Choosing the Right Furniture
Pick a stand that’s wider than your TV screen. While the base of your TV may be small enough to fit on a tiny stand, look for a stand that’s wider than your TV screen. A wider TV stand will help balance your screen and make your TV placement look more intentional. Too small a stand can make your TV look precarious and make your room feel empty. This means if you have a 42 in (110 cm) TV, you want at least a 46 in (120 cm) stand, even if base for your TV is 15 in (38 cm). Check that your stand doesn't look wobbly or narrow. If it is, the stand might look too small once your TV is in place.
Look for a TV stand with storage to help conceal your electronics. Equipment like cable boxes and wifi modems are necessary, but they aren't always the best things to look at. Find a TV stand with extra storage space, such as shelves or drawers, to help you conceal these. Decorate the TV stand by adding some vases, lamps, or pillar candles to it. Open shelves are great for things like books and photos, while enclosed shelves and drawers conceal anything with small lights. You'll need storage in your TV stand even if you plan to mount your television on the wall. At a minimum, make sure you have space for your cable box, DVD player, game system, and remotes, if you have them. It's also a good idea to have space to store DVDs and other media items.
Place matching bookcases on either side of your TV for a balanced look. Bookcases work great sitting on either side of a mounted TV or a TV stand. Find a pair of matching bookshelves to frame your TV, show off decorative pieces, and use your books as smart and chic décor when you’re not reading them. Make sure your bookcases are evenly spaced on either side of your TV to keep the area looking symmetrical. This helps distract from the TV itself. As another option, you might install floating shelves on either side of your TV to balance the look.
Conceal smaller TVs in the middle of a bookcase. If you have a smaller TV in an area like your bedroom, consider putting it on the middle shelf of a bookcase. This hides your TV in plain sight and gives you two functions out of one furniture piece, saving you space in smaller rooms. If you want to use this concealment method, make sure the bookcase is positioned directly across from your viewing area. Otherwise, you won't be able to comfortably use your TV. Many bookcases have adjustable shelves. If your TV is just a little too tall for the shelves in their current setup, drop the TV shelf down one notch to create the perfect fit. Secretary desks and tall hutches also work great for this purpose.
Mount your TV above your mantel or fireplace to create a focal piece. Mounting your TV above a built-in fixture in your home such as your mantel helps take the focus off the TV when it’s not in use. This creates a balanced look in your room and lets the TV act as an accent over the fireplace rather than being the sole focus of a wall. Consider speaking with an electrician or a handyman about concealing your cables in your wall when you mount the TV. Hanging cables can be dangerous if left too close to your fireplace when it’s in use. Before you install your TV over the fireplace, make sure you can comfortably watch it at the height. If your fireplace is very high, it may be painful to crane your neck while watching it. Although this is a common option, it might not work for every home.
Designing the Wall Around the TV
Arrange a gallery wall around your TV to incorporate it into a room. A gallery wall is a wall with a number of complimentary art pieces in different sizes all hung on the same wall. Building a gallery wall around your TV will help it blend seamlessly into your décor when it’s off. Look for frames that compliment your TV. Often, black matte frames work well with modern, flat screen TVs. If you have a frameless TV, though, clear acrylic frames, otherwise known as frameless picture frames, may work better. You can blend your TV into a gallery wall by choosing an eclectic mix of items, like art, prints, old maps, mirrors, or photos. This organization may end up stealing the spotlight from the TV, which isn't always a good idea.
Paint a black accent feature to help your TV blend in. Section off a portion of your wall as wide as your TV stand, or 5–6 inches (13–15 cm) wider than your mounted TV. Paint this section from floor to ceiling in a dark accent color like black, dark brown, or navy. Finish the space with a TV stand and a floating shelf or two in the same accent color as the wall. The dark color helps conceal your TV so that it blends into the background. However, you can also use bright colors to create contrast against the black of your TV. Bright colors won’t help your TV blend, but they will make it a statement piece. This gives you the effect of an accent wall without having to paint a full wall. If you have a mounted TV, make sure to center it so that there is an even amount of space on either side between the TV and the paint border. So if you left 6 in (15 cm) of extra space overall, you would want 3 in (7.6 cm) on either side of the TV once it is mounted.
