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3 Ways To Hide That Ugly TV! (New Guide)

TV wall design can be challenging and televisions are not generally attractive to look at. In this post we share 3 ways to hide that ugly TV and DIY plans to help. Televisions…we all have at least one of them in our home. Don’t you wonder who designs the aesthetics of these boxes?  If I had my hands on designing one I’d sure make them beautiful! Would you believe that there is a TV in the photo below? Keep reading for some great options for TV wall design!

tv wall design hidden in a cabinet

3 Ways To Hide That Ugly TV – Wall Design

  • Frame it
  • Hide It
  • Disguise It

Frame It

Hidden TV design doesn’t need to be distracting. In this transitional room, the TV is housed in a frame that is designed to enhance and not hide. By creating a custom frame for your TV it can indeed become a focal point in a beautiful way.
If clean white lines are more what you crave, how about framing with white painted wood.
farmhouse tv wall idea
This home that I had the privilege of shooting for print has the TV in a frame disguised as art. TV wall design again proving that pretty can be practical in TV wall design. With a vintage painted frame, it stands out from the rest!
shabby chic tv over a fireplace mantel

Hide It

A media cabinet will hide a TV, but with today’s flat screen TVs they aren’t often easy to find.  This home decorated in a shabby chic style has a cabinet with doors that were designed to hide the tv. The homeowner rarely watches TV and took a plain plywood panel, added some embellishments and painted it white. How to hide a television idea that is also pretty, practical and not that difficult to do!

It’s hard to believe that there is an ugly tv in this room! The clever homeowner disguised it by building doors around it and shares free plans.
For a coastal look, here is how to hide a television and have the appearance of a painting until you open it up. I can see this in a beach rental or a fun basement space.
coastal hide a tv cabinet

Disguise It

The easiest and most simple solution would be to disguise your tv by blending it with other objects. Sort of a Trompe-l’œil or fool the eye effect. If your tv sits on a media stand or cabinet, display several objects around it and in front when not in use. This will help make the tv blend into the background. Create a gallery wall with artwork or use family photos. Try hanging some plants from the ceiling in decorative macrame holders if your TV is close to a window.

A dramatic TV wall design with a painted surround that is so creative!
boho chic tv gallery wall
Boho Chic Gallery Wall To Hide A TV
This post was first published in 2014 and has been updated.
So there you have it and you can do your own take with your style. How would YOU hide a television in your home?

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3 Ways To Hide That Ugly TV

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42 Comments

  1. Michaela Staňková says:

    Great idea dear-now looks very beautiful-love it!!!
    Have a nice day!!
    xo

  2. Gee Singh Newbanks says:

    both are wonderful ideas Janet. I too am not w fan of the big black box in my living room.
    Thanks for the inspiration.
    Happy today.
    Gee

  3. What a great idea! It looks so beautiful. Idea with TV in frame is perfect, too. Have a nice days, xoxo Michaella

  4. Drena Bathemess says:

    Thanks for sharing my home, Janet. My framed tv is one of the things that I receive the most compliments on. It can also work with other home decorating styles (my best friend has a more modern decor but she framed her tv, above the fireplace, to help it blend better.) I am working on putting a roll down piece of canvas that will make it look like a painting (instead of a big black spot) when it is not on.

  5. After 14 years with no television, the kids bought dad one for his birthday. It has to go in the living room and I hate looking at it. Thanks for some ideas on how to hide it.

  6. Mary@mydogsmygardenandmary says:

    Thanks so much for the ideas. I hate the look of them when they are not hidden.
    Have a great weekend.
    Mary

  7. Oh my goodness gracious…those are both amazing!!! Since we live in a rental apartment, I'm pretty much stuck in having the t.v. out in the open! I'm trying to lure my husband into hanging it on the wall but, as renters, he's leery of doing that! Someday:)

  8. Love these ideas, Janet! We have our TV in a vintage wardrobe armoire that we gutted and made into a TV armoire. I can shut the doors when we're not watching TV and it looks so pretty in our living room! 🙂

    xoxo laurie

  9. I love the frame idea–now to find the right size frame! I have my fingers crossed I win your contest 🙂

    1. You could make your own frame with polyurethane mouldings from Home Depot. You just cut them to make a frame to fit your TV and glue them together with some extra bracing for good measure. Then you could make a hook type thing at the top or a piece of velcro then goes all around the back from the top to the bottom.

  10. Beautiful blog! I've followed you for awhile and am always inspired by the beauty you share. Today, found you through Where Women Create. I'll make certain I follow your other social media, too.

