Frame Your Flat Panel TV!
If you are anything like me you don’t want to have your television as the main focus of your living room. If only there was a good way to hide the TV from view when it is not being used. We no longer need to worry about a big television tube since the development of LCD and plasma TVs which get thinner and thinner each year. This has allowed us to hang our televisions on the wall like a piece of framed art streaming crisp and clear HD images straight into your living room. Well that is fine when the TV is on, but what about that big dark screen when your TV is not in use? It is not really the most attractive thing to look at but I guess there is just no way of getting around that, or is there?
Imagine if you could make your flat panel TV look even more like a work of art by mounting it on your wall and framing it with a custom-built frame of your own choosing, one that perfectly matches your home’s decor. The same sort of frame you would be used on a painting or your favorite print. This would definitely make that wall mounted flat panel TV look more attractive whether it is on or not.
The first question is usually “how can I do this to my TV?” well, the first thing to think about is the actual mounting hardware. The main considerations in TV mounting brackets is between a low profile mount, and an articulating or tilt mount. The articulating mounts lets you to tilt the TV and change the viewing angle, but mounting your TV this way makes it stick out further from the wall, and can be a bit more pricey than the low profile mounts. This will work if you absolutely must have your TV like this but to me it ruins the clean and contemporary look you are trying to achieve. The low profile mounts are a much better solution for a framed TV, since these mounts allow the TV to be closer to the wall and make the TV appear to be more like framed artwork.
You may wonder if the mounting hardware will be visible or think that the entire side of the TV should be covered all the way to the wall, so that none of the mounting hardware is visible. Really, the frame should not be flush with the wall so you are sure have enough ventilation for the TV. Plasma TVs, especially generate a lot of heat there needs to be a small amount of space to allow this heat a way to dissipate, but even with a small gap, the mounting hardware usually can’t be seen from most angles.
I have seen a few of these setups mounted with a 2-way mirror in front of the screen. This looks pretty cool because when you turn on the television, you can see the image through the mirror, yet when the television is off it just looks like a framed mirror. Although this is an excellent way to hide your TV when not in use, it does alter the contrast of the TV image quite a bit making it look washed out. If you are more concerned with hiding your television and don’t care about the picture quality this works well but I wouldn’t recommend it for those that purchased their high-end flat panel TV so they could count every wrinkle on your local newscasters forehead. If you want a two-way mirror, I would highly recommend putting a sample of it over the TV to see how it looks before you decide.
There are many places out there that can help you create this urban camouflage for your television but there are a few things to look out for. Many of them use a standard frame for all TVs or even worse, the same frame style for all 40-46 inch TVs. This can create gaps between the edge of the frame and you TVs edge and it will look odd if it does not fit your particular model of television. Nothing looks worse than seeing part of a logo, or half of a speaker showing, you want it to look as clean and slick as possible.
One of the best manufacturers and installers I have found is FrameTheTV.com. They custom cut your frame and mat to fit your specific TV model number, so the frame fits each TV perfectly. The mat makes really makes the frame look like a piece of hanging art and it also lets the sound from any built-in speakers and the remote control signal to pass through. They have worked out how to mound nearly every television brand out there and will take the time to work out how to mount any brand they haven’t done.
So if you want to hide your TV, disguise it or just make it look a lot better. You may want to consider framing it!
