Recently, I successfully tried two easy ways to frame a TV in my home. Although we don't have a Frame TV, there are simple ways to frame other flat-screen televisions.
Ways to Frame a TV:
Washi Tape
This is one of the easiest, most affordable, and most impactful DIYs out there. You just need some metallic washi tape and about five minutes. One roll of gold metallic washi tape is $6.50, and is enough to frame more than one television. If you want a darker metallic shade, you might want to use brass-colored washi tape.
To apply the washi tape, first clean any dust off the edge of your TV and let it dry completely. Then grab a pair of scissors and the washi tape. Two pieces of tape were layered over each other to cover the front edge and sides of the TV. You can't see the seams, but be sure to press the edges together so that the tape will stay in place.
If you are unfamiliar with washi tape, it isn't super sticky. It is very easy to remove, making this a low-risk project. Washi tape is definitely the easiest of the two ways to frame a TV.
We love the subtle change that framing the TV in gold washi tape made to our living room. This TV has very thin edges, so a small amount of tape is visible.
Flexible Framing
I used flexible molding to create a frame around the television in our British Pub-Inspired TV Lounge. This is a higher-impact way to frame your television. There are two reasons why I chose this method in the TV lounge. First, I wanted something higher impact that would match the decor of the room. Secondly, this TV had more space along the edges that needed to be covered up, so using this bigger molding made sense.
I used self-adhesive flexible molding which costs about $40 and can be cut with sharp scissors. I did find that it is hard to reposition the molding once it is applied to the television. Be careful as you apply it.
The project took about 30 minutes, and I was able to do it on my own. I applied the molding to the TV after it was hung on the wall, but it would probably be easier if you took the TV off the wall and laid it flat.
Adding Art to Your TV
Did you know that many televisions provide the option to add a background image? Frame TVs are expensive! We have a less expensive Samsung TV with Ambient Mode, which lets us display artwork on the TV.
Here are instructions for changing the photo on a Samsung TV.
Tips for making your TV look like art
If you want to successfully disguise your television, here are some tips.
Choose an option without a matte
When selecting the image to add to the TV, choose an option without a matte. With Ambient Mode, the My Gallery option under My Album lets you add an image without a border or matte.
Reduce the brightness
Reducing the brightness a bit helps to make the image look less like it is lit from behind and makes it look more like art on the wall.
Pick an image of a painting and not a photograph
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website is a wonderful resource for public-domain art. Browse through their paintings online and look art with the Public Domain label. Art with this label can be downloaded and saved to your phone.
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