19 Ideas That Prove A TV Doesn't Need To Be An Eyesore

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Tired of Staring at Your TV? Here’s How to Disguise It Beautifully

As much as designers might dream of TV-free living rooms, the reality is that most of us – about 96% of Americans – have at least one TV in our home (📈 actual stat!).

And while those drool-worthy Pinterest spaces with no screens look great… they’re not exactly ideal for binge-watching reality shows or comfort-viewing The Office for the 18th time.

So what do you do when you want a beautiful, cozy living room without your TV stealing the spotlight?

The good news: you don’t need to build a custom cabinet or fake a fireplace. There are creative ways to hide or disguise your TV so it blends seamlessly into your space – and today, I’m sharing all of my favorite ideas to help you do exactly that.

Watch my video instead!

🛠️ General TV Setup Tips Before You Decorate

Before we dive into all the stylish ways to decorate your TV wall, here are a few practical setup tips that’ll help everything look more intentional – and less like a furniture store showroom.

• Avoid cluttering around a large TV.If your TV is big, try not to surround it with lots of small art pieces or decor – it’ll just look chaotic and overly busy.
• Skip the swivel mount (if you can).While tilt mounts might improve the viewing angle, a screen tilted like it’s in a sports bar isn’t the vibe we’re going for. A flush mount usually looks more polished.
• Try not to place the TV in a corner.I get it – sometimes your layout gives you zero options. But if there’s any other wall that works, go for it. TVs in corners tend to look awkward and out of place. I totally understand if your layout leaves you no choice – our open concept home is wildly awkward too. But if there’s any other wall that works better, it’s worth exploring.
• Please don’t block windows with a TV.Natural light is precious. If possible, avoid placing your screen in front of any windows.

That said, life is messy and homes are real – not every room layout is ideal. So don’t stress if you’ve got to bend the “rules.” These are just things to keep in mind as you plan!

🟡 Hide or Conceal Your TV Completely

Want your TV to disappear entirely when you’re not watching? These clever solutions will help you hide your screen behind panels, doors, or even artwork – no renovation required.

1. Hide Your TV Behind Sliding Panels

Think modern wood slats, fabric panels, or even art that glides open.

If you’re into sleek and contemporary TV wall ideas, you might like this one.

Instead of hanging your TV *on* a panel, you can install a custom sliding panel that hides your TV when it’s not in use.

Depending on how handy you are, this may or may not be a costly project.

2. Hang Up Barn Doors to Cover the TV

A charming, rustic way to completely hide your screen.

If you’re more of a farmhouse decor kinda person, then barn doors might be the perfect way to decorate around your tv. The barn doors can be stationary, but while you’re at it, why not take it one step further:

Similar to the previous idea of using a sliding panel, you could mount the barn doors on a track and open and close them as needed to reveal or hide your TV.

Paint them white or leave them natural, whatever works with your existing decorating scheme!

3. Hide it Inside a Cabinet

Store it out of sight and close the doors when you’re done watching.

Can you spot the incredibly well hidden TV cable in the photo above?

If your TV isn’t that big, you may be able to fit it inside a nice cabinet with doors. (Or maybe you just need to find a big cabinet!). This method would make it possible to shut your telly away and hide it when it’s not in use.

4. Try a Samsung Frame TV

When it’s off, it looks like art – not a black hole on your wall.

Samsung has done a very good job at getting the word out about this product, namely by gifting the Frame to all the most influential home decor and interior design bloggers, vloggers and Instagrammers.

The first time I saw a photo of the Samsung Frame I could not believe it was actually a TV screen! If you’ve never seen one, to describe it, the effect is kind of like a giant framed Kindle that displays artwork when the TV is off.

I won’t go into the details because I don’t want to veer off topic, but you can check out the Samsung Frame here if you’re interested – it’s sold directly by Samsung on Amazon.

Definitely something to put on the wish list for when you want to splurge a little.

Can you spot which one is the Samsung Frame in the photo above from Pretty in the Pines? 🙂

5. Buy a Purpose-Built TV Hiding Solution

If you are one of those people that just doesn’t want to see that black box when it’s not in use, you may be willing to go to great lengths to conceal your TV.

like are you seeing the gif above? lol

There are some very clever ways to entirely disguise your TV, but they can be costly or be extremely involved and elaborate DIYs. But you could always hire a contractor to come and custom build your perfect vision of a hidden TV if you really wanted to.

I personally find crazy mechanical custom solutions a little too elaborate for my taste, but that’s just me! It might be exactly what you want and need in your home.

🟣 Blend Your TV Into the Wall (Make it disappear)

If you’d rather your TV fade into the background instead of standing out, these styling tips will help you visually blend it into your space without fully hiding it.

6. Paint the Wall Behind Your TV a Dark Color

A dark wall absorbs the screen visually and makes it recede.

Until manufacturers start making television screens any other color other than black, most of us are stuck with a gigantic black rectangle on our walls when our TV is off.

Unless you own one of these.

Painting the wall that sits directly behind your TV a dark color will make your big black screen recede into the wall so that it becomes much less of an eyesore. You don’t have to paint your whole room dark, you can just paint the wall that the TV is in front of.

I started with this one because it’s probably one of my favorite TV wall ideas: cheap, effective and easy to pull off.

7. Use a Dark Console or Furniture

Helps create a monochrome look that camouflages the TV.

Another great way to balance out the big dark rectangular screen, is to add a dark piece of furniture below it. This way you’re taking the black from the screen and treating it as a part of the color palette, instead of forcefully trying to disguise it.

Repeating the black in the console makes the darkness from the TV screen look intentional.

