How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

January 9, 2018 14 By EngineerMommy

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I have written many times about my hatred of TV cables & wires (here and here). Hatred may seem like a harsh word (and I guess it is!), but the truth is I really, really, really dislike seeing those black cables dangling from the TV. In every room of our house, we have a TV mounted on the wall – by the way, we really love this mounting solution.

If you have a TV mounted on the wall, you most likely have to contend with TV cables, too. That is, unless your home was pre-wired for TVs. Lucky you! 🙂

For most of us, our rooms are not pre-wired for TVs and so those cables will need to be dealt with. I have written about this sneaky solution before and another clever solution that works well. For the product used to accomplish this, I really loved using this – it was easy and straightforward to install. And most importantly, the end result was fabulous!

However, today, I will share what we did in our living room. This post’s pictures have been sitting on my camera’s SD card for months. I am totally behind on writing this, but I am excited to share it with you all today!

First, let’s start with a Before picture. There’s the TV sitting on the wall. I placed it above our electric fireplace. You can see those gorgeous (NOT) wires dangling under the TV.

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables



The solution I will share with you today involves routing the TV cables inside a channel formed my molding. First, we gathered several long 1×2 boards and nailed them to the wall. We nailed four boards vertically from the floor to the ceiling: 2 to the left of the fireplace and 2 to the right. We spaced the two adjacent boards about 1.5″ apart. Notice how there is a gap in the wood on the left side. This is where the TV cables will be routed.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


We used a spare block of wood as a spacer to ensure uniformity between the two adjacent boards throughout.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Now it’s time to determine how many horizontal moldings you want. I chose three. I placed six 1x2s horizontally between the vertical boards. The lowest set of horizontal boards will serve as the channel for the wires.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Here you can see how the wire fits right between the molding.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Now it’s time to cover the open channels with more wood molding. Start with the long vertical pieces from floor to ceiling.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Next work on the three horizontal channels. Cut a wooden board to size and center across the gap. For the bottom-most channel (the one that is hiding the wires), I simply secured the wood with some caulk, using some tape until the caulk dried. This way, if we need to replace the HDMI cable, for example, I simply have to cut the caulk away and can access the cable.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Next remove the TV from the wall. It’s time to add caulk to all seams and edges for a smooth look.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Once the caulk is dried, paint the whole thing white, including the wall between the wooden boards.
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables


Place the TV back in place! Doesn’t this look so nice? And look ma, no wires!
How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

How to Hide Those Pesky TV Cables

I hope this post has inspired you to hide the cables in your home too. Now let me know: Are those dangling cables a pet peeve for you too?


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