Discreet design strategies for TVs

Discreet design strategies for TVs.

Tribune News Service
December 19, 2015 at 8:00PM
A completed home office/studio with side board and wall-mounted television that can be concealed by sliding barn doors. (Handout/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1176499
Clockwise, from top:  In a newly built home office studio, a niche is made for an entertainment sideboard and wall-mounted television that will be concealed by sliding barn doors. Steel railings with stoppers are used to hang the sliding barn doors and to control direction. The completed project. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

When concealing what for most is a household staple — a TV — I prefer to go beyond the gizmos and gadgets and look to the basics: old-fashioned good design.

We've all heard of decor TVs that become mirrors or artwork. While those items can be gorgeous, for some owners they may be impractical.

I am a huge fan of concealing a TV through the use of sliding doors or panels. There are several ways to do this. The TV can be hidden behind the panels of an entertainment unit, folding doors that conceal it behind a niche or sliding doors or barn doors attached to an overhead mounting railing.

I recently concealed a TV in a home studio using barn doors. The homeowner had the choice of either having the barn doors open to reveal the TV when in use or closing the barn doors and concealing the TV to reveal shelving.

DIY tips

1. Create a niche along the wall where you wish to conceal the TV.

2. Making your niche 2 feet deep is a good rule of thumb.

3. Purchase a high-quality railing system that will allow your sliding doors to move back and forth easily.

4. Mount the TV on a bracket that allows the TV to extend and swivel within the niche.

Cathy Hobbs is a TV host and interior design and home-staging expert with offices in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.


Installed barn doors can slide to conceal a wall-mounted television. (Handout/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1176499
Installed barn doors can slide to conceal a wall-mounted television. (Handout/TNS) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
In a newly built home office studio, a niche is for an entertainment sideboard and wall-mounted television that will able to be concealed by sliding barn doors. (Handout/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1176499
In a newly built home office studio, a niche is for an entertainment sideboard and wall-mounted television that will able to be concealed by sliding barn doors. (Handout/TNS) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Steel railing with stoppers to hang sliding barn doors and control direction. (Handout/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1176499
Steel railing with stoppers to hang sliding barn doors and control direction. (Handout/TNS) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Cathy Hobbs