How to Hide TV Cords Behind the Wall

Learning how to mount a TV on a wall without the wires showing might feel like a daunting task, but we’ve broken it down into 9 simple steps! You’ll see how easy it is to hide wires behind the wall in this easy tutorial!

When we looked at our new home for the first time, we focused a lot of attention on the living room layout. Our sectional sofa was purchased for our old house and so we had to make sure it would fit. And pretty quickly it became clear that for the sectional sofa to work we would have to put our TV over the mantel.

It was something I didn’t have to deal with in our previous home because we had a huge wall for the TV in the living room.

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But if I was going to have to have the TV above the mantel, I had two conditions: we had to have a Frame TV and we had to figure out how to hide the cord for the TV behind the wall.

The great thing about the Frame TV is that there’s only one cord. In addition to displaying art when not in use, the actual “guts” of the TV are in a separate cable box, which is how it can sit so flush to the wall and look like a piece of framed art. And then you can connect any other electronics to the black box, instead of the back of the TV. It’s pretty cool technology.

We originally asked our electrician to help us hide the cable to the TV and run it into the cabinet next to the fireplace, but he wasn’t able to get it done before we had the “stay home” orders. So, I took matters in my own hands!

I was somewhat concerned because we weren’t just running the cord down the wall to a spot below the TV, which is what you would do if you were mounting the TV above a piece of furniture or tv stand. You could just run the cords through the wall down to behind the furniture.

But, we were going to be running the cord sideways into the wall next to the mantel, through a cabinet. And I had no idea what everything looked like behind the TV. I knew there was a chimney back there, so we didn’t want to run into that. Thankfully I guessed correctly and we got lucky. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. Let me show you…

Tools You Will Need to Hide TV Wires

• Stud Finder
• Drill (I’ve used this drill for years.)
• Wallboard Saw (another option if that one is sold out)
• Steel Fish Tape
• Cable Access Brush Plate (single gang) x2
• Old Work Low Voltage Wall Electrical Bracket Box (single gang) x2
• Screw driver
• Pencil

Watch the Tutorial On Video or See the Steps Below

Watch the video above, or you can watch it on YouTube HERE.

Steps for How to Hide TV Cords Behind a Wall Mounted TV

Step 1. Find the studs in the wall with your stud finder.

I like using this stud finder because it will show you where the edge of the stud begins. You want to avoid the studs when cutting into the drywall.

Step 2. Mark your electrical bracket box on the drywall.

You’ll want to make the cut an 1/8th of an inch smaller than the outline you traced around the bracket, so that the lip of the black will have something to hold on to.

Step 3. Cut along the outline with the drywall saw.

Step 4. Screw the bracket into place.

Step 5. Repeat Steps 2-4 at the place on the wall where you want the wires to exit.

You will want to make sure that you’re putting the bottom hole near to wall power or where you can run a power cord so that you will have power for your TV.

We had to drill through the side of the cabinet next to the fireplace, but hopefully you will only have to cut through drywall. 🙂

Step 6. Thread the steel fish tape through one opening and then through the bottom hole.

I don’t know if you would need this steel fish tape if you’re just running the wires directly below the first box. But in our case where we were running the wire around a corner and to the side, it was invaluable! It took maybe 30 seconds for us to connect the two openings with the steel fish tape.

Step 7. Attach the wire(s) to the end of the steel fish tape and gently thread it through the openings.

We gently tied the wire to the end of the fish tape that you see in the photo below and pulled it through!

Step 8. Once the wire is through, attach the brush plate cover to the electrical bracket box.

Put the cover plate on and you’re not ready to attach your wire to the TV and hang it up!

Step 9. Hook up your TV and Mount it in the Wall.

We had mounted our TV months before and had just lived with it with the wire coming out the bottom and over to the cabinet next to it. So, it was a quick step to get the TV back in place!

Yay! No more cord running from the TV over the cabinet doors. I’m so happy with how easy it was to install and how great it looks now.

Eventually I want to remove those cabinet doors from the former TV cabinet and make shelves to mirror the left side of the TV. So, when that happens, I’ll have to find a cute basket and some plants to hide the black box. But until then, it’s nicely tucked away in that cabinet!

The living room makeover is coming along! I’ve got a couple more items on order and they should be here next week. Then I’ll be ready to share the full reveal!

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