17 Fool-Proof Design Ideas for Glamming Up Your TV Wall

Above the mantel is a very common place for a TV to find itself, but this doesn’t mean its placement and surrounding decor should be an afterthought. Interior designer Mina Lisanin of ML Interiors, who designed the living room pictured, offers a few tips for this situation. “Opt for a low-profile TV mount and make sure the mantel decor doesn’t compete with the TV. I recommend keeping mantel styling simple with just a few decorative objects or a piece of art that can stand on its own when the TV is off,” she tells ELLE DECOR. “It’s also important to ensure the TV is mounted at a comfortable viewing height so it doesn’t strain the neck.” It seems like this bouclé-heavy, modern vignette checks all those boxes.

Books are physical testaments to your intellectual aptness and elite design choices, due to their colorful spines. Skip the kitschy color-blocking, though, and do what our executive editor Ingrid Abramovich did in her Brooklyn brownstone. She embedded a Samsung Frame TV into a shelving unit chock-full of literature, creating something fresh, high-contrast, and inviting. On the note of Samsung’s The Frame, Jenny Williamson—founder of interior design firm West Rose Design—says that the brand “really upped the game for TVs being a bit more stylish than a big, black box.” “They are a bit pricier, but worth it,” she adds.

A recent trend in the world of TV wall design has been to make the wall itself textured—in the form of wallpaper, wood paneling, or other touches that, according to Lisanin, “add depth and visual interest without overwhelming the space.” Light-colored vertical slats in this space contribute to its ultra-sexy look, especially when paired with the singular sconce and floating shelves. “Wood paneling can bring warmth and a sense of architectural detail,” Lisanin says. Win, win, win.

“When a client requests a TV mounted on the wall for a more casual space, we typically design a custom cabinet with an open upper section that allows us to show personality around the screen but still [lets] the screen be what it is,” says Christine Markatos Lowe of Christine Markatos Design, the firm behind this particular interior. “The lower section of the cabinet is fabricated with doors or drawers for storage, which helps to ground the TV.” Sure, cabinetry might have a traditional air to it, but style the open shelves with enough bespoke accents and you’ve got yourself a five-star setup.

Li suggests “choos[ing] materials like rich wood, sleek metal, or industrial concrete to create a cohesive backdrop that feels both contemporary and grounded.” In this living room, she went the light wood route—peppering the shelves with pottery and books that bring all of the personality and none of the clutter. Pro tip: Think about the fact that your TV will look like a big black blob when it’s out of commission, and integrate it further into the space by scattering other black elements throughout (like a geometric armchair, for one).

Think bright wallpaper will make your TV-watching experience chaotic and distracting? Think again. In this room, a leaf pattern is paired with a simple, small TV and a floating shelf in a peachy hue. It’s feminine and flirty, and will make plopping down on the sofa that much more enticing. For really going all out, Lisanin has a suggestion: Use grasscloth wallpaper. “It adds a natural, tactile element that softens the look of the TV wall,” she tells us. All your senses are about to be engaged.

If you retain anything from interior design TikTok, it should be the following: No. Overhead. Lights! This hard-and-fast rule is not all about aesthetics, either. “It’s really important for our eyes to not have just one intense, bright [light] source in a dark room,” says Maura Clark, founder of L.A.-based architectural lighting firm Maura Clark Studio. “It’s called bias lighting. We approach it through something that has a soft output, like a sconce with a shade or maybe an indirect light source that pushes light back at the wall.” This design approach, according to Clark, prevents eye strain and tackiness both.

Here, a linear sconce and LED lights embedded behind the marble wall emit just the soft glow you need to enjoy a glorious, cozy night in.

Black-and-white stone is one of those timeless things that’s patient enough to wait out the fleeting trends (color-happy marble backdrops, for instance) and come out triumphant, year after year. This applies to TV walls, too. In the pictured tableau, the veiny stone plays off the green cabinetry in a marvelous way, and the lighting situation helps out a lot. “Backlit LED accents… can cast a soft, inviting glow, adding dimension to the space while bringing out the material finish and texture,” says Li. The latter aspect proves especially important when the material finish is as stunning as this one.

In this Delia Kenza–designed Brooklyn townhouse, simplicity (paired with spontaneity!) is key when it comes to the TV wall’s design. Consider adding a similar touch of playfulness by flanking your TV with art, one or two plants, a funky chair (the one you see is from Moustache), and an equally funky lamp. This will ensure a curated look, without needing to do any fancy finishes or textures on the wall.

Instead of putting art around a TV, how about making the actual TV an artwork in and of itself? You can do just that with a TV easel, like this Vivo one, available on Wayfair. If you’re scared to make this unconventional design choice, let designer Drew Michael Scott of Lone Fox convince you. “When I moved into my current home, I decided to mount my TV on a vintage easel instead of a traditional wall mount. I wanted the TV to blend in as decor rather than being the focal point of my living room, especially since there wasn’t an ideal wall for mounting,” he tells us. “The result is seamless, and I love the flexibility it gives me—I can easily move the TV around depending on where I’m sitting!”