Q - While I love having great home theater equipment (DVR, receiver, etc.) in my home, I just don't think manufacturers "get it." Black and silver look sexy by itself and maybe in a showroom, but not with all of my other warm and aged furniture around in my living room. Any ideas on how to keep the home theater equipment accessible but out of sight?
A - We completely understand your struggle. It's true. Home theater equipment hasn't really changed much over these past few years and it's often difficult to try and match it with certain design styles that require a bit more finessing to try and strike a balance.
You can always try investing in a longer console table to create an anchor for the equipment so it lessens the focus of the equipment itself.
Grabbing a piece of furniture that fits the DVR or receiver perfectly may also be a good alternative. We've got a few recommendations for furniture pieces over here if you're interested in a small side table made for just that purpose.
Wireless surround sound may also be an option if you're looking for both performance and hidden speaker wires. The only issue with this is the possibility of counter-productively increasing overall clutter (addition of speakers, adapters, and surge protectors in every corner of the room).
However, if you're simply looking to hide wires and route to the receiver in another part of the room, investing in some wire molds that easily blends into walls (and are paint-friendly) is yet another easy and user-friendly solution.
Have an idea on how to completely hide the home theater equipment? Let us know in the comments!
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I have an issue with a projector mounted on a chimney in the center of my room. The cords coming out of it are an eyesore, but I dont know what to use because most cable organizers are stick-on, which wont last on brick. I'd really like to avoid drilling into it as well. Any thoughts?
what it looks like
Ouch, that is an eyesore, Ben. Let's see if Unplggd can find you a solution...
I was trying to install raceway across a textured ceiling to my projector and the weight of the cable was just pulling it down (and some popcorn with it). So i just drilled some holes through the raceway and put it up with screws. You could do the same thing with masonry screws.
Weird timing. I was up until 1am last night ripping up my carpet to get my speaker wires out of sight/out of mind.
It's not perfect, but it's so much better than before. If only my blik wall art had come out better than expected.
-get CL2 rated cables/wires and run it through the wall
-Put all your components in a cabinet/closet/different room and get an IR repeater
I had the idea (although I'm probably not the first) of using some industrial-ish pipes to run wires through. I'm thinking about wall-mounting my tv on a brick wall so yeah, the cable molds won't work. But something that looks like exposed plumbing similar to whats found in lofts would hide it perfectly.
not sure how to apply this to the projector system, but maybe this will spark some ideas.
@jsmith87 Modular exposed piping for home theater wires? Not a bad idea...
This may not fully solve the problem for everyone, but it worked well for me...
I bought a small Ikea storage unit (I believe a Besta - it's about 18"x18"x36"), put all of my equipment inside, and then closed off the front with a cover made from dowel rods and speaker fabric. Everything is hidden, but IR can penetrate the fabric with no problem.
@bhock are you able to post or email a picture?
Does anyone know what speakers those are in the first picture?
Thanks!
http://press.scandyna-speakers.com/download/press/archive_minipod.asp?strpass=podpass
We have a flat-screen mounted on the wall, we got Ikea panel curtains that can slide and cover up the tv when we're not using it. Its a long, narrow living room, so plenty of wall space for the panels to slide to the left, no bulky entertainment cabinetry that the tv sits on. fortunately we have a built-in window seat with storage space underneath, so the dvr etc. sits there. i'd like to hide the tv cables so they aren't dangling and pushing out the screen, drilling into the wall seems the only way - and the wires need to go around a corner somehow.
I don't like to see visible components or wires, so I bought an RF modulator. I just happen to come across it one day as I was searching for a solution to hiding wires. It's a little device that converts remote control frequencies to radio frequencies (RF). The beauty of the RF modulator is that you can put components in a cabinet or closet and still use the remote controls. I have my cable box and DVD player in my built-in cabinet. The frequency travels very far so you have a lot of options for storage. Here's the one I ordered: Next Generation Remote Control Extender
@sea_2010 Can you retype that link, please? I'd like to check it out myself to see how well it works. Thanks!
I second the RF modulator and I paid the extra $$$ for professionals to thread all wires behind my wall and into my closet where my dvd,vcr, and cable box sits. It was worth every penny to free up more space in my tiny living room and improved the aesthetics alot.
@soldier1 I'll take a picture when I get home tonight. I don't see the exact piece that we got from Ikea (it was about $35, which was a steal in my opinion), but there are plenty of other options there. The speaker fabric was cheap - about $7 on Amazon, and the rods/brackets/hinges for the frame ran another $10-15.
@Ben Chot - i would sew a long piece of beige (something matching the brick on your chimney) fabric tubing to act as a "slip cover" for all of your cords and wires. An undyed muslin, beige velvet or natural linen would take down the black wires against the beige backdrop. You could even do something similar to your projector if that is also too much of a contrast for you.
@soldier1 or anyone who's interested - the whole setup is still a work in progress, but you can at least see the box that houses (most of) the gear at the moment.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/144265/Pic1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/144265/Pic2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/144265/Pic3.jpg
@ekoshyun - Here's the link for the company's remote extender page:
http://www.nextgen.us/SearchResults.asp?Cat=2.
I ordered the RF extender plus, which works with my 1 remote that controls 2 components. If you have more than 1 remote you might need to order additional transmitters. And yes, like Zenezie, I paid a few bucks to have someone thread my wires into my cabinets so it's clean.
Also, I ordered mine from Amazon (still sent by nextgen)....they have a lot of reviews on the system. It's a cool little device. Good luck.
if it was such an eyesore then why buy it, If I paid over $1,000.00 for a high end receiver with a brushed aluminum finish I ain't gonna hide it!