Tips for Decorating Around the TV

Tips and inspiration for decorating the wall around a TV

Our current master bedroom 

The age old question is how to make our big TVs of today work in the scheme of a room and not overpower it. I'm not a big stickler about this -- televisions don't bother me much. Especially the sleeker versions we have now. But often they kind of just hang out in the middle of a wall and stand out more than we'd like.

I've gathered a few of my favorite ideas on how to incorporate a TV into the design of your house, and even help it to disappear a little bit!

My favorite ideas involve gallery walls -- especially those with black frames. I think they work so well with the TV:

Source: Pottery Barn 

What a beautiful room right? I think this TV wall is done so well. White frames and other colors work well too of course, I just think the black helps to make the TV stand out a little less. 

I love the idea of incorporating big artwork to steal the focus:

Emily Henderson

I like how these go all the way down to the floor too -- not just floating up above.

I have always loved this image from Pottery Barn and their use of frames and other items to make a true art wall around the TV:

Source: Pottery Barn

Keep in mind this can get busy fast -- on a large wall you'll want to be careful how wide and big you go with the gallery. 

I love how this one has some art just slightly behind the TV -- you can still see it, but it feels layered: 

Tidbits and Twine

These are a couple of my favorites -- I like the simple but non-symmetrical layout: 

Lauren Haskett Fine Design

I love the way Emily pulls in some color around hers as well: 

Emily A. Clark

Beautiful! 

If you don't want to use art, then try something else -- I love Marian's use of decorative plates for a softer feel: 

Miss Mustard Seed

I love the floating frames and low TV stand here: 

Crate and Barrel 

This is simpler and less cluttered look if the frames are too much for you. Side note -- I prefer to hang our TVs instead of sitting them on the surface. I just like the look better and it gives more breathing room and space to decorate around them. 

Before we knocked out a wall a couple years ago our TV hung on a different wall in our family room. I flanked it with lamps (I usually lean towards symmetry) and added a wood box underneath: 

I tend to go simpler in our own home -- sometimes doing too much can backfire and bring even more attention to what you're trying to minimize. It all depends on your space and taste.

I also like the idea of going darker on the wall behind the television. You can do the whole wall or a smaller section -- I love this dark gray fireplace:

Julie Williams Design

I may be biased where that's concerned though. ;) Here's ours hanging over the dark gray fireplace and built ins in our old home (this color is Peppercorn by Sherwin Williams):

I think a dark wall goes a long way to reducing how much the TV stands out.

You can see here how our dark fireplace camouflages it a bit:

On a similar note -- did anyone watch Fixer Upper this week? I think it was the first time ever that she incorporated a television in her design:

(HGTV)

I couldn't believe it! But I was happy to see this -- I'd love to see how she incorporates them more. 

Have you done anything special to minimize the TV in your house? Or does it not bother you much? I have some ideas in mind for our master -- if it turns out I hope to show you next week!