DIY Mantel | Hiding Cord for Flat Screen TV

Over the last few months, we've been working on remodeling and furnishing our living room.  Our most recent project was to cover those unsightly cords from my big living room compromise - the big flat screen tv.  The last several years, we've had a mere 32" flat screen.  I loved it, because while functional, it wasn't noticeable in the space.  Friends convinced me that for all my husband does for me and our family, I could hardly keep him from his dream of a large tv.  50" later, it was hanging over our fireplace, you know, the one we removed the mantel from last year.  While it's now the focal point of our room, I'm doing all I can to minimize it - starting with creating a mantel to hide the cords.

One of the reasons I gravitated to our home to begin with, was all of the beautiful moulding in the living room.  I found shelves at Target that mimicked it in white.  I thought, why not?  We had thought about matching the mantel to the woodwork, going with a rustic mantel, etc, but in the end, decided we didn't want to place our television as high as a mantel needs to be, because frankly, it would create a neck strain.



Anyways, the crown moulding shelves work because they're hollow inside, allowing the cords to be strung through them.  Oh, and they nicely cover the two random bricks that stick out on our fireplace.

First, we removed the metal bar on the back of the shelves and replaced the screws to keep the integrity of the shelf.  {These are not solid wood as you can see how easily one was damaged from me dropping it}.  

Measure, mark {we used painter's tape to keep the wood/paint from chipping} and saw off your edge to fit just behind your tv.

The left side was simple...just cut a little block of wood and screwed it from bookshelf side to anchor the shelf.  The existing brick anchored it at the second point.  

The right side was designed to hold the cords.  We fed the cords through the shelf and the hole we cut in the side of our built ins to feed them through.  This shelf was attached using gorilla glue.  It couldn't be easier!  

Next, we caulked and painted the "mantel."  For a couple hours and $50, I'm very pleased!