  11. Jann Olson says:

    Oh, I love that first idea! I have my t.v. on a cabinet in my open great room and have wanted to do something like this. Thanks for the inspiration!
    hugs,
    Jann

  12. Shannon Fox says:

    Such pretty rooms… what TV? 😉

  13. Rachel W. Robbins says:

    Both of these ideas are so attractive. I have a TV in my bedroom, but I have it in a pretty TV cabinet/dresser. When I’m not using it, I simply shut the doors & no one would know it’s there. I do live alone, so I never have to worry about anyone else leaving the doors open, etc. I also have a TV in my family room, but I have a similar thing there too. It’s a TV cabinet with doors & on either side of the cabinet, I have matching bookcases with drawers on the bottom for storing DVD’s, CD’s, etc. The room looks much nicer without the big blobby TV in the middle of the room. Why can’t they make TV’s pretty?

  14. Thank you for this post Janet! Our TV has always been the ugly duckling in my home. Now I finally have some good ideas to submit to my husband ??.

    1. I soooo dislike seeing a tv in a room! The only places that we have them are my husband’s man cave and the family room. If it were up to me we would have none.

  15. We have our TV hung over our mantle, which isn’t a look that I love — although it is convenient. I love the idea of framing the TV so that it looks like art! I have to try it!

  16. These are all great ways to hide the elephant in the room – that ugly TV. I’m not a fan of placing a TV over a fireplace mantel but these ideas could work beautifully in that situation.

  17. I like your ideas! We have ours on an entertainment center. We really don’t care if it’s ugly or not, but I like the frame idea!

  18. I have always just been complacent with my t.v. being out in the open. This has opened up the possibility of hiding it, while creating a little more decor to my living room.

  19. All gret ideas but I think the media screen that TVs have become can look good plain. I love the frame you made and it accents the piece so well.

  20. Such a timely read as we are currently renovating and redecorating. I really like the idea of hiding the television. Outside a media room, it’s a bit of an eye sore!

  21. I really like these ideas. We do have a large TV in our living room and a frame might be a good idea for us.

  22. I love all of these ideas. They would be perfect for my home. I have to decide which one to go with next.

  23. These are all really clever ways to hide the tv. We don’t watch ours often, so out of sight, out of mind sounds like a good thing to me. The one in our basement is the biggest eyesore, so we really need to do something about it!

  24. I really like the boho chic gallery wall to hide the TV. The painting that folds up to reveal a TV is really neat too.

  25. I love the wall gallery with the TV. I am looking at a big blank wall behind my tv and I am totally inspired.

  26. We have a small home where space is a premium. I would like to hide the tv so that I could put a piece of art up there. We use the TV too much for that, though.

  27. Cathy Mini says:

    Yeah, Your right it’s so hard to think the perfect and right place. But now this is gonna be so easy thanks for this wonderful idea. Very helpful.

  28. I really like all of these ideas! I think I will be hiding out TV soon because it’s a bit distracting in our living room.

  29. Love those ideas! So clever. I may have to do one of those tricks because it does make the room more clean and neat to look at.

  30. These are some really great ideas to hide the TV. I do love the Framing idea!

  31. These are some great ideas. My husband made a beautiful armoire for our TV in our living room. However, the main TV is in the family room and is just sitting on a narrow TV table.

  32. These are really cool idea, our tv is older than my daughter. I will try to use some of the ideas.

  33. Love these ideas! The more it’s covered the better I like it!
    We have one in the bedroom in an antique satinwood armoire…one in the keeping room that is in a entertainment piece by Hooker Furniture . It has wood and a shelf above to place some accessories to distract and decorate!

    1. I’m so glad that you loved these ideas Deborah! There are some new “smart” tvs that have a white frame and you can change the photo on it when not watching. Other than that I feel they all need to be in hiding, lol

  34. Where are the TV and cable cords?

    1. Not sure which one you were referring to in this post, but cords can often be hidden behind or by poking a hole in the wall and dropping them down behind the drywall.

  35. Miche Ortega says:

    Brilliant ideas! Have you ever shared your family room with us?

    1. Thanks Miche! I have shared it a couple of times, but it’s usually so full of dog crates and such that it’s a mess. Hah! I need to share the built-ins one day because probably 20 years ago I had wallpapered the backs.

  36. If it could be accomplished, set up a screensaver and at least for a certain amount of time, you can be seeing a display of your favorite photos. I use the screensaver on my computer. Why not the tv???

    1. You definitely could do that Eileen and we set up a screensaver with music via YouTube. Some folks prefer to hide their TVs though, so these are just a few options.