The blank spot above the TV is finally gone.
For years that wall felt unfinished. We had the TV, we tried different ideas, and then we upgraded to a larger set and spent months hunting for the right media cabinet. Eventually we found a thrift-store cabinet for $59 and everything started to come together.
Once the cabinet was in place, the empty space above the TV still bothered us. We considered hanging art, a 3D wall piece, buying a ready-made shelf, or building a custom one so we could choose the exact length and depth. In the end we made our own shelf — it fit the wall perfectly, didn’t compete with the TV, and only took a few hours and about $20 in materials.
We used a 10″ wide poplar board cut to 56″ long so it would relate nicely to the 60″ media cabinet below. For support we chose store-bought brackets. Both the board and the brackets were primed and painted white so the shelf would blend into the room rather than stand out. We wanted it to layer into the space similarly to the white frames over the sofa and the white mirror over the desk.
Rather than mounting the brackets under the shelf, we placed them on top so the underside of the shelf is clean and unobstructed. That keeps the view under the shelf clear and avoids anything visually competing with the TV screen. We used heavy-duty wall anchors rated for far more weight than we plan to put on the shelf, and added a strong adhesive between the bracket bases and the shelf before screwing them together for extra security. It’s a simple, sturdy approach that looks intentional.
With the shelf installed, it felt great to finally relax on the sofa without the nagging thought that the wall needed attention. Now I can kick my feet up and enjoy the show without that “get on that” voice in my head.
For styling, I leaned a few frames on the shelf and secured their bases with poster putty so they stay put. Inside the frames we used:
- a favorite page from an old catalog with the phrase “squeeze the day”
- a blue botanical print that we picked up from Ikea a while back
- a polaroid of us from one of our book signings, mounted on a cheerful yellow mat made from our daughter’s artwork
Fresh flowers add a cheerful, fleeting touch — they’ll last a week or two, then get replaced by paper flowers that keep the space lively longer. Paper flowers from West Elm (which we already own) are a reliable stand-in once the real ones fade.
The result is a balanced, layered look above the TV that doesn’t steal attention from whatever we’re watching. We tried to keep everything visually light and cohesive with the rest of the room’s decor so the shelf feels like a natural extension of the living space rather than a bold focal point.
It’s a simple DIY that made a big difference: inexpensive materials, a little planning, and a couple of hours of work produced a clean, functional shelf that solved a problem we’d had for years. The wall went from “blank and unfinished” to “look at me now,” and it’s nice to finally have that spot feel finished.
What do you have above your TV — a mirror, a plant, a shelf, or something unexpected? We’d love to hear ideas for different ways to style that space that keep the view uncluttered but interesting.