15 Ways to Decorate Around {and Hide!} the TV
April 21, 2025
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Tons of tips and ideas for decorating the wall around a TV.
The age old question -- how to make the big TVs of today work in the scheme of a room and not overpower it.
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!
1. Create a TV gallery wall
My favorite ideas involve gallery walls -- especially those with black frames. I think they work so well with the TV:
Source: Pottery Barn catalog
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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:
I love how this art goes all the way down to the floor and really makes the TV feel a part of the gallery.
I've always loved this image from Pottery Barn and their use of frames and other items to make an art wall around the TV:
Source: Pottery Barn catalog
Keep in mind this can get busy fast! The black and white photos keep this wall from becoming visually overwhelming.
I love how this one has some art hung behind the TV a bit -- you can still see it, but it feels layered:
These are a couple of my favorites -- I like the simple but non-symmetrical layout:
Lauren Haskett Fine Design
By the way, I prefer to hang our TVs instead of sitting them on a piece of furniture. I ALWAYS hang our flatscreen televisions on the wall.
I find a mounted TV is cleaner and blends in to the surroundings better.
It seems to "lighten" the space and gives it more visual breathing room.
I love the way Emily pulls in some color around her dark TV:
Beautiful! Notice how the green tones in the artwork are repeated? This helps to keep the artwork from looking too busy.
I used very simple black frames around the TV hanging in our bedroom:
I also layered a couple slightly behind the TV like in the photo above.
If you don't want to use art, try something else! I love Marian's use of decorative plates for a softer feel:
Oh how I LOVE that symmetry!
2. Keep the decor around the TV simple
I love the clean floating shelves with simple decor here:
Source: Crate and Barrel catalog
I really like the low TV stand as well. This is simpler and less cluttered look if a gallery wall is too much for you.
Using symmetry on the sides of the TV frames it out nicely without adding a lot of stuff. I flanked ours with lamps and added my DIY wood trough with flowers underneath:
A beautiful furniture piece like our vintage dresser also helps to direct the attention elsewhere!
Be careful with decor -- too many accessories bring extra attention to the TV and make it a focal point.
3. "Hide" the television with a dark wall
I also like the idea of going darker on the wall behind the television. A big black box on a light wall sticks out like a sore thumb!
A dark paint color blends the television into the background.
You can paint a whole wall or a smaller section -- I love this dark gray living room fireplace flanked by white bookcases:
You KNOW how much I love a gray accent!
Here's ours hanging over the dark gray fireplace and built ins in our old family room (this color is Peppercorn by Sherwin-Williams):
I think a dark wall goes a long way to downplaying the flatscreen.
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| See how we hid the electronics in those cabinets! |
Creating an accent wall behind can also direct attention away from the television. When you combine that with a dark background like our dark gray entertainment center wall, it works even better:
You can see here how our dark family room fireplace wall camouflages it a bit (especially before we had the light wood TV frame!):
4. Turn your TV into art!
We purchased a Samsung Frame TV years ago and I love it! It has a more of a matte screen that turns your television into a piece of art:
You can use your own photos or inexpensive Etsy art downloads and change the "art" as much as you want. It's so fun and looks really lovely.
There are beautiful scenes with just about any theme you can think of on YouTube as well. They are great to display during a party or get together.
See the tutorial for our DIY frame for the TV -- my version was a fraction of what the Samsung frames costs.
Have you done anything special to minimize the TVs in your house? Or does it not bother you much?
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What most of those photos, your peppercorn wall aside, is a black TV on a pale or neutral wall. I have a 9' wide chocolate brown wall with a TV. It's the only dark wall in the room and as much as I'd like to decorate around it, I can't find any inspiration walls.
ReplyDeleteI know some people love it, but I can't hang ours over the fireplace like art...Hubby wants to and i am resisting. I love having it in an oak cabinet that we can close up. A close second is that one pic you have that shows the TV in a collage of sorts. But I have to admit, I'm not much of a TV watcher!
ReplyDeleteI love love love this. These looks are all so gorgeous. Right now our TV is on our new electric fireplace entertainment center as we await the arrival of our wall mount. I've been thinking about what to do in the corner where the TV will be mounted so this definitley helps. Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Ashlee Michelle
www.makeupandmodifieds.com
I love that in the Fixer Upper shot, she's got the same plant as you in the corner (ficus I think?). And look! Its even in a basket! You can officially claim to be an inspiration for Joanna. :) Nobody can disprove it!
