Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Hang A Shelf Over The TV

Ding dong, the bare spot above the TV is dead.

Tv Shelf Vert Closer2

Remember how it used to look like this for a few years?

TV 1 Before From Couch

And then we graduated to a bigger tv and kept an eye out for the right media cabinet for another year or so.

TV 7 After From Couch

And then we finally got here with the help of a $59 cabinet that we found at a thrift store…

Before Shelf

Whew. So glad it’s NNM (nekkid no more). Don’t mind that power strip on the ground, I’ve since shoved it behind the media cabinet to hide it.

After Shelf

Dang it feels good to be a gangsta have a shelf there.

Tv Shelf Vert Closer4

We actually debated a bunch of options for above the TV (hanging frames/art, something 3D in the “wall decor” category, hanging a ready-made shelf, making one of our own so we could pick the length, depth, and the brackets, etc). The last idea won out thanks to keeping an eye out for anything in any of those categories for the last few years, not finding anything that worked/we loved, and finally taking matters into our own hands and making something that fit the wall perfectly.

The good news? It only took us a few hours and around $20.

Tv Shelf Detail 1

As for how we made it, we picked up a 10″ wide poplar board from Home Depot and just cut it to length and supported it with some store-bought brackets, also from Home Depot. Oh and the overall finished shelf length is 56″ since the media cabinet under it is 60″ (we thought that was a nice compatible length).

When it came to the color of the shelf and the brackets, we primed and painted them both white (the brackets were originally silver), just because we didn’t want the shelf to be bold/contrasty (we wanted it to layer into the room like the white frames over the sofa, the white mirror over the desk, etc).

Tv Shelf From Side

We also decided that putting the brackets on the top of the shelf instead of under it would keep everything on the same plane – instead of having potentially distracting brackets poking out from the bottom of the shelf and encroaching on the TV. It’s totally one of those to-each-his-own things, but we like the brackets up top in here since we have brackets under the shelves in the kitchen (Ikea sells some shelves with brackets on top, so it’s apparently a pretty common thing).

We just didn’t want the shelf itself stealing any attention from any zombies, white walkers, or dignified Brits that we might be watching on the TV below it (feel free to guess what three shows we just referenced). #nerdsforlife

Tv Shelf Detail3

Then we just used heavy duty anchors that were guaranteed to support a lot more weight than we’d ever put on that shelf to secure each of the brackets. We also added some extra strength adhesive to the bracket bases before screwing them into the face of the shelf for added insurance. Many people screw and glue things from above and it holds nice and firmly, so it’s not necessary for the brackets to be under the shelf in order to support it. Let’s just say that at least three Clara’s could theoretically hang on it…

Oh man. Could you lick these flowers, or is that just me? They’re called rhinocerus ranunculus.

Tv Shelf Detail2

I can’t tell you how much better it is to sit on the sofa without having weird “ugh, this wall has been blank for years! Dude GET ON THAT!” thoughts.

Now I can just sit with my feet up and dust my shoulders off, Jay-Z style.

Tv Shelf Vert Closer

As for what’s living it up on our new shelf, I leaned a few frames that we already had up there (and even used poster putty on the base of them to keep them nice and secure). Inside of them we have:

  • a “squeeze the day” page from an old Boden catalog that I’ve always loved
  • a blue botanical print from Ikea a while back
  • a polaroid of John and I at one of our book signings (we realized we didn’t really commemorate those in any way – and I even used some Clara art to make a cheerful yellow mat behind it)

Of course there are also those pretty fresh flowers that’ll die in a week or two and then I’ll find myself sitting on the couch thinking “ugh, those flowers are dead. Dude GET ON THAT!” – but the good news is that I’m now the proud owner of pretty West Elm paper flowers (more on that here) so those’ll hopefully pick up where the real ones left off.

Birthday Flowers

And then I’ll just get to sit on the sofa and concentrate on the zombies. As it should be.

Oh but before I go, blam:

Tour Liv Before2

Can you believe that’s how this wall of the living room looked on the day that we moved in?

Now it’s all “look at me now.”

Tv Shelf After Shot

What do you guys have over your TV? A mirror? A plant? A zombie action figure (you know, to complement the real ones on TV)?

Comments

  1. Mary says

    The new shelf looks great!
    We duct-taped our power strip & all the cords to the back of our media cabinet. Now we don’t see them.

    Reply

  3. Meredith Jones says

    I’m so glad you posted this Karmin video! You’ve posted a link to it before and I went back to that post a couple times during the months after because I couldn’t even rmember her name! She’s amazeballs!!! I could only wish I could lady rap like THAT!
    Loving your shelf btw :)

    Reply

  7. Lauren Pack says

    I love the reverse brackets! We are working on our nursery for our first little person and I really wanted to hang shelves, but I was not feelin’ the traditional wall bracket system… You guys always give me the best ideas!