8. Create a Gallery Wall Around the TV

Distract the eye with art, frames, and layered visuals.

Try incorporating your TV into a gallery wall. This is a great idea for decorating around a wall mounted TV, but your TV doesn’t have to be wall mounted to do this – this method also lends itself wonderfully to TVs on stands.

In fact, this is probably one of the best ways to decorate a wall behind a tv on a stand.

To create your gallery, you can either:

1) create a super polished, straight as an arrow gallery wall around your TV where all the frames, mats and spacing are identical (like in the image above).

or …

2) create a free flowing gallery wall around your TV with artwork in lots of different shapes and sizes (like in the image below). Totally up to your own personal aesthetic.

For more guidance on gallery walls, check out my in depth article here!

9. Use Wallpaper to Add Visual Interest

Patterned walls make the TV feel less like a focal point.

If painting an accent wall is not your jam, then grab some funky wallpaper and create a wallpaper TV accent wall! The choices for the pattern or image to use are basically infinite!

Here are some of my favorite places to buy wallpaper online:

+ Society6+ Chasing Paper+ Rocky Mountain Decals+ Spoonflower+ Hygge & West+ Rebel Walls+ Cuckoo Walls+ Etsy+ Amazon

10. Paint an Abstract Mural

For a creative touch that turns the entire wall into art.

Paint a custom color block mural to camouflage your TV screen *and* pimp up your space all at once.

The black segment of the mural cleverly renders the TV above practically invisible.

This yellow geometric mural is incredibly easy to recreate as a DIY. All you need is some house paint and masking tape.

I’m confident you could pull off a mural like this for under $50 – you would only need to buy sample paint pots, painters tape and paint brushes/rollers (if you didn’t already have them in your supply stash).

🔵 Use Furniture & Layout Strategically

The right layout and furniture can make a big difference in how your TV fits into the room. These ideas help minimize visual clutter and make your setup feel more intentional.

11. Add a Split-Level Console

Breaks up the visual height of the TV wall.

Keep things looking contemporary – create a modern TV wall with an asymmetrical split-level TV console.

12. Mount the TV on a Panel

A clean, built-in feel that adds polish and blends hardware.

Another visually interesting way to hang your TV is to mount it on a panel, which in turn is mounted on the wall (or placed in front of it).

The panel can be any finish that suits your decor: wood, marble effect, high gloss, matte, rustic…

Your TV wall panel can also be any size, as large or as narrow as you need it to be.

13. Use Shelves Around the TV

Great for styling and making the screen feel integrated.

If you’ve already got a gallery wall in your room, or don’t want to go through the (sometimes agonizing) process of figuring out artwork, then using shelves around your TV might be for you.

Hanging shelves around your TV can be a great way to blend your TV with your decor. Place whatever decor items you like on the shelves, be it books, artwork, plants or other tchotchkes that bring you joy!

14. Wall-Mount Everything for a Floating Look

Minimizes clutter and draws less attention to the screen.

If you’re going to hang your TV, then consider mounting everything around the TV as well. That includes any console or storage unit below or around it.

This creates a very streamlined and clean look to the TV area if you’re diligent about keeping all the cables and clutter hidden!

🟠 Style Around the TV (Distraction Tactics)

Sometimes, the best way to hide your TV is to simply draw the eye elsewhere. These tricks help shift attention using light, color, and texture.

15. Add Backlighting Behind the TV

Creates an ambient glow that draws attention away from the screen.

I have had backlighting behind my TV for years and love it!

Backlighting your tv with an rgb light strip creates a really immersive effect when you’re watching your favorite show in the evening.

I find that in the evening at least, the lighting around the TV essentially becomes part of the decor itself. I especially like to switch the color to match the mood of the show – for example I liked to use blue when I was watching the wintery parts of Game of Thrones, haha!

But you can take things even further than that!

Philips Hue makes a device that syncs your smart lights directly to the images on the screen, so that you get colorful interactive lighting that matches the content on your television. So cool. 😎

Or you can just directly use these Philips light bars – a little more expensive but amazing TV backlighting.

16. Style with a Colorful Rug

Sounds odd, but grounding the space visually pulls attention downward.

The wall around your TV is not the only thing you can work with to integrate your television – you can also manipulate the visuals in a room by playing with the floor!

Placing a very bold and striking rug below the TV area can help to draw the eye away from the TV. This could be a great option for any bohemian decor style lovers out there ☺️

17. Use a Shiplap or Accent Wall

Adds character and texture that keeps the TV from feeling stark.

You can never go wrong with a good old shiplap accent wall. I’ve already featured a couple of images in this post that use shiplap walls behind the TV screens – did you notice those?

Creating a shiplap tv wall isn’t a difficult DIY – without a doubt you can accomplish the whole task within a weekend. It’s definitely a TV feature wall idea that you see a lot on Pinterest and Instagram.

If all you’re missing is a little texture and architectural interest behind your screen, then this might be the perfect TV wall solution for you.

Here are some great Shiplap TV wall DIY tutorials you can check out:

DIY Shiplap Accent WallHow To Plank a Wall for $30 (DIY Shiplap)DIY Shiplap in the Bathroom (can be applied to any room of course!)

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re working with a massive flatscreen or a modest setup in a tricky corner, your TV doesn’t have to ruin your decor. With a little planning – and the right design tricks – you can totally transform your TV wall into something that feels polished, stylish, and you.

I’ve lived with less than ideal layouts myself, so I know how game-changing even one good design tweak can be.

Got a favorite idea from the list? Planning to try one of these in your space? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

And if you found this post helpful, save it on Pinterest so you can refer back later – or share it with a friend who’s also trying to make peace with that big black rectangle. 😉

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