ReplyDeleteWe recently created a gallery wall around the TV in our family room. I used all the same size frames and framed pictures of places that are important to us (vacations, ect.) http://www.thedelighteddwelling.com/2015/10/tv-gallery-wall.html
ReplyDeleteThey don't bother me either. Our bedroom tv is in our closet, so I can just close the doors. That Pottery Barn photo has been a fave of mine FOREVER.
ReplyDeleteWe spent the money and purchased a mirrored frame from Frame My TV. It looks amazing and guests never believe it is actually a TV
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that tv on Fixer Upper! I have often wondered why she doesn't show how to place them more often. I am wondering where you learned all your construction skills. You can do amazing things! Your house is gorgeous and you do have impeccable taste! I haven't known about your blog for long, but I love checking to see what new project you have going. Janet
ReplyDeleteOh shoot I love them all. Wish we could hang our tv on wall but I like to change living room around couple times a year so no hanging tv. We have 2 walls to put entertainment center and tv on, limits me quite a bit. I have a black buffet with 3 drawers across top then 3 cupboards, really want to use it for tv stand, has to be something big/wide enuf to put 50" tv on. our big gift to each other. Think buffet will painted a light aqua or gray instead of black, too dark for our room in seasons besides winter. Will possibly be getting new carpet this Spring also to lighten up room. Happy week Always learn so much from you.
ReplyDeletelove this idea! I think im gonna try it in our living room!
ReplyDeleteXO Ellen from Ask Away
www.askawayblog.com
I'm grappling with this in our house. Can't decide what to do! When we had yellow paint it was a bigger deal but painting the walls gray has helped lessen the contrast. At our condo in Florida we hung prints around the TV and it came out great. My only regret is that I should have done more! http://www.houseography.net/2015/08/our-florida-beach-condo-tv-stand.html
ReplyDeleteLike you, I like the simpler approaches. I don't find the tv too noticeable if it's scaled right for the space and there are other touches of black in the room. My question is, what did Joanna do with the components? I find those harder to conceal/incorporate.
ReplyDeleteHow did you hide the cords from the TV??? In our bedroom we have a TV with these giant cords hanging down. SUPER ugly and annoying.
ReplyDeleteI guess this is old school now...but we have an armoire that houses a 42" television (plenty big) and has 3 drawers, that when we are not watching TV,closes up to a beautiful piece of furniture...!
ReplyDeleteI've done posts on this because I hate the way our TV stands out so much on the wall. I like some of your ideas a lot - pinned!!
ReplyDeleteI hide mine inside a big armoire style furniture piece.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the TV on Fixer-Upper as well. I had heard that they don't have a TV in their home and as a result, wasn't a priority for her. However if she listens to her audience, I would bet 95% of us have them, even if only used for Netflix or DVD viewing, so am glad to see she put one in their home. Also as they merely 'stage' the home for the show and the furnishings aren't included in their prices, I wonder how many of their clients actually keep the arrangements the same.
ReplyDeleteI really do like the look of the mounted TV but unless you have built-in outlets, how do you handle the cord issue? I am not techie enough to know how to fix that!
I love these ideas, but I have mirrors of different shapes and sizes around my tv. When I walk in the room, my eyes go directly to the mirrors. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a salon wall behind my tv. It's personable, stylish, and chic! Loving all of the ideas!
ReplyDelete~Mel
www.thegossipdarling.com
Thank you so much for posting this! I live in a fairly small open concept space with one single focal wall - which dictates the TV is on it. I wasn't sure exactly how to decorate around it - it looked very empty just sitting there on its own - so I started with one piece of art, which grew to another. My daughters told me it looked too busy, but I was liking it, so I added an oversized clock, and loved it even more! Seeing your post has justified for me that I haven't lost my marbles, and that you CAN have a gallery wall behind a TV! Thanks Sarah! :)
ReplyDeleteDo you have the source for the first photo? I would love to know where the black/gold rug is from.;)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what it's called or where I saw it but you can buy a special TV mount that hides your TV when you aren't watching it. It will look like a piece of artwork hanging on your wall and when you are ready to watch TV, you just press a button and the TV magically appears. It's not very expensive either - I think only a few hundred dollars. It think it's a great idea if you want a TV over your fireplace but you don't want to see it when you aren't using it.
ReplyDeleteEdit: Found it but they are more expensive than I thought. Still a cool idea though: https://www.hvtvmounts.com