    Reply

  9. Parke says

    Love it!! Quick question about the living room, now that I’m looking at it. Have y’all ever thought about painting the beams white and doing a coffered ceiling? It could look really cool! Especially since it would tie into the floor design

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we sadly can’t do a coffered ceiling because the beams aren’t in the right places (they’re not evenly spaced, so it would make a bunch of not-the-same-sized rectangles if we did that). Boo! As for painting them white, that was our first instinct but we like the gray-washed look since they balance out heavier things like the giant charcoal sofa. In person they have lots of character with the wood grain coming through (and we have white beams in the kitchen to enjoy :)

      xo
      s

  10. RJ says

    Will you guys ever change out the flooring? I love all your decor but that checkered floor just screams out me every time! It’s just SO busy in that big room. Love everything else, though :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We want to refinish it in a dark mocha color. It’s in some gorgeous homes we’ve seen (and it’s solid wood), so we think it just needs some love so it doesn’t look all dry and faded :)

      xo
      s

  11. Anne G. says

    Looks so fresh and Springy! Knowing you, those baskets will get a makeover soon! Or maybe it will another two years…the curse of the wall. Ha.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha! I painted the bottoms of them in Clara’s room and love the dipped-in-white look (I also want to refinish the floors someday, haha!).

      xo
      s

  12. Tricia S in Iowa says

    I like the shelf above the t.v. I was going to do the same thing before I bought a new (white) sofa that needed to go where the tv was. The preferred location was in front of a window where my black cat loves to perch. Now the tv is angled in a corner and will shortly be mounted on a bracket that will allow it to be rotated out when I want to watch tv. When I’m not watching, it can be pushed back against the wall and I can rotate photos on a flash drive. One of my pet peeves is a room that is oriented to a television. You’ve avoided a total focus on the electronics with your choice of sectional and the other areas of the room. Had it been my choice, I would go with a bolder (perhaps to match the cabinet?) to detract from the TV. As with every horizontal surface in your house, I’m sure it will be come a place to rotate object in and out of to reflect the mood of your life. Can’t wait to see what you do with the shelf next!

    Reply

  13. Jennifer says

    AAAHHHH, $herdog we share the same interest in wishing that we could rap like Karmin. I might even work up the courage to think of a cool rap name for myself! I am actually going to Karmin’s concert tomorrow! Maybe I’ll ask them to come up with a rap about home decorating and record it for you!

    I also love the little update that you did!!!

    Reply

  14. Rachel says

    Your timing on posting this was perfect. We recently moved into a new house, and I have been debating what to do on the wall by our TV. This won’t work exactly in our house as we have built-in’s nearby, but it does give me some new ideas. Thanks!

    Reply

  15. Petra says

    great shelves! I love the upside-down look.

    On something else (maybe I’m the 100th person to ask?) why did you change your header back to the old one? Loved the previous more!!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s the first time we heard that! We love the new one so much more (cleaner, less busy) and after 2 years with the last one we were ready for a fresh little update :)

      xo
      s

  16. Carol says

    Okay. Karmin’s CRAY. Seriously, that girl is mesmerizing.

    And I, too, love your new redonkulouses/ranunculus’. They be fresh. :)

    Reply

  17. Hannah K says

    Wow… is it weird that were rotating through almost the same tv shows? Throw in a little How I Met Your Mother and we might as well be the same people!

    Thanks for the tutorial – I actually have been looking for some different ideas for open shelving!

    Reply

  18. Krystle @ Color Transformed Family says

    We are still old school and have our TV in an armoire. Updating to a more modern TV stand is on our list of things to do this year though. We get excited thinking about how much more space our living room will have once it doesn’t have a huge armoire looming over the sofas.

    Reply

  21. Maren says

    Reppin Nebraska! Amy Heidemann is from Seward, NE which is pretty cool because not that many cool things come out of NE. Lol! Karmin is performing in Kearney (45 min from where I live) on the 17th and I’m seriously thinking I should go watch. Her rappin skills are ridic!

    Reply

  22. pallavi says

    YAY! you guys watch game of thrones too?!?! HUZZAH!! have you read the books too?! its all amazing!

    Reply

  23. Carolyn Ellsworth says

    I love the idea of brackets on top. We’re planning on hanging some shelves in the living room currently and we might steal some inspiration. thanks!

