Y'all it's no secret that a big ole television can wreak REAL havoc on the interior design of a room REAL quick. I'm always trying to think on clever ways to incorporate a tv into a room (some of which are on this blog) that aren't too cra cra expensive and will still styleslap us all six ways to Sunday. Thankfully, my good friend and designer extraordinaire, Chris White, shared this genius tv decorative situ with a vintage gilded frame I'd scored for this HAWT guest room makeover project:
Oh, I guess this post is ALSO kind of a reveal of the guest room project...or part of it anyway...and damn if it didn't turn out all amaaaze, right?! Anyway, THAT frame!!! Just giving us all kinds of GLORY, right?! And the SSGW, or salon style gallery wall, was a deliberate choice here b/c now the tv just becomes part of a larger moment that's artful and interesting in the room and less of a giant eyesore, or at least that's what I'm going with. How to make it?
Get yourself a frame that you love...this one I'd scored at an estate sale. It's pretty epic. It doesn't weigh a ton or isn't too bulky/thick...yours shouldn't be either. Y'all don't want to have a frame that, when in place, blocks important television control panels that may need to be accessible.
It wasn't the exact dimensions of the tv. And chances are, yours won't be either, esp if it's vintage. But, if you can, try and get a frame that's as close to your overall tv dimensions. Now, I'm talking about the OUTER DIMENSIONS of the television here. The tv in this room was about 23.5" high x 36 1/4" wide. In order to make those dimensions work, we had to cut & reassemble our vintage frame:
Chris took extremely careful measurements and then used the chop saw to make really precise cuts. So much so that y'all can just see the tee-niny leftover frame piece in the middle of the cut carnage up there-- it's about 1/4". I told y'all he was EXTRAORDINAIRE. Why/what did he cut? Our frame was too high and not wide/long enough, so we had to cut pieces from the sides and then add them to the top and bottom to get us more length. There's ALL KINDS of loaded words in that last sentence and I just hope y'all appreciate that...once cut, we reassembled using wood glue, finishing nails and wood filler:
Once dried, we sanded the areas where wood filler was used. Btw, in addition to the cut marks, there were areas on our frame where some of the plaster work had chipped off, so we filled those too.
Once all sanding & any touch up painting was finished, Chris took to making this magic tv frame work:
* Cut black, double sided velcro in about 18" lengths x 4 (Y'all will want to measure the corners of your specific frame to get your exact velcro length here.) We used this 1 /12" velcro.
* Measure from corner of frame (ours was about 8" out) on either side, to locate spot where you will secure velcro to your frame. Mark spot.
* Hold velcro piece in place atop spot (be sure the 'fuzzy' side of velcro will go against the television to avoid scratching) and then screw in place with screw and washer. Note: Use appropriate length screws, for your specific frame, so y'all don't screw through frame to front side.
*Then trim the excess velcro off ends so it won't show on front side. Y'all can opt to trim your velcro before you screw it onto frame, but just be 100% sure it's the right length before you cut it.
Here's a detail shot of the velcro screwed in place on frame and note that the 'fuzzy' side is down, which goes against the back of television when in place.
"But PJ, I'm still really confused how this thing still works overall"...you're saying. Well, you're basically just hanging & securing a frame off your television. Your television is secured and supported on the wall already, so this is just a decorative enhancement that is held in place by velcro. It's like the frame is 'hugging' your television and the two pieces of velcro are like the arms joining together to make it an extra-tight-squeezy-yummy hug! See Chris is illustrating the secured velcro pieces being pulled apart here, like your arms-- if they were apart-- about to hug someone:
Then, they're about to join...omg...I can't WAIT for this hug...but...
*Now carefully hold frame in place on front side of television (best to have a friend help here) and finish the hug by joining the two different velcro pieces AROUND the back of the television...and repeat the joining on the three other corners. I don't have a pic of the backside, sorry folks, but it'd prob be too difficult to see clearly anyway, but trust that the velcro works! Y'all should make sure it's as tight as it can get w/out yanking it too much.
WHAT?!?!?! I mean...these people being interviewed on 'Access Live' were already GORG, but surrounded by all this 'licious they're just BEYOND.
Damn- STYLESLAPPED!
