Out of all the projects I've worked on in the time we've been in our apartment this is by far my favorite. It was so ridiculously easy (my husband and I worked on it and finished in under an hour) and it only cost me $30 to make! It looks so good and my husband and I were surprised by how much of an impact it made in elevating the look of our living room.
You don't need any special tools or DIY-ing abilities so keep reading to see how I put together an inexpensive frame for my TV (that looks like I paid a fortune) and see how you can make one too!
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The secret...
When we finally upgraded to this new TV, I knew I wanted to make a frame for it to make it look nicer in our living room. I looked online for TV frame options and they were either incredibly expensive or a bit complicated to DIY. Most DIY TV frames I saw involved using wood moulding which you would need special tools to work with. I didn't want to go through the trouble of buying and using new tools so I came up with this alternative. The secret: flexible peel and stick wall moulding.
what you'll need
Our TV is a 65 inch and a little big for our new console table so I didn't want to make a frame that would make the TV appear much bigger. I used a thinner ~1.5 inch moulding for my frame but if you want a thicker frame, there are plenty of moulding options you can choose from and I'll link some below.
Aside from the wall moulding, you'll need a scissor and something to measure with. These are optional but they're a couple other things I used:
SHOP SUPPLIES FOR YOUR OWN DIY TV FRAME
how to "build" your frame
To build your frame, measure out the outer edges of your TV (width and height). You'll also need to measure the inner width and height of your TV (where the actual screen starts).
Cut out your pieces the size of the outer edges of your TV (two pieces that are the height of your TV and two pieces that are the width of your TV). Then, on each piece, measure out the equivalent of the respective inner edge and mark. There are two ways to do this. You can lay the moulding piece flat and measure out the equivalent of the matching inner edge making sure that it's centered. Or, and this was the way I did it and much easier, have someone hold one end of your moulding piece onto the TV while you hold the other and mark where the inner edge corner hits the moulding. Then, you'll use the scissor to cut straight across from where you marked the inner edge to the outer edge that you previously cut. This will create a near 45 degree angle. If you have an angle cutter like this one, it'll make the process a bit smoother but otherwise, just cut with a scissor. Since the moulding is flexible, even if the pieces do not connect perfectly, you can press them together and use the super glue to hold them in place. If you get lost at any point, I found it helpful to search up "how to make a frame" on Google or Youtube so that I could visually see it come together.
setting up your frame
Depending on how you want your frame to look, you can either start sticking on your pieces at this point, or you can spray paint or adjust the look of your moulding before sticking it onto your TV. I specifically bought black moulding because I knew I wanted to Rub N Buff it so I left mine black and stuck the pieces on as we cut each piece so I could make sure they were fitting together properly.
The moulding is really sticky so it may be a bit tricky to get the backing off of it but it's not sticky enough that you can't adjust as you place it. Since it is so flexible, you'll have to be careful as you lay the moulding onto your TV that you don't accidentally start curving the moulding and that you keep it straight so it looks like a real wooden frame.
*Note: We haven't tried to remove the moulding yet but I anticipate that when we do there will be a little adhesive residue. We're not really worried about this since we know we can get it off with some Goo Gone but this is something to consider with this project.