Frame your TV with matching design accessories to balance it. You can use matching lamps, sconces, lanterns, or complimentary art pieces like a diptych set. Hang them at the same height and the same distance from the TV to create symmetry. You can also place them on your stand at the same distance from your TV to help frame an unmounted set. Pieces don’t need to be identical, but they should be the same general shape and dimensions to maintain symmetry. Make sure the items you place near your TV don't block your view. If you use lamps, check that they don't cause a glare on the screen. For example, if you have 2 pieces of wall art with quotes on them, each quote may be different. However, you will get the best look if they use the same font and color scheme, are the same size, and have the same frame.
Add floating shelves above your TV to balance your wall. Floating shelves are a great way to create decorative extra storage and draw the eye upward, taking the focus off the TV when it’s off. You can hang a single floating shelf that’s wider than your TV, or several smaller shelves at staggered distances and heights. You want the spread of your shelves to be wider than your TV because this draws attention upward and away from the TV when it’s not in use. A single, small shelf centered to your TV is less noticeable and looks more utilitarian than decorative. Floating shelves are available from most home goods stores and online retailers. Check to see if the shelves you want come with the correct mounting hardware for your walls before you purchase them. Decorate your shelves with items like small plants, photos, or knick knacks. However, make sure your decor doesn't distract from what you're watching on TV.
Hiding Your TV
Mount wall art on sliding tracks to create an inconspicuous disguise. Mount mirrors, faux doors or shutters, or any piece of 3D wall art on a sliding flat track to conceal a mounted TV. This way, you can slide the art in front of your TV when it’s not in use. Flat tracks are available online and from many hardware stores and include brackets that can easily attach to wooden or wood-backed art. If your selected art piece is not wooden, you may need to add a wood backing to your art or use a strong epoxy to attach the mounts. Read the instructions on the epoxy carefully to make sure it will bond with your art materials. Make sure you love the item you use to disguise your TV, since switching it out will be difficult. Choose something that's classic and easy to style around.
Add hinges to a large stretched canvas to conceal a mounted TV with art. If you have a piece of traditional stretched canvas art that you like, try adding hinges to either the left or the right side of the piece. The hinges will allow you to swing the art open when you want to watch TV and close the art over the TV when it’s not in use. Hinges are readily available from most hardware and big box stores. Depending on the size of your art, you may need 2-4 hinges for your piece. Create a vertical line down either the left or the right side of your canvas stretcher. Drill your hinges along this center line. Then, have an assistant hold up the art piece while you drill the wall side of the hinges into your wall.
Pull down retractable wall art to give a vintage disguise to a mounted TV. Using a pull-down map or other retractable art lets you quickly and easily hide your TV when it’s not in use. You can find retractable wall art from many online retailers. Installing retractable wall art will vary depending on the specific type of art you get. Be sure to read instructions carefully before mounting your retractable piece.
Pull curtains across your TV to visually lengthen your wall. Curtains work for both mounted TVs and TVs on stands, provided the stand isn’t too bulky. Mount a curtain rod 4–5 in (10–13 cm) above your TV and hang short curtains to cover your TV. You can also bring the curtain rod up near your ceiling and use full-length curtains to hide your TV, cover a blank wall, and create the illusion of a taller room. Curtain rods and curtains are available from most home goods and big box stores at a variety of price points. Many curtain rods only require a screwdriver and a couple of screws to install. Since you aren’t setting your curtains into a window frame, you can’t use a pressure rod. You will need to find a curtain rod that includes mounting brackets.
Store an unmounted TV in an armoire. Instead of keeping an unmounted TV on a TV stand, tuck it away in an armoire or large cabinet that matches your décor. That way, you can open the furniture piece up when you want to watch your favorite show, and close the doors when you want to conceal the TV.
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