5 Ways to Beautify The Area Around a TV
Colour, placement and accessories help that big black screen blend In
Rebekah Zaveloff
9 February 2018
A Houzz reader recently asked, “How do you decorate the wall around a flat screen TV?” It’s a popular question. For years, a primary task of a designer has been to play ‘Hide the TV’. When the flat-screen television arrived, I remember the relief and joy! Finally – an end to huge furniture pieces attempting to hide the eyesore of the living room. Homeowners had no problem embracing the flat screen, even with the hefty price tag. But as the novelty faded, many found their flat screen as challenging to decorate around as their old tube TV. Whether you have a fireplace to contend with or not, arranging a room around the big black rectangle can be a struggle. Here are 5 ways to pull it off.
1. Add a bit of black
Unfortunately, the big shiny black box that is the flat screen TV just dominates a room. In more traditionally decorated rooms, and when white trim is involved, one solution is to have other black accents and accessories. Here the TV is over a dark brown floor that helps ground the room. This element and the black accents in the pillows and side table help to bounce your eye around the room and balance the black hole of the tv.
Tip: Even though there’s symmetry with the two yellow chairs and the two urns on the mantle, the asymmetry of tall shelving on the left and the lower cabinet on the right help to fill the room with texture and interest. This helps to diminish the TV as a focal point.
Unfortunately, the big shiny black box that is the flat screen TV just dominates a room. In more traditionally decorated rooms, and when white trim is involved, one solution is to have other black accents and accessories. Here the TV is over a dark brown floor that helps ground the room. This element and the black accents in the pillows and side table help to bounce your eye around the room and balance the black hole of the tv.
Tip: Even though there’s symmetry with the two yellow chairs and the two urns on the mantle, the asymmetry of tall shelving on the left and the lower cabinet on the right help to fill the room with texture and interest. This helps to diminish the TV as a focal point.
2: Camouflage with a dark colour
Still not loving how much the black shiny rectangle jumps off the wall? Camouflage your TV with a background wall of black, brown, navy, charcoal grey – any dark colour of your choosing. This room takes it all the way with the ebony floors. I especially love the recessed niche with what appears to be a moulding detail on the inside.
See how dark tones light up this home
Still not loving how much the black shiny rectangle jumps off the wall? Camouflage your TV with a background wall of black, brown, navy, charcoal grey – any dark colour of your choosing. This room takes it all the way with the ebony floors. I especially love the recessed niche with what appears to be a moulding detail on the inside.
See how dark tones light up this home
This room camouflages the TV with a background of dark wood veneer. There are also many fabulous wallpapers that would serve the same purpose. This is a great solution if you’re more of a minimalist and don’t want to clutter your walls with art or books.
3: Draw attention to something else in the room
The stunning mirror steals the show in this living room. The TV is set off to the side, giving it secondary importance.
Tip: There’s no need to put all eyes on the TV when arranging furniture in a room, especially if it’s your living room. Even if the sofa faces the TV, a few occasional side chairs that act as if they’re ignoring the TV help take the focus away.
Want to know how mirror affects the energy of a space?
The stunning mirror steals the show in this living room. The TV is set off to the side, giving it secondary importance.
Tip: There’s no need to put all eyes on the TV when arranging furniture in a room, especially if it’s your living room. Even if the sofa faces the TV, a few occasional side chairs that act as if they’re ignoring the TV help take the focus away.
Want to know how mirror affects the energy of a space?
The sleek dark stone helps to balance the dark TV above. Even though the woodwork in this room is white, the smallest amount of black in the table base and chair base, and the dark graphic pattern of the rug, balance the lights and darks in this room.
The metal pendant and artful display of objects on the console to the right pulls your eye away from the centralTV/fireplace.
The metal pendant and artful display of objects on the console to the right pulls your eye away from the centralTV/fireplace.
4: Fill in the space
Books, accessories and pictures around this TV make the screen practically invisible.
Tip: If you don’t have built-in shelving to fill in with books, just pack your wall with art and photography.
Check out these amazing ways to display books
Books, accessories and pictures around this TV make the screen practically invisible.
Tip: If you don’t have built-in shelving to fill in with books, just pack your wall with art and photography.
Check out these amazing ways to display books
Creating an art wall achieves the same effect as the previous photo. And this solution doesn't require you to have a book collection or a budget for built-ins.
5: Ground it
My number-one pet peeve is a TV that floats on a wall with nothing under it. A floating TV reminds me of a hospital or bar – not desirable looks for a living room. Even when the TV is mounted to the wall, adding a console or media cabinet helps to fill in the space. Add a few artfully placed objects and you’re done.
My number-one pet peeve is a TV that floats on a wall with nothing under it. A floating TV reminds me of a hospital or bar – not desirable looks for a living room. Even when the TV is mounted to the wall, adding a console or media cabinet helps to fill in the space. Add a few artfully placed objects and you’re done.
A few floating shelves and a cabinet below help to fill this wall with texture, colour and interest other than the TV.
Even though this TV is floating pretty high above the console below, the console still adds a grounding effect.
This space shows many of these different ideas in action: The symmetrical shelving filled with art and objects draws the attention away from the TV. The black firebox, black side chairs, and brown shelves and floor bounce your eye around the room. Symmetry rules, and the dark brown floor grounds everything.
Read more:
10 TV & Media Units That Steal the Spotlight
Tell us:
How have you decorated the area around your TV? Share images and your ideas in the Comments below.
Read more:
10 TV & Media Units That Steal the Spotlight
Tell us:
How have you decorated the area around your TV? Share images and your ideas in the Comments below.
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We have folding indoor shutters on our windows that block the light when closed. That might work for you, depending on how much space you have on either side of your doors. Shutters are not only architecturally interesting, but also eliminate the need for drapery treatments.
Simple, removable solution to conceal electronic devices, wires, and cables in rental property.
Providing support for the feature wall and space to hide cables and cords, 2 vertical hanging 2x4s are secured along the wall studs, where the wall boards attach in 3 sections, the floating cabinet hinges, a wooden panel under the TV slides out, and the tv can be removed from the mount with the pull of a string, allowing easy access to the hidden cords and back of the TV.
When the Man Must Have His TV & Toys...
Feature Wall hides 5 devices, 20+ electronic cables and cords, 2 power strips w/charging stations, DVD’s, Blue-rays, Video games, gaming accessories, remotes, etc., everything aside from the TV and consoles requiring remote access (if it were up to me, all would be hidden; I choose my battles).
Providing support for the feature wall and space to hide cables and cords, 2 vertical hanging 2x4s are secured along the wall studs, where the wall boards attach in 3 sections, the floating cabinet hinges, a wooden panel under the TV slides out, and the tv can be removed from the mount with the pull of a string, allowing easy access to the hidden cords and back of the TV.
Dear Rebekah,Thank you for including Jerry Jacobs Design.
Jerry