    Reply

  24. Staci @ My Friend Staci says

    Looks great. The first thought I had when I saw the curved brackets on top of the shelf, as opposed to underneath, was that it reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge! Random, but very cool :) I guess if one wanted to, they could paint the brackets for a fun swoopy pop of color! In a kid’s room maybe?

    Reply

  28. SarahN says

    Looks awesome – it’s something I’ve flirted with – though I keep moving my TV cabinet! And I have a 3 feet x 3 feet framed scarf on the wall already… and double height loft ceilings make proportions hard to sort out. Though it continues to roll around in my head, I’ll find a solution.

    Reply

  30. T* says

    I think y’all need to do a frame count…yep count all the frames in your house. I would love to know the number!

    Reply

  31. Nikki P says

    HA! Did you see that Family Feud where Steve Harvey asked for another word for NAKED and the guy said “nekkid”? He spelled it out and everything. Hilarious!

    Reply

  33. Ginny @ Goofy Monkeys says

    I love the ledge – one of the reasons we wanted to wall mount the tv in our living room was because I wouldn’t know what to do with space above it. A ledge or shelf is a great solution!

    As always, a great look!

    Reply

  34. Trude says

    Looks great! Really finishes things off. Love the ledge, you can really mix things up that way. We went with hung framed art pieces because the fireplace is right next to the TV unit and it has a mantle for us to play with. :)

    Reply

  36. Whitney says

    We have a floating shelf above our tv! I like your idea to go with the brackets, though – since everything is so light in color it kind of “blends in” so it’s not distracting or anything!

    Reply

  37. K (Barking Babymama) says

    My husband built us a huge media unit, modifying some Ana White plans. I have yet to fill in the 3 cubbies above the TV, but I want to put square glass vases in them and fill them with white Christmas lights to be a kind of abstract art piece. I saw something like it (a standing glass vase next to the couch in someone’s living room) on Design Sponge a long time ago.

    Reply

  38. Kelli says

    Love this!! We have a big empty space above our TV (it sits pretty low…until we purchase a new media stand) and I feel like I’ve been searching for ever!! The side of the TV stand sits in a corner…any ideas for a large corner area of wall space?? Thanks! :)

    Reply

  39. Juju says

    how coinkidinky?! i’ve been dealing w/ and thinking of the same issue. how to decorate around a flat screen tv. i thought i need something 3d as well. i’m glad to see others deal with the same decorating issues! great job, guys!!

    Reply

  40. Caitlin says

    Aside from the obvious ohemgee-it-looks-so-amazing(!!!) comments you get all day long, I have 2 things to say:
    1) I LOOOOVEEEE COUGAR TOWN and love that you paid special attention when taking those pictures. ;)
    2)OMG Karmin is so good, you just caused an hour-long youtube-daze.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, you could do two things I think – do a shelf like we did with some leaning pictures and some flowers or plants/etc, or hang a bunch of framed art around the TV since it’s mounted on the wall (it could look like a photo collage with the TV in the middle). Good luck Natalie!

      xo
      s

    • Natalie says

      A photo collage sounds fun. I will have to search on Pinterest to find some examples.
      Thank you for reply. You made my day :)

  42. Barb says

    Love the shelf. Have you ever seen any Beth Mueller prints? Those would be super cute in Clara’s room. The Foundry has them for sale the next 3 hours or so. Love Beth Mueller and YHL!!

    Reply

  43. Amy L. says

    I love this look. Inspires me to do something similar after we get around to painting the room first.

    Reply

  45. Gabbi @ Retro Ranch Reno says

    We have a sunburst mirror over our TV and I have to admit I l-o-v-e it there! The space was just begging for something before we hung it.

    I love those paper flowers, btw. They are so super cute!!

    And I rap ALL the time. I think I tell my hubby at least 5 times a day that I should have been a rapper…and he just laughs at me. I can’t tell if he’s jealous of my skills or thinks I lack the skills. ;)

    Reply

  46. Kate @ Magic City Thistle says

    I love this update – why did I not think of hanging shelves that way! I was busy this weekend doing the same thing. It’s amazing what just a small change can make. My guess for tv shows: zombies = RHOOC (have you seen Vicki’s face, what!!).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hahaha! That’s actually the only Housewives I don’t watch (just didn’t get in early enough to get hooked). I hear her new face is… interesting… though!

      xo
      s

  50. Lauren says

    Hello friends!

    Where do you get or how do you make the matting you have in all the lovely frames? I love the bright colors against the white!

    Xx,

    Lauren

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The white mats come with Ikea frames, so we use them a lot, but the yellow matting on the one frame that you see is actually art that Clara did (we loved it so much, we used it as a mat for our little polaroid picture).

      xo
      s

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