Highlight Your Flat Screen With Plywood & Pipe

When we moved into our downtown Kansas City loft earlier this summer, our space came with a few techy bonuses. The previous tenants left their wall mounted TV's and sound equipment, but even better, it's displayed beautifully and they did a heck of a job hiding the wiring in plain sight while staying on a budget!

Moving into a space where televisions and sound systems came complimentary felt a bit awkward at first — almost like adopting someone else's children. In our case, we were proud to know that the hard work was put in by Apartment Therapy and Unplggd reader Kimberly and her husband.

The main television in the unit has been backed by a sheet of plywood that not only hides any ugly mounting hardware, but centers the unit in the space. Instead of trying to make it look smaller and tucked away, it makes it front and center and part of the room. By having something on the wall that is far larger than the television itself, it makes it feel almost hidden, even though it's in plain sight for all to see.

The wiring has all been run through the wall with an outlet below to add additional components as time goes on. The surround sound has been made to feel like part of the space and was partly wired through the wall with the rest of the cable coming out of the top of the drywall and running across the ceiling.

They were concealed with plumbers pipe and a few brackets. With the industrial nature of the ceiling, they blend right in and look just as "converted warehouse" as the rest of the exposed air ducts and pipes.

Even though our own television and sound system sits in storage, we've been happy to reside in a space that was well executed and has made TV and movie watching a real pleasure! So remember next time you're apartment hunting, make sure to ask if the previous tenant was an Unplggd reader! You might be getting a few extra bonuses in the deal.

(Images: Sarah Rae Trover)

Comments (26)

"but even better, it's displayed beautifully"
Um... am i the only one that thinks it looks awful?

Is this some odd form of satire? Beautifully displayed? Even the pictures are taken... badly. Hmm. Well, I don't like it, doesn't mean these people can't.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please do not try this at home. This trick was performed by amateurs and should not be replicated." DIY people beware.

Forget the ugliness of the DIY (it reminds me of a remark I once heard about a "hideous facade") ... why why why would someone do this in a place they are renting? How much $$$ did they spend on the tv and sound system, only to end up gifting them to the next tenants?

The previous tenants of the space did in fact own the loft. We rent from the person they sold it to, so for them, it was money well spent.

If you're not a fan of the set up, please play nice and simply say it's not your style, because we happen to be quite fond of it.

I love that orange rabbit!!! Where can I get one?!

I don't hate it, but I think it would have been nice to paint or stain the wood some other color, like perhaps white or even a grey a bit darker than the walls, or maybe even some sort of patterned wallpaper might have worked. And also, it would be great if the wood either extended up to the ceiling, or ended closer to the top of the speakers. The length just seems a bit haphazard.

Anyway, good luck.

I think it looks sweet!

holy crap are you guys a bunch of negative a-holes! I like the idea of this setup, would have done it a little different but it looks better than a plain wall and a bunch of wires running around.

I kind of like this idea if you don't want to completely torture your wall with TV equipment. I also like the shelving, it looks clean! As a side note, nice taste in vinyl toys! Loves me some David Horvath!

Hey, codeislife, apartmenttherapy and it's associated sites are hardly "upscale" (and I mean that in a good way, AT) They're mostly about making do with what you have, being creative on the cheap while still making something look like a thousand bucks, and dealing with designing a space you don't personally own! And that includes trying to incorporate all your tech gear into nice and clean little packages like this. So yeah, I agree with MosesMcgregor, you negative a-holes need to keep those comments to yourself, no one here likes seeing them!

Hear hear! I agree, cassielynn.

I'm actually really confused about what I'm looking at. I can't tell if there's spacers leaving a gap between the plywood in the wall so the wires run down behind it, or what.

I love the idea but have to side with the negative a-holes on the execution. The scale just looks odd, and the shelves don't make a lot of sense. But the concept is sound, if there were more info about how this was put together, it could spark some really interesting stuff.

elvedon - The plywood mounts flush against the wall, all the wires run behind the unit between the studs. The shelves are there to hold extra gear... there isn't any spare room to hold them elsewhere in the loft space, so they were greatly needed.

The scale might look odd, but only because the space is small enough that the only way to get the full area in a photo was to lay on the ground at the back of the room... anything would look odd at that angle.

If you are mounting the plywood flush the whole point of the unit to avoid fire code problems of running power cables in the wall is pointless.

If you are running that power cord to the TV in wall with the plywood flush you can take the ugly plywood down and just run it in wall because unless there is a gap and you are running it in the gap you still have a fire hazard.

I have to say, I don't like people being nasty online, but I read the first two comments and I laughed in spite of myself. (I feel really icky now. I am probably going to some sort of commenter's hell now.)

I get the "industrial" look it is going for, but something about this picture right now just isn't that pleasing to the eye which is what I think people are railing about. I think it would maybe look better if the stuff on it wasn't so symetrically placed. Maybe if the equipment was all over to one side and the trinkets were differently laid out (or some of them were removed and other stuff went there)? I don't really know, I think it looks like one of those things that would have to be played with to find the right arrangement.

But in a broader view (ie not a photograph) it might be totally pleasing to look at. And if you like it who gives a crap. I'd just leave it if you are happy.

But please don't take people's comments personally. It is the nature of people online. It makes it difficult for you when it is something personal to you they are saying things about I know. I know many people who've had experiences like this and it made them think about whether they were happy posting certain things online from then on. All you can do is live and learn I guess! :)

What this does, in my opinion, is highlight a big piece of plywood. Its cool if one likes plywood.

The real question is "WHY PLYWOOD?"

Hardware stores sell real wood 4'x8' sheets for a few dollars more.

Not a plywood fan. I think that painting this would make it look a lot better; it just looks unfinished now.

Looks like a board-up service paid a visit. Looks like the plywood sits at an angle with the wall, as it's bridging the baseboard.

krunkinator - It sits flush with the wall and the baseboard has been cut back to allow it to do so. The angle comes from me laying on the floor to get the whole space in the shot. The camera is tilted, not the wall.

ElevatorHappyFun: Where? I can't even think of a place around here that sells wood in sheets that size that are not plywood. Even a few 8 foot pine boards will cost as much as a decent plywood sheet.

That said the idea isn't exactly new, and the execution here is not that great. The proportions are not flattering and the mounting looks very sloppy. The mounting heights all look very suspect too.

sarahrae-

If it sits flush with the wall and there are no cable channel, what is the point of this?

nafai23 - To my knowledge (I haven't taken the set up down to take a peek) there is no cable channel on the back of the plywood and that all wires run through the wall itself. The point is to give a giant black tv a backdrop so it doesn't look so stark and out of place. The wires being in the wall is a mere bonus to it all.

sarah-

You cannot just run the TV power cord through the wall like that.
The reason people do setups like this with an extension of the wall is to SAFELY hide cables.

It is never really for looks.

Do you have home owners insurance?

Guess what, if you have a fire they will cover nothing.

So not only is this ugly but it is just plain foolish.
Sorry.

"The point is to give a giant black tv a backdrop so it doesn't look so stark and out of place."

So now the tv doesn't look out of place, but the giant backdrop does.

Now we just need a backdrop for the backdrop, and we're golden.

Until that needs a backdrop...