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Updated: Apr 11, 2022 by Kris Jarrett

Adding a Shelf Above the TV: A Simple Decorating Solution

A shelf above the TV is a great solution for decorating that blank space in a simple, do-able way! I share all the details on how to do it in this post!

Sometimes I do little house projects that are so simple, they hardly seem “blog-worthy” but the quick and simple projects often seem to be the ones that you guys love best so I’m going to share away with a quickie project that I just did for my mom! She had been wanting to decorate the blank space above their TV for a while now and asked for my help while we were recently visiting them. Today I’m sharing the details of adding a shelf above her TV and exactly how we did it. (post includes affiliate links; full disclosure statement available {here})

If you’ve seen my family room makeover, you know that I took kind of a “go big or go home” approach to decorating the TV wall in our own home:

Love this idea of how to decorate around a flat screen TV

Scroll & Click/Tap to Shop Our Family Room:

 

But the situation with my parents’ TV is totally different than mine because theirs is on a much smaller wall and sits on a media console that’s almost two feet shorter than mine. A simpler solution that didn’t overwhelm their TV and stand was definitely in order! Here’s a visual of where things started 

Pic of blank space above the TV before we decorated it! Click over for the "after"!

Note: their media console is no longer available. Here are some other options I love (Scroll & Click/Tap to Shop):

 

The door to the right leads out to the hall and is pretty much always left open so the TV stand is centered between the open door and the corner. My mom had collected and framed several art prints from their travels over the years that she wanted to display in this spot so we already had all of the art we needed and just had to decide on a way to display it. We talked about several options but decided to go with a super simple approach of a shelf above the TV. We did it using {this} single 48″ black ledge shelf (which also comes in other lengths and colors, including white and two wood tones). 

A few quick tips about choosing and hanging ledge shelves above a TV:

  • A good width for a single ledge shelf above a TV is one that’s longer than the TV but shorter than the TV stand it’s sitting on. Ours was about 4″ longer than the TV which was workable but a few inches longer would have been ideal.
  • Pay attention to the depth of the ledge shelf because it varies a lot from shelf to shelf! Make sure there’s enough depth to accommodate overlapping frames or whatever it is you plan to display.
  • Hang your ledge shelf low enough to your TV that it doesn’t appear to be floating on its own in no-man’s-land but high enough that you’re taking up a chunk of that bare space you’re trying to decorate/fill. The method I use for determining the best shelf height is super scientific…

Determining what height to hang a ledge shelf over a TV

Yep, my mom held the shelf up while I stood back and eyeballed the right height, took a quick iPhone pic to make sure she agreed, and then marked the height on the wall with some blue painter’s tape. Like I said… very scientific stuff here! (our ledge shelf ended up about 8″ above the TV in case you were wondering)

After figuring out our shelf height, we moved the TV out of the way, got out a few tools, and went to work! Our ledge shelf went up by simply attaching a metal strip to the wall (finding two studs is key!) that a matching metal strip on the back of the ledge shelf slides on top of, securing the shelf to the wall. 

Hanging an art ledge shelf above a TV and media console

Once the ledge shelf was hung above the TV, I played around with different arrangements of the framed prints that my mom had collected, chose five that I thought looked nice together, and arranged them on the ledge shelf. We also found a better display area for her grandkid photos and added one of {these baskets} to the bottom of her console. That bare wall quickly went from this:

"Before" pic of the space above our TV and media console - post includes the decorated "after"!

to this:

Love this solution for the bare wall above your flat screen TV! Art is on a ledge shelf so can be swapped in and out easily!

Super simple but nice, right?! Looking from the side you can see how the pictures are nestled securely inside so there’s no chance of these babies falling on the TV:

Black ledge shelf for art so that you can easily swap it in and out! Link to ledge shelf in post!

And even though the frames on each print are totally different, I think they all work well together. Overlapping the frames a bit rather than just leaning them all against the wall side by side is key for a more interesting, collected look!

When arranging art on a ledge shelf, overlapping framed prints creates a more cohesive look!

That’s all for this quick project but I have another project I can’t wait to share with you all next week – my painted tile floors (Update: Check out my painted tile floor {here})! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

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Categories: living rooms

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lynette Forrest says

    July 21, 2017 at 9:13 am

    PERFECT!!!! Really like the arrangement over the TV!

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      July 21, 2017 at 10:14 am

      Thank you! I will pass that on to my mom! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Zarah says

    July 21, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    I totally LOVE the art your mom picked out. I do have a question: what is your advice on TV console located in the corner of a room?

