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:
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
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…
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.
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:
to this:
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:
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!
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!
Lynette Forrest says
PERFECT!!!! Really like the arrangement over the TV!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you! I will pass that on to my mom! 🙂
Zarah says
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?
Kris Jarrett says
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.
Monique Lawson says
Amazing idea! I love how everything is in a frame now!
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks Monique!
Carrie Sampson says
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?
Kris Jarrett says
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!!
Garden, Home and Party says
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
Kris Jarrett says
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!
Olivia Marsh says
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.
Kris Jarrett says
Ha! Yes, we get all technical around here 🙂 Thanks for your sweet comment!
Jessica says
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!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you Jessica!
Anonymous says
What brand/color of paint is on your mom’s walls?
Kris Jarrett says
The wall color is Benjamin Moore Fossil!
Renee says
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?
Mc says
Great! I’ve wondering if there was a certain distance between the TV and shelf that is typical.
Kris Jarrett says
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.
Julie says
Would love to know your thoughts on how to decorate above a low, modern bench.
Thank you!
Di says
Nice idea. I was thinking about a shelf. Your mom is nice too!
Theresa Walker says
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??
Kris Jarrett says
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…
Michele Wallace says
How did you decide on the length of the shelf compared to the TV? Is there a general rule?
Dale says
Your decorating over your mom’s tv was awesome…exactly the info I was looking for.
Thank you
Pat M says
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.
alice carlino says
thanks! this was exactly the info i was looking for.