You have an amazing brick fireplace and a big screen TV perfect for watching the game, but now you have all these unsightly TV wires that make your home look messy. The good news is that it’s fairly easy to learn how to hide TV wires over your brick fireplace.
Why do you need to hide TV wires? You might have more than just the power cord for your TV, as you probably also have wires to the cable box, maybe a gaming system, and probably surround sound. Your room is going to look a lot better if the cords for all of your electronic equipment fade seamlessly into the background instead of being an eyesore that you have to look at every time you watch TV.
Let your beautiful brick fireplace be the focal point of the room and not piles of electric wires hooking up your TV and gadgets. It’s not that easy to hide these wires and create a more pleasant aesthetic appearance.
What you will need to follow this tutorial
It’s always a good idea to gather all your tools and supplies before you start any project. You don’t want to get halfway through and find you need to run to the hardware store for another tool. Go grab the following tools and you’ll be ready to hide your TV wires:
- Wire Mold — this can go over your wires, hold them together, and blend in with the wall
- Extension Cord
- Zip ties
- Scissors to trim extra molding or zip ties if needed
- Cable ties
- Fabric cover (optional) — you might choose to sew some fabric over the wire mold to help your cords seamlessly blend in with the background
Once you have all your tools, you’re ready to get started hiding those unsightly TV wires. This is a relatively short list, so you should be able to easily acquire all the tools and materials you need to hide the TV wires.
Step by step instructions
Keep in mind that the steps might be different if your TV is on drywall, in which case you can drill a hole in the wall, drop the wires down, and pull them out the bottom. But, if you are working just with brick, follow these steps:
1. Band Cords Together
Whether you use Zip ties or a wire mold, you want to band the cords together to get them as tight and concise as possible. You’ll ultimately be feeding through a tight space, so the tighter you can bound them the better, just don’t damage them in the process. A wire mold is going to look a better than zip ties, since it can cover up the wires almost completely.
2. Place Cable ties
Every 6 inches or so, you want to place a cable tie. This will help keep those cables tight, so you can easily tuck them out of sight and hide them over your brick fireplace. Without these ties your cords will flop all over the place and you won’t be able to tuck them away.
3. Arrange the Cables
You want to find a way to tuck the cables in a seam in the fireplace, or along the seam on the top of the mantel, tucked out of sight. Run the cables down the side of the mantel where they are out of sight.
4. Plug into Outlet
Find the outlet nearest your fireplace. With any luck, maybe there is an outlet on top of your fireplace on the mantel, but you also might need an extension cord. Ideally, the cords will be tucked along the mantel or in the grout line of your fireplace and you can just drop them right into the outlet that is located nearest your TV. The closer the outlet to the TV, the easier it will be to hide the TV wires.
FAQ
Will I need to drill holes in the fireplace?
Most likely, no. You might want to consider the alternative option of drilling a hole, putting the cords down behind the fireplace, and drilling another hole out the bottom. This is quite difficult though, and it’s easier to just tuck the cords into the grout or behind the mantel.
Is this expensive?
It shouldn’t be expensive as you don’t need to buy that much material, and the tools are cheap too. You can get the materials for under $100, do the project yourself, and be done in one day. This should be a cheap solution to making your room look a lot better than having unsightly wires hanging everywhere.
What if I can’t tuck the cords into the grout?
You can consider a more difficult project in drilling holes through brick. But, you might need a professional contractor to help with this.
What color cord cover should I use?
The goal is to have your cords not be seen, which means you want the cord cover to blend in as much as possible. If your brick is white or gray, stick with those colors, so everything can blend in nicely.
What if there is no outlet near the fireplace?
If you need to run an extension cord, run it down along the ground where it can hide behind furniture, and choose a neutral color that blends in with your flooring.
Conclusion
Are you ready to get rid of those unsightly cords by your beautiful fireplace? After this tutorial, do you think you have the hang of how to hide them? This should be one of the simpler DIY projects you take on as a homeowner, since not much is involved beyond tucking cords away.
This project doesn’t have to be difficult, and for just a little effort you can reap a huge reward. We love how the fireplace looks without all the cords hanging around, and we would love to see pictures of your finished rooms! Leave us a comment telling us about your fireplace project, and share us on social media if you found this article helpful!
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