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      July 21, 2017 at 4:09 pm

      Hi Zarah! Corner TVs are tough! I honestly think that in most situations they look better without anything above them but it depends on the layout of the rest of the room. I’ve seen some corner gallery walls around TVs that look nice but I think that only works for certain layouts.

      Reply
  3. Monique Lawson says

    July 22, 2017 at 3:38 am

    Amazing idea! I love how everything is in a frame now!

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 08, 2017 at 11:23 am

      Thanks Monique!

      Reply
  4. Carrie Sampson says

    July 24, 2017 at 2:34 pm

    This looks great, Kris! (I got a kick out of your “censored” image, too, LOL). I want to do one or more of these ledges over/behind my sofa but I’m wondering how it would work in practice — would people bump their heads on it, for example? What do you think?

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 08, 2017 at 11:26 am

      Carrie I think as long as you went with a fairly narrow one that wasn’t hung too low you’d be ok. I haven’t done that myself before but I’ve seen it done before and it can look really amazing!!

      Reply
  5. Garden, Home and Party says

    July 24, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    Kris,
    This looks great and I love all of the prints, especially knowing they were collected along the way. Your mom and dad must have been so happy with the end result.
    Great job!
    xo,
    Karen

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 08, 2017 at 11:27 am

      Thanks Karen! My mom had been after me for almost a year to help her with this so she was thrilled to finally get her art out of the box and up on the wall!

      Reply
  6. Olivia Marsh says

    July 25, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    Hi Kris,
    I really liked your scientific method for placing that shelf! LOL The design of the shelf was perfect for holding the different frames with their pics. Great solution for a bare wall.

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 08, 2017 at 11:28 am

      Ha! Yes, we get all technical around here 🙂 Thanks for your sweet comment!

      Reply
  7. Jessica says

    July 27, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    What an amazing difference that made! I love that it’s subtle, yet adds a whole new look. It’s also great that it’s an easy addition that fills in the blank wall space without overdoing it. Awesome idea!

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 08, 2017 at 11:28 am

      Thank you Jessica!

      Reply
  8. Anonymous says

    August 05, 2017 at 8:41 am

    What brand/color of paint is on your mom’s walls?

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 08, 2017 at 11:30 am

      The wall color is Benjamin Moore Fossil!

      Reply
  9. Renee says

    April 03, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    We purchased a fireplace media cabinet called Tennyson and our tv sits on top of it over the fireplace. Now we have a lot of blank space on the wall and wondered if a large mirror or clock might be the answer?

    Reply
  10. Mc says

    July 30, 2019 at 4:27 pm

    Great! I’ve wondering if there was a certain distance between the TV and shelf that is typical.

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      August 14, 2019 at 10:20 am

      I don’t have a certain formula and typically just eyeball it – it was mounted 8″ above the TV in the room I shared in this post.

      Reply
  11. Julie says

    November 05, 2019 at 11:52 am

    Would love to know your thoughts on how to decorate above a low, modern bench.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  12. Di says

    November 10, 2019 at 11:33 pm

    Nice idea. I was thinking about a shelf. Your mom is nice too!

    Reply
  13. Theresa Walker says

    January 12, 2020 at 8:24 am

    That looks beautiful , but I want to only hang a picture.
    So would it need to be the width of the TV or the same as the Shelf , longer than the TV shorter than the TV stand??

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      January 13, 2020 at 9:43 pm

      I’ll be totally honest that I’ve never seen just a single piece of art hung over the TV and thought it looked right regardless of the size…

      Reply
  14. Michele Wallace says

    February 19, 2020 at 2:23 pm

    How did you decide on the length of the shelf compared to the TV? Is there a general rule?

    Reply
  15. Dale says

    July 09, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    Your decorating over your mom’s tv was awesome…exactly the info I was looking for.
    Thank you

    Reply
  16. Pat M says

    December 02, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    Kris – i’ve followed you for years and always loved your tv wall in your family room. right now i’d love to do what you did for your mom’s – i have a 65″ tv and 85″ buffet that it sits on. the ceilings are 13′ tall. would you do one long ledge the length of the tv or maybe 2 staggered above the tv. any help would be appreciated.. thanks in advance.

    Reply
  17. alice carlino says

    January 25, 2021 at 8:27 am

    thanks! this was exactly the info i was looking for.

    Reply

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