because the TV is a bit deep and we need to cover up the edges, we wrapped the whole outside edge with another fence rail, and just nailed it into the block on back. (but you can also see how it comes out on the front to add even more dimension like the center box!)
Next just set it down so that the top of the frame is, well on top… Then drill a few holes (we did about 6) along the top for ventilation.
It was done in about an hour! Next we just slid it over the TV…right now it just sits on the mantel… we will attach it at some point I am sure! But here is what it looks like (we think it might be a little too dark, so we might try to lighten up the color a bit… but we also talked about making a few different frames that can be changed out… it did only take and hour after all… and the second time is always faster!
…and yeah, I didn’t move the toy basket for the “pretty pictures”… but at least most of the toys are in the basket and not strewn all over the room!
Well What do you think?
It the frame too dark? Should it be a lighter color?
Looks great, but I was curious, how did you deal with hiding the wiring for the power, and the connecting wires to all your components? Is that going through the inside of the wall? It is always so tricky to hide those pesky wires!
Jacquiline, that is a great question. I actually built the mantel to store the wires inside of it and go through a hole in the cabinet next to it. The mantel has a removable top to access the wires. Here is the post that shows that in more detail. They don’t go through the wall at all. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks so much Justin that helps a lot. I recently did a similar thing for a client. I designed a mantle that would actually hold all the components, and we did carry the wiring through the wall into the TV. I had the mantle have a door that would swing down to access the components. We also did put some venting holes on the back on the bottom shelf. in this situation we had no cabinetry to hold any components and the tv/fireplace was next to windows, so it would not have worked anyway. I have pictures in my facebook page if you are interested in seeing it. https://www.facebook.com/fullcircleinteriors
I am looking to hang a framed mirror OVER my tv. I want to hide it, but make it accessible for when we do want to watch it. TV is something that we do not watch everyday, and I’d like to cover it with decor, but also make it accessible for when we do. I feel like this would help my toddlers forget about it somewhat as well and make my life a little easier. Do you have any suggestions or ideas that might help?
Hi Melody,
We are working on a post with lots of ideas, but for what you are looking for, one like this might work: https://www.kristendukephotography.com/sliding-barn-door-tv-cover-diy/.
I love the wood all dark… looks very cozy and inviting… on another note, in your before picture the hand is up and in the after picture it’s a fist…. thought that was funny.
I absolutely love this whole set up and want to build something similar in our living room, would you be able to you give me a rough estimate on the height of the surround piece and an overall width. I want to see if the overall design is too big for where I want to put it.
That would depend on a lot of factors. The size of your TV and the width of the wood you use. You need to measure what you have and then you will know the total size. Good luck!
Fabulous job Looks Great,Keep it and play with a second one. I will be doing this and maybe a second for the holidays with mirrors, or a shell frame as my living room is Nautical Themed. The options are limitless. Thanks for the DIY how to.
Thanks for the comment, Beverly! We’d love to see pictures when you’re done!
Looks gorgeous! Now you’re making me wish I had saved the old fence we just took down…
Oh, we never throw away old fences or any old wood! So many great projects we’ve made from castoffs!
Looks great! How are you hiding all the cords?
We built the faux mantel and just drilled a hole where the frame sat through the mantel, and drew them through the hole into the cabinet next the fireplace, where the DVD player lived.
Love this idea. We have an older home and there would be an issue with hiding the wires. Any thoughts on that
We shared a bunch of different ideas here: https://www.remodelaholic.com/ways-to-hide-decorate-around-tv-electronics-cords/
Hopefully one of those will work for you!
I love this tutorial. However I don’t know what to do with the cables hanging from the TV. I have the Axel cable and the regular tv cable and a HDMI cable coming out of the TV. Also, my TV is slightly slanted; Would the frame allow me to make it flat completely? What is you suggestion on that? By the way,, love the way this frame looks. Thanks so much.
How wide is the frame itself?
The frame was about 4″ – 4 1/2″ wide. We used some old fence wood. The total width of the entire frame would depend on the TV you are framing. The depth of the frame is about 4″ as well. It was just the width of the board that I used.
I love this idea, I was looking for something like this, so that my little one doesn’t get a chance to get his hands on my TV.
Cheers!
Nice frame! We’re looking to do some something along these lines (without a mantle). Did you ever end up attaching the frame to the tv? If so can you share how you went about